The shocks on my 2000 C230K are getting close to replacement time, and I've got a couple questions:

-Do I need a spring compressor to do the fronts or the rears?
-Does anyone have torque values for the bolts?

Also, any suggestions on good jacking points? My old 300E had a nice solid frame crossmember to jack up the front wheels from, but I don't know if there's one that's similarly structural enough for the C-class.

Thanks!
Anthony

No spring compressor needed. Figure about an hour @ shock.

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http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=166423

Anthony check out the thread above, or if that won't work, do a search under. "MB rubber jack points don't match w/ sears jack stands at all"
look for the pictures I shot in that thread, I post under the name Ethan.

I felt that was a very safe way to support my car, I purchased the jack stands especially for thw way the flat tops work with the cars rubber support points.

To get the car up high enought to insert the jack stands required two garage jacks and some very hard wood spacers to sandwhich between hydraulic jack top and sub-frame pick-up point. I gently raised each side a few cm's until the front of the car allowed the jack stands to get into place.

My hydraulic jacks were rated at 2.1/4 ton and 1.5 tons but I wish I had two six ton jacks, my jack weren't confidence inspiring at all. However my jack stands were excellent - I think each stand was rated at 6600 lbs and with all four jacks in place, as shown in the picture, when I replaced my steering knuckle things were very secure.

Additionally, I did the shocks on my car also, I have a Haynes manual and if you want I'll post all the torque values.

Couple of tips, have a spare jack to lift the lower control arms in order to align the shocks bottom eyelet with the control arms mounting holes.

Have a trim tool to pop the trunk liner to gain access, and I also remember using a stubby flat blade screw driver, but can't remember where and why I needed it.

Really it would probably be worth getting the Haynes manual for your car, it is for U.K. right hand drive vehicles but it has helped me plenty on my 1998 C230's chassis.

Thanks for the responses!

I've been wondering about the Haynes manual, I think I will go ahead and get it soon. If you have the torque values on you, that would be great, but otherwise I think I can wait until the manual arrives.

It looks like you supported the rear where the spring link meets the subframe, I never would've thought of that, thanks. The front can be supported at the crossmember then?

I have one 3-ton floor jack and two jackstands with the Y-tops. I guess I'll need to get a second jack and maybe flat-top stands to work on my 202.

Thanks again!
Anthony

My pictures only ahow the front of the vehicle being lifted, the rear is different - and the Haynes manual describes and shows pictures for supporting and lifting the rear ( as well as the front ). The rear gets lifted by jacking up at the rubber jackpoints under the rocker panel then supporting with jack stands on a support flange just inboard of that rubber jack point. I only place a garage floor jack at the rear axle diff with minimal pressure on it as a safety precaution when the car is lifted.

Ideally when buying jack stands you don't want stands that are too high, because then it means you have to jack up the car higher to get the jack stands underneath. For the rear a jack-stand that would work by just getting the tire off the ground with a garage floor jack and a nice jack-stand that would slide into position at that height, and just lifting one side at a time is a safe and easy way to go. If you do google search under A/C jack-stands you'll find different style and type of jacks to consider for your application.

Front shock absorber:
Lower mounting nut/bolt 41 lbf ft
Upper mounting locknut 22 lbf ft
Upper mounting nut 13 lbf ft

Rear shock absorber
Lower mounting nut/bolt 41 lbf ft
Upper mounting locknut 22 lbf ft
Upper mounting nut 11 lbf ft


road wheel lug nuts 81 lbf ft


also when tightening down the UPPER mounting nut and locknut uss a Vise-Grip on the shock piston rod - metal stem that sticks out the top of the shock - to keep from rotating while tightening up the nuts.

GET the manual because it has exploded views of the washers and rubber donuts that fit on the upper mountings.

Also remember you'll probably need a hydraulic jack to raise the control are into positio to align the mounting holes for the lower shock bolt.

I don't know which shocks are available for your car but be cautioned about going stiffer then what your car has now. As your car ages and you go to a stiffer shock more road irregularities will get transmitted into the cabin. Also the combination of a newer stiffer shock and your older engine mounts may not be the ideal combination for smoothness.

on the second to last paragraph it should read ... jack to raise the control arm into position ...

It's an easy job, I just like to add as much little BS, so your aware of everything before you start.

Hi Ethan,

Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it. For the shock selection, I'm not sure if there are a whole lot of options out there - I have the sport suspension, which I *think* is the same ride height, but with stiff valving. I think the replacement is either a Sachs shock or the Bilstein HDs, but I'm still figuring it out. What'd you put on your W202?

Anthony

i purchased my bilstein hd's from buy parts link above, my car is a c230 from 1998. my car had the sachs as oem, but everyone seemed to think bilstein were better then stock. if i wanted to replace my shocks with the exact same as when new, i think the dealer would have been the only source for them and the price would have been accordingly higher.


i would guess the bilstein hd's are closer to original stiffness to your sport suspension as compared to my stock shocks.

my car now has 101k miles and could probably use new engine mounts, in terms of cornering the bilstein hd's seem to make my car handle well, but i seem to pick up more sensations over road irregularties now then when my suspension was new.

Ethan, great writeup. The Haynes manual for w124 said that after removing the strut mounting bolts one should use a piece of wire to tie up the steering knuckle so it doesn't come loose. I didnt understand how it could come loose or where & how it should be wired. Could you elaborate? I need to replace the front struts on my 300e, and I was also wondering if this job could be done with the car on ramps by just pulling the strut down and out from the upper mounts hole - I did my rear shocks that way and it went pretty smoothly, even with fitting the lower bolt into the eyelet. Thanks for your thoughts.

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appreciate the comment about the write-up.

I always thought the w124 was similar to the w202 so I don't know why the step of tying the steering knuckle, unless it was an error in reference to the steps in the more common mcpherson strut assembly procedure

About using ramps, since the front shocks are calibrated to support the engine it MAY not be as easy to compress the shock as with the rear - but I would guess if you could do it with the rear you may be able to do it with the front as well. I've only done it with the wheel off and the suspension hanging.

I'm not that good a car mechanic to know what would work on the w124.

Also have you checked out the DIY ARTICLES tab on the top of the page? and I'm sure if you play around with the search feature here you'll get a better answer then what I know.