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What brand of rear suspension springs and rearcontrol arm bushings is recommended ?

2K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  daidnik 
#1 ·
I am looking for the rear suspension springs and the Rear Position Control Arms for the rear axle, for a 1997 S420. Can anyone recommend which brand is advisable and where to purchase ?
Thank you
 
#2 ·
For the suspension I either use OEM or Lemforder for control arms and links, etc. Meyle is okay in a pinch, but you generally don't want to go cheap on suspension parts. Springs either OEM or Febi/Bilstein.

Either Pelican or Autohaus AZ should be able to sort you out for parts.
 
#4 ·
If you don't go for MB, then I recommend Lemforder arms/links. I've ordered many of these and quite often they will come with the MB part number scratched off.

For springs I would go with Sachs/Boge - I believe they are OE suppliers.

You may not get the ride height exactly right with aftermarket springs. Mercedes have lots of spring offerings dependent on the optional equipment the car has (I believe the spring points guide has been posted here before) whereas the aftermarket will generally just after one one or two part numbers spanning the entire range. It depends if you want your suspension to be millimeter perfect or save a bit of money and have it ride a touch higher/lower. I believe some people on here have played around with various spring pads thicknesses to compensate for this.
 
#5 ·
Do you have SLS in the rear?

If you do, then spring height/pad thk is not as big an issue as SLS will set height. If you have standard suspension, then matching is trickier.

With that having been stated, I can say that I have used Lesjofors replacement springs in the rear of '99 S500 w/ SLS and had no problems. I did study EPC spread sheet on P/N's; veh options; spring pads, etc before buying the springs.

For SLS, spring rate is critically matched to leveling valve and that is very important for SLS system to work as designed.

For standard suspension, spring height when installed is importanmt, so matching with spring pad to set ride height is important.

Why do you think you need to replace the springs?
 
#6 ·
The car does not have SLS. My mechanic told me that the rear seems to be lower than the front. He measured the height from the front tire jack cover and from the rear tire jack cover, and he showed me that the rear was almost 1 inch less than the front. Is that an indication that the rear coil springs need to be replaced ?
 
#7 ·
Likely, but not necessarily. No way to know until he puts the car on the lift and has a look.

I had a rear ride height issue as well and it wasn't due to the springs (I thought the springs at first as well). Turned out basically every rubber bushing on my rear suspension was shot. Did all the control arms, support arms and links and it was all good.
 
#8 ·
He told me that the Rear Position Control Arms on both sides of the rear axle needed also to be replaced, as that is contributing to the premature wear of the inner side of the rear tires. Can this contribute also for the car to be a bit lower in the rear ?
 
#15 ·
Would the springs go bad after only 95,000 miles ? Is it advisable to get original Mercedes springs or any Aftermarket ones. I would like to maintain the original comfort and height of the car like when it was new.
If after market springs, which brand is the best ?
 
#16 ·
Anything is possible; my car has 130,000 miles and my springs seem to be fine. Others have had them replaced by now. It really depends on what kind of use the car has seen, I think. Rear-end sag is a fairly common problem on these cars and the springs are often the culprit.

As others have explained, Mercedes used several different springs to achieve consistent ride height depending on what options the car was ordered with, while the aftermarket has only like three options. I believe there are threads on here that go into some detail. If you really want to keep everything perfectly original, your only real option would be to contact Mercedes with your VIN and have them send you the exact springs that were equipped on your car (if they're still available). I don't know how that would go because I've never tried. There may be other custom spring options I'm not aware of, but you should search the forum because I know this stuff has been discussed quite a bit.

Otherwise the three aftermarket options I've seen are standard, sport, and heavy-duty. I'd assume that most people go with standard (for obvious reasons). The sport springs will lower the ride a quarter-inch or so, and heavy-duty will probably make the ride a bit higher.
 
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