Buy a plastic welding kit and you can get rid of the tape. The plastic is easy to work with.

 

Good suggestion. I brought my MIG welder to Germany, so I may look into fabricating a rear bumper replacement as well.

Johann G is a good reference.

My W163 off-road project

I have owned 54 vehicles in my lifetime (so far), and this is my first Mercedes (most of my past vehicles have been BMWs). The story of how I obtained this Mercedes is an interesting one. You see it goes like this. I used to carpool to work (when I lived in Denver) with a well-off older...

www.benzworld.org

Strengthening the W163 suspension - for off-roading

In my short experience so far in off-roading a W163, one glaring weak area has come forth: The suspension. The truck otherwise is great. Great fully boxed frame, great 4x4 system, but a woefully weak and piddly suspension system, designed for the minimum effort required to pick up some...

www.benzworld.org

This is some good reading. I’ll read it tomorrow when work gets boring.

 

Johann G is a good reference.

My W163 off-road project

I have owned 54 vehicles in my lifetime (so far), and this is my first Mercedes (most of my past vehicles have been BMWs). The story of how I obtained this Mercedes is an interesting one. You see it goes like this. I used to carpool to work (when I lived in Denver) with a well-off older...

www.benzworld.org

Strengthening the W163 suspension - for off-roading

In my short experience so far in off-roading a W163, one glaring weak area has come forth: The suspension. The truck otherwise is great. Great fully boxed frame, great 4x4 system, but a woefully weak and piddly suspension system, designed for the minimum effort required to pick up some...

www.benzworld.org

 

I have the same ML, down to the color and peeling clear coat. I’ve been off roading since I was a kid, and while I didn’t buy my ML to be a serious hard core off-roader, I did buy it to access the myriad of poorly maintained gravel roads around here. In the process I’ve discovered that it does fairly well off-road, for what it is, with a few minor modifications.

#1thing is tires. Taller tires are important for ground clearance, but more than that, an aggressive tread makes an enormous difference in where you can go. Contrary to popular misconception, an aggressive tread tears up the trails less as well, because you don’t n ex as much (or any, depending) wheel spin to get where you need to go. All terrain tires are a common example of this; ok in dry conditions like desert terrain but relatively poor in mud, snow, soft loam, etc, and they end up tearing up the trails more as a result.

I went with Geolandar G003 mud terrains in 255/75R17 on the stock wheels. Be warned these are a very skinny tire and don’t “look cool” like wider tires do, but they’re a perfect match for the ML and one of the largest sizes available in load range C* for this wheel. Being skinny, they cut down through mud and snow better than the wider tires and offer better grip in extreme conditions. I like these and would buy them again.

*Most people going with larger tires on the ML end up with load range E tires, because that’s all that is available in their size. But you want a soft tire off road, and E tires are very stiff to handle high loads (much higher than the little ML will ever see, these are made for full size trucks, F250 diesels and whatnot). Using a C load range tire allows more tire flex to wrap around obstacles, and more traction.

 

This was an excellent crash course on tire and height choices. Most of what’s off road over here is mud, loose dirt (loam?), and lumpy dirt. It’s a very fertile land. Here’s a photo from some nearby areas.

agreed, but....
nah, duck tape gives this story and his ride character.
plus, his avatar shows Gymmy plays ice hockey me thinks?
Anyone who plays ice hockey (and from Texas too) must have his head on straight.

The duct tape has to stay in one way or another. It, and the American license plate certainly gets some people looking at me all crazy here. This car is OLD by German standards, and looks like it belongs in a junkyard. The TÜV (German DMV) inspector who did my registration was blown away when he got under my car to test the suspension. He wanted to turn me away at first!

As for my hobby, I mostly just go to the gym and do electrical engineering stuff for fun. The name is a bad pun, and the photo is this random dumb picture off of a long lost Sega CD tech demo (1991) that was discovered and dumped about 2 years ago.

You mean like this:
View attachment 2770671
View attachment 2770672

That is AWESOME looking. Did you fabricate the rock guard on your own?

 

Continued…

Those tires above fit my ML without any lift. However, I did lift the front about an inch by cranking down the torsion bars, just for additional ground clearance. I’ll be lifting the rear the same amount in the near future, but have done a lot of off-road with it as is.

I’ll share some pics later.

 

Another important detail is tow points. While it’s useful to have a good winch, that’s a “nice to have” thing, but good tow points are essential.

The ML has a tow point under the front bumper that works well, but doesn’t really have a good accessible tow point in the rear. You could remove the bumper and build a good off-road bumper with tow points (on my list for this summer), but an easier and faster route is to install the factory hitch receiver. This makes for an excellent tow point with the right attachment.

