W140 Spring Info
 

Does anyone out there have access to a W140 Shop Manual? I need to know the overall height, overall outer diameter, wire diameter, and spring rate of both the standard and heavy duty W140 rear springs for a non-SLS car. I'm thinking of replacing the rear SLS in my W123 300TD with shocks and springs and wondering if W140 springs might be a good candidate.

anyone?

I would think you should fix it, the MB manuals dont cover that kind of stuff. I assume you have a wagon since the sedans did not have SLS. I would still fix it

I am replacing the SLS on a 1984 W123 300TD with shocks and springs.

The shop manuals for the W123 do have overall height, spring rate, and wire diameter for every W123 spring ever made. I am aware that such information exists for the W124 in microfiche format. I have no reason to believe that the information is not available for W140, W2xx or any other Mercedes-Benz ever made...

One option is to replace the blown struts. This will cost between $600 and $1000. If I can do a little research and build a solution that will cost less than this, then periodic maintenance costs will decrease, as well as reliability of the vehicle. Also, others will have a reliable resource (I.E. part numbers) to do this conversion themselves.

Even if springs cost $200 each (doubtful), Bilstein HDs cost $75 each bringing the total cost to $450, which is only slightly more (or less, depending on your parts supplier) than replacing one strut. Seems the cost-effective, reliable route to me.

That is, if someone out there has access to the information I require in order to engineer a system that will work well. Its suspension, not rocket science.