Hi everyone,
Today, 7th Aug '05, at about 2.30p.m. something that I can never forget in my life, happened. The front left spring mounting of my car failed.
I was driving the car with my & kids inside, back from a friend's house, about 35miles away. I couldn't drive fast because of heavy traffic but still doing about 25 mph. It was a rather straight stretch of road in front of me.
All of the sudden, I heard this very loud thump and klank and klunk from underneath my car. At the moment I could not feel any lost of control of the car but through the rear view mirror, could see an object that looks like a car spring. I was in total shock at that moment but somehow managed to drive to safety to the side of the road. I turned to my family to ensure that everyone's OK. When I got down, I noticed that the front end of the car is sort of lowered. There were no movement when I tried to push the front end up and down. It seems obvious that the suspension has given way. I really didn't know what to do that moment. It was a very hot and humid weather. The family's in the car. From the indicator inside the car I can see that it's 40 deg Celcius. My youngest kid, 9 mths, is starting to cry. My wife, being the most wonderful person, managed to calmed all the kids down. I tried to call a tow service, but I think it's almost impossible...especially on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway, almost an hour later I managed to contact a very close friend who happens to have a tow-truck. I was in luck. He's around today. He said that he'll pick the car up as soon as he can. I was very happy, really happy, not only for the car but also to God who has protected everyone. No one was hurt, only shaken by that incident. I'm shaken since I have never had this kind of experience in my whole life before. I'm really greatful to Him. Thank you oh Almighty. Ameen.
I just want to share this bad experience with everyone in the forum. I've read a lot of posts on the problem, but did not expect it to happen to me. Finally it did. I really know now, how terrifying it could have been to those who has been through it. Thank you in advance to all of you who is reading this post. Thank you.
True, Maylesia is humid but nothing like that should happen to any car. MBZ really did screw this thing up with poor under coating and rust proof treatment that should happened in manufacturing process. There is no excuse for the kind of problem you went through.
MBZ has to hear your story very loud and clear. Make sure MBZ pays for the repair.
The pictures say the darn thing is spot welded and supporting weight of front end of car. How stupid can this design be, not to mention missing body undercoating! MBZ was not like this!
I sure hope MBZ changed desinged on it in later model.
Thanks to God you and your family are ok, not to MB.
And the bad thing is that, as one can see in the photos, is almost impossible to preview this as the rust is behind the upper support of the spring, so inspecting it is worthless. What are we supose to do? Detach the thing to see if there´s rust behind and reweld it? That´s insane. A little less insane that the engineering of the support, though.
I inspect my 420 spring mounts every time I have the opportunity. It´s been a waste of time, as I can see now. Let´s pray that the humid climate of the Caribbean, where I live, doesn´t get there.
Are we going to be safe the next time I take my family for a trip? Is it time to say good bye to the brand I´ve been atached the last 12 years?
MERCEDES-BENZ, HELP PLEASE!! WE ARE YOUR FAITHFUL CUSTOMERS!! DON´T LET THE DREAM OF HAVING A MB DIES!!!
__________________
From silver star to silver star,
Rafael
Thank you all for the concern on the safety of my family and I. Everyone is very much OK now and has recovered from the bad experience. In fact, my wife did not want to drive for a couple of days. Anyway, she's OK now.
As for the car, it's already on the road. From the evidence I gathered, there are 3 important factors for the failure, i.e.,
a) Poorly designed spring perch which can lead to the tearing of the component due to the high load imposed by the spring force, irrespective of corrosion. It's just like if we apply an upward force on the end of a beam which is sticking out from a wall. In addition to that, it is only spot-welded in place! It's a real PITA design!!
b) Material used for the perch is very flimsy. It's almost as thin as the body panel. It should be very thick and strong, at least 0.125" thick.
c) There's a great tendency to collect moisture and there's no way anyone can tell until it's too late. Applying sealant does not guarantee that moisture will not seep into the crevices, especially for old cars because the sealants tends to deteriorate.
As far as I am concern, I have instructed the technician in the bodyshop to add a bracing support on top of the perch. I know MBZ may not approve of this but do they care? From where I come, the privilages of owning a Benz is ONLY given to the 1st owner! Since I'm not, I did not get those privilages. All repairs or warranty on the car becomes null and void once it is sold/given up by the 1st owner.
I honestly don't intend to blow my trumpet but with almost 20 years aircraft maintenance experience in my log book, I sincerely think that MBZ will have to shape-up. I very well know what I'm talking about.
I wish to thank all members for posting any issues pertaining to the problems wtih Benz cars. I know I can't do it alone, but if all of us try to stick together, I'm sure MBZ shall have to listen, somehow. Good luck and keep them coming guys!!
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