[alydon]

Has anyone removed the rear hydro shocks and replaced them with standard Bilsteins? What is invlolved? I have an 87 SEC and my rear seems a little tired. I have serviced the hydro fluid and had the system checked out, yet....

Tks,

Al Lydon
Atlanta, GA

 

[jhodg5ck]

Hey there AL,
It's been done, but it involved changing out the springs, and you must either loop the hyd. system on itself or remove the pump/lines etc (requires a cover from MB, I have one here..).

Give me a call sometime!

404 805 1357

Jonathan

 

[mramay]

Several folks have removed the hydraulic rear system but it's a fair amount of work and the results aren't all that great. My '87 SEC wasn't much to talk about in handling until I put a set of four H&R springs on the car, put in new rubber cushions on top of the four springs, put in a new set of rubber bushings/doughnuts onto the top of the rear hydraulic struts, and flushed the hydraulic fluid. A new set of 7.5x18" rims with 245/40/18 rubber and this thing is marvelous! I also installed new front Bilsteins ("comfort"). I took it out onto a track afterwards and found that the car is much better than I am in getting around corners. It tracked great and was a lot of fun to drive.

Get a set of H&R springs to lower and slightly stiffen the car and make sure the rubber doughnuts on top of the struts are replaced.

 

[cyberdrakon]

Does the replacement of those doughnuts require dumping the hydro fluid and dropping the springs?

Also, are the front springs left-right swappable?