One other thing that’s important, not a modification but a technique, is about using the ML’s traction management system. When you’re climbing an obstacle, don’t ride the brakes! This defeats the traction management and will leave you spinning your wheels a lot.
Also be aware the traction management is much more effective in low range.

 

Another important detail is tow points. While it’s useful to have a good winch, that’s a “nice to have” thing, but good tow points are essential.

The ML has a tow point under the front bumper that works well, but doesn’t really have a good accessible tow point in the rear. You could remove the bumper and build a good off-road bumper with tow points (on my list for this summer), but an easier and faster route is to install the factory hitch receiver. This makes for an excellent tow point with the right attachment.

One other thing that’s important, not a modification but a technique, is about using the ML’s traction management system. When you’re climbing an obstacle, don’t ride the brakes! This defeats the traction management and will leave you spinning your wheels a lot.
Also be aware the traction management is much more effective in low range.

There is a rear tow point welded to the frame under the bumper cover - you get to it by popping one of the rectangular covers off.

 

You mean like this:

 

Did you add any protection for the gas tank?

 

Unrelated post:

Since you live in germany, have you gone on the autobahn yet? Wondering if the US 163 max out at 130 or 155?

Supposedly early 163 were limited to 130 mph due to tires not being rated for that speed -- same as W210. All US W210 are electronically limited to 130, even the E55. All W210 outside the world have a 155 limiter, and the difference is purely because the US W210 only came with a 130 or 135 mph tires.

 

My '99 ML320 is limited to 115mph. Came with General tires. I had plenty of times to test it back in 2002 on Alaska Highway.

 

Why does your ML500 have one tail pipe??

 

That’s normal. Only the ML55 had dual exhaust for these years.

 

#1 The first thing is tires. Get rid of street biased tread and get some off road tires. A knobby all terrain. Mud tread works best but noisy on road and fast wearing if you’re gonna drive on paved surfaces.

2. winch and self recovery gear. A good shovel is also a must.

3. Roof rack. Not the factory one but a roof basket. You can carry a spare on top. If you blow a tire you may not be able to retrieve the one under the vehicle due to terrain or perhaps hire stuck and physically can’t get to it.
4. satellite radio. If you end up in the boondocks yir cell may not have reception. Gotta be able to reach for help if needed.
4. emergency kit medical and signaling.
5. some long lasting food like MRE meals. Also a water can and additional fuel.
6. small welding kit. They make under hood welding kits.
7. get rid of the alluminum wheels and get some steel wheels. If they get bend yiu can hammer them into shape to get you off the trail.
8. tool kit. This is all preference but a wrench and socket set, multimeter’ spare wire and connectors, duct tape, electrical and rubber waterproof tape WD40, fuses and a test light along with tirplugnkit A small compressor and a can of carb and electrical terminal cleaner.
9. Move ALL of your transfer case, transmission and axle breather hoses as high as possible. Get them out from under the vehicle. If you get stuck in water the hot drivetrain will suck In cold water through the breather if the water gets high enough.
Start waterproofing your under hood electronics

I’m not sure what kind of off road you do

 

#1 The first thing is tires. Get rid of street biased tread and get some off road tires. A knobby all terrain. Mud tread works best but noisy on road and fast wearing if you’re gonna drive on paved surfaces.

2. winch and self recovery gear. A good shovel is also a must.

3. Roof rack. Not the factory one but a roof basket. You can carry a spare on top. If you blow a tire you may not be able to retrieve the one under the vehicle due to terrain or perhaps hire stuck and physically can’t get to it.
4. satellite radio. If you end up in the boondocks yir cell may not have reception. Gotta be able to reach for help if needed.
4. emergency kit medical and signaling.
5. some long lasting food like MRE meals. Also a water can and additional fuel.
6. small welding kit. They make under hood welding kits.
7. get rid of the alluminum wheels and get some steel wheels. If they get bend yiu can hammer them into shape to get you off the trail.
8. tool kit. This is all preference but a wrench and socket set, multimeter’ spare wire and connectors, duct tape, electrical and rubber waterproof tape WD40, fuses and a test light along with tirplugnkit A small compressor and a can of carb and electrical terminal cleaner.
9. Move ALL of your transfer case, transmission and axle breather hoses as high as possible. Get them out from under the vehicle. If you get stuck in water the hot drivetrain will suck In cold water through the breather if the water gets high enough.
Start waterproofing your under hood electronics

I’m not sure what kind of off road you do

I think it’s fair to conclude based on the info given that the OP is not building a hard core rock crawler or an overland rig to get stuck 3 days from the nearest road.

For more mild and ordinary use, as the OP has indicated, most If that list is “nice to have” and potentially helpful but not “must have” items.
Speaking from personal experience in 30-40 years of off roading, I’ve never used a lot of that stuff.

Just saying- let’s not get carried away with huge lists of stuff that isn’t really necessary.

