Hello,

I need to install springs into my '68 Mercedes 250/8 (W114) and am having a difficult time tracking down the exact procedure to use.

The factory service manual suggests putting the spring in place (apparently with lower ball joint attached) and jacking up the lower control arm, then fitting the cam bolts through the LCA bushings.

I would prefer to use a spring compressor, but items borrowed from the local FLAPS do not fit the MB's coils.

And so my 2 questions:

1. There is a knock off Klaan spring compressor on Ebay for $200 (JTC-1801) that looks like it would work as long as the telescoping rod fits through the W114's LCA. The hole is only 3 cm however and I fear the rod may be too wide to fit. Has anyone used a Klaan style compressor (if so which manuf.) on a W114 / W115? If anyone has one handy, could you please measure the diameter of the rod at it's widest point?

2. If the Klaan style compressor won't fit, how should I install the spring?

Thanks much!

A very helpful guy on another forum informed me that the Klann style spring compressors are ~4.5 cm, which is too large to fit through the W114 LCA.

Do I just fit them by jacking the LCA up then?

Just checked the CD ROM manual since I have not done this on my car...

First release the shock lower mount so the shock is not damaged during spring removal.

Then support the lower CA, index mark the adjusting cam bolts and then remove each. Do not mix them up. Lower the LCA and remove the spring assembly.

Note the position of the spring...it fits a special way to index properly into the seat. The ground end goes to the top with the rubber pad attached.

Install is the reverse as they say. FYI, there are two special tools to support the LCA so it does not get away from you and everything remains secure during the job. It would be wise to check alignment when done. A better description is available on the CD, job #32-200. Are you sure you are equipped to do this? The manual shows the car on a lift so there is adequate work room. Springs ain't no fun when they fly around the garage.

Are you sure the springs are your problem? Most folks look at the gas shocks first and then the subframe mounts. Mercedes springs are very tough and seldom need to be replaced.

230/8

The springs were not the problem specifically. I did a complete steering / partial front end rebuild. New tie rods / drag link, new lower control arm bushings and lower ball joints.

After 250K miles on the originals it was surely due.

All other work is completed and I need to re-install the springs to get the car back on the road.

I removed the spring by supporting the LCA with a jack, breaking the lower ball joint free, and slowley lowering the jack to release spring tension. I was on the oposite side of the car btw.

I do not have the recomended LCA cradle nor do I have a welder and the materials required to fabricate one.

I'm sure i'm not the first person to remove and replace a spring in a W114/W115 Mercedes without the special mercedes LCA cradle. I'm simply looking for recollections of what people did in this situation. I've seen in some other posts that people recomend the Klann clone spring compressor. I would love to use one, but it seems as though the telescoping rod will not fit though the lower control arm.

Any guidance is going to be very helpful.

I got the springs back in using an internal spring compressor I borrowed from autozone. The brand is OEM and it consists of an aluminum block with 2 hooks to go over the coil. It comes with a forked plate to go through the coils, but the MB coils were too tight to allow it to fit properly (or be removed when compressed in the car).
So I came up with this configuration - I slid the rod of the spring compressor through the hole in the LCA and threaded it into the fork block. This compressed the spring against the LCA. Note the cable as extra saftey. Dono how effective this would be, but better than nothing. The cable is stronger than chain. Since the spring is compressed to the LCA the susspenssion assemble needs to be lifted into place and the cam bolts run through the LCA bushings. Lineing up the passenger's side was easy, the drivers side was pretty hard and took some pounding and wedging to get it in there.
After everything was hooked up I removed the spring compressor rod from the bottom, folded the hooks together and looped twine around them to pull it out of the top of the spring. Pulling it out w/ twine made it much easier.

This set up wasn't ideal, but much safer than simply compressing the LCA with a floor jack. It worked pretty well and I wouldn't have a problem doing it again.
I still would be very interested to know if there is another spring compressor that can be used with the W114/W115 chassis. Some people on other forums have said to used Klann type compressors, but I can't see how it would fit. I think they may have used the compressor on a later model and just assumed it would work. Any other opinions or ideas would probably help others with future projects.

I found out if the hole front subframe is removed you can use the spring compressor from the top, as stated the hole in the bottem of the CA is to small.

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1976 240D
1976 240D parts car
1970 220D daily driver