Before I crawl under for the first time I thought I would ask about placement of jack stands and also a jacking point for a hyd floor jack. I will be changing the accumulators and changing the oil. Any comments will be appreciated.

I would jack under the jack points at the front and rear of the rocker panel on each side or under the lower control arms front or rear. You also can raise the entire front by putting your floor jack under the heavy crossmember that is under the engine. Do NOT jack up the rear of the car by the differential center section. It is rubber mounted and you will ruin the mounts which are a bit of a job to change.

For the front you can place jack stands under the frame rail looking portions of the unibody just behind where they turn up toward the firewall.

I hesitate to tell you how to jack stand the rear because I don't know how much experience you have at doing such things and if it is not done right it could be hazardous for you. But, for the rear you can place jack stands in front of the rear wheels going inboard a few inches to the beam that you will see there. Use a heavy board or something to distribute the weight.

For the type work you are talking about, you need the wheels to be suspended, so ramps would be much safer.

Best of luck,

Larry and I disagree on the merits of jacking the vehicle by the differential.

The FSM allows jacking a W126 by the differential and it's quite convenient to do so, in order to safely block the vehicle at the jack points directly in front of the wheel openings. If you jack the vehicle per Larry's advice, it will work perfectly fine, however, you need two jacks and you'll have to run around both sides of the vehicle about 10 times until it's fully raised. Then, you'll have the problem of blocking the vehicle at the exact points where the jack is now located.

I've jacked these vehicles at least 100X by the diff. No rubber mounts were damaged in the process. Naturally, if you plan to leave it on the jack for an extended period, blocking it at the jack points and removing the jack from underneath the differential would be preferable.

I'm glad that Brian has had good luck with his diff mounts. I have not been so lucky and those dudes are a real workout to replace.

I agree that it is terribly convenient to jack up the car by the diff, but believe me changing those mounts is anything but convenient.

It all boils down to whether or not you feel lucky. I don't have to worry about it any more now that I have a two post lift.

Best of luck,

It's very possible that Larry has made a valid conclusion regarding the W124 differential mounts, which look like this:




However, the W126 has a completely different, and more robust, design:





Therefore, the chance of damaging the mount of the W126 by jacking underneath the differential, is minimal.

Not only does that mount look more robust, more importantly it looks much easier to change.

Have a great day,

It's very easy to change. Support the diff, remove the two large cap screws that hold the diff to the mount, remove the four screws that hold the mount to the body, and it's out. Installation is the reverse of the removal.

30 minute job, including jacking and blocking the vehicle.

Isn't that trapezoidal piece in the picture the rear subframe mount, not a differential mount? The two large bolts attach to the subframe, not the differential. The differential is attached to the subframe via 3 cylinder shaped mounts that each come in two pieces.

Still, I also lift my 560SEL from the differential. The shop manual says its ok for this car which is good enough for me. I then rest the car on the rubber mounts using flat-top jack-stands. It was very difficult to find someone who still sells flat-top jack stands. Mine came from AC Hydraulic in Denmark. The rubber top on the jack stand has some give to it so that the hard rubber mount of the car sinks in. Very safe.

On some vehicles, the "differential mount" attaches directly to the differential, and hence the name. The SD has this configuration IIRC. The SDL's are changed to the newer configuration where the "differential mount" is attached directly to the subframe. The term "differential mount" has carried over, even though it's technically incorrect. Both vehicles use the same part.

I love those jackstands. Now, if I could find a pair without getting a second mortgage on my house........................