 

With that said, a full size spare is an important consideration for the ML; the traction management system is bound to get a bit confused with one tiny spare and three oversized tires.

I’ve been trying to come up with a more suitable way to carry a spare. A roof rack is the simplest solution but has a lot of downsides- the additional weight and size of a spare up there makes the vehicle less stable and more too heavy, hurts gas mileage, and it can be hard to get the spare down in awkward situations. And can come loose in a crash if not adequately secured (many are not, unfortunately).

A rear swing-out spare carrier on a steel bumper is a good solution but a constant hassle when getting in and out of the rear hatch.

An air compressor, patch kit, and 3 large cans of fix a flat are my current compromise, but an imperfect solution.

 

Rust prevention!

Germany has a different climate, and W163 models are famous rust buckets over there.
Not an issue in TX or AZ, but in D, they will put salt on the roads, and that will eat your sheet metals sooner than expected. Terrified to the bones, it drove die-hard Mercedes fans away from the product back then.
Wonder why they got rare in Germany?
Protect your assets: Fluid Film and crash bars.

 

soinds like the rust belt. Fluid film works great but most people apply it incorrectly. When I lived back east i would remove the fender liners and any splash shields and get in all the nooks and crannies. Especially at the fender corner pockets where road crap tends to build up. Lots of leaves tend to drop there and stay. Leaves and mud are hell on cars cause they tend to hold moisture and eat away at the paint. Also Inside the door at the bottom where the inner door panel and outer skin fold over each other and cleaned out the door drain holes. The manufacturers usually have them taped up.

another thing that works great as a rinse is this stuff called SaltAway. I used to use it on my jet skis and boats. And I rode 90% of the tie in salt water. I had no corrosion on any metal.

 

Alex at LegitStreetCars converts a ML to an off roader. Check him out time permitting.

 

Alex at LegitStreetCars converts a ML to an off roader. Check him out time permitting.

Well that’s exactly what I was saying. Big off road tires, winch and winch bumper. Attachment points for recovery. A shovel to dig the tires out. A first aid kit. Some water and food. There were people that died on hiking trips a few miles from civilization. You get out a few miles and you get stuck walking out can take a lot of time. And if it’s a hot day yire gonna want water and some food . And if the family is with you walking 5 miles in a off road terrain which is different than walking on a dirt road can be a daunting task. I just come across a lot of people that are I’ll prepared for go off road. Nobody has to take my advice. It’s a opinion.


that’s great to see vehicles that aren’t typically seen off road. . It’s a off the beaten path customizing shop. There is a reason why you open up a off road mag or go on a 4x forum and you never see these type of vehicles on there getting modified. ….. they simply aren’t widely used because the platform simply isn’t well received for off road. It’s fine for a jaunt on a dirt road or snow rain AWD scenario sure. Goof off road isn’t always gonna be a hard pack road and weather may not always comply.
I’m not the type that’s gonna sit there and wait until
Someoen comes along to help me. I’m gonna dig and winch my way out and move in.

 

It’s good to carry basic crap especially on a older vehicle. When I go in the boonies camping or hunting at most I wanna be able to get out to the paved road. A off road tow is very expensive. Most of time you find a person who is nice and helpful but I dont wanna rely on that.
now you can’t carry everything but for the most part unless some catastrophic event happens the basics are what as you get more off road savvy you’ll want to carry extra driveshafts, u joints etc. one thing abotnoff road is you did out what and where the weak link of your vehicle is located. ( like this kid who swamped his F250. The issue was the computer sits low on the firewall and he got it wet.
I helped him remove it dried it out and got it started. (The kid was freaking cause his dad just bought him they truck and he wasn’t supposed to be out there)
I had to winch him out of the water home he put himself in. Seems he was trying to impress his girl. Who wasn’t happy at all stuck in some mud hole for hours.



this is stuff you want on your truck especially if you go off the beaten path enough times. Everyone has their own kits but there are a lot of similar items .

the minimum yiu want is a good set of all terrain tires. That will get you out of a lot of places. Winch would be my second upgrade. Not sure if they make it but a front receiver and rear receiver hitch and a removable 8000 pound capacity winch on a portable winch plate would be great. This way your approach and departure angles aren’t changed with winch bumper which some times tends to stick out more and decrease those angles. And adds a considerable amount of weight that changes handling characteristics. And if you wire up with quick connectors front and rear you can winch yourself backwards which sometimes is the easiest and best way to get out.
I used to be a more barcode wheeler but since my wife is handicapped now we stopped goof out off road cause it’s too dangerous for her condition.

another thing is to understand your vehicles limitations and your driving ability and limitations as a driver. We all have them. There is no shame in that.
take care

Rob

 

Big bumper, overbite a nice touch.

 

That should wear the front end out quick smart.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I think this'd be cool in an ML