I've got 300D springs on the back of mine, it sits a little higher, but not by much.

I always thought maybe I could get something from Moog that would fit better, but never followed it up. I do however want to eventually put these tires on mine.

Tire Size -LT195/75x14 Mega Mud M/T | Tire Recappers

 

Members have put w116 springs on the rear, and they raise it up quite a bit...

 

300TD SLS Conversion

I installed these. If you want a lot of height, get the wagon instead of the sedan springs. These springs are a lot beefier and there is a significant change in handling, cornering, et cet. I am very impressed with them ! I have some pictures on my threads.

 

Yeah, that is my plan, to get the Sedan HD springs from the SLS conversion guys. Thanks Greazzer for turning me on to them a while ago. They will go on my '79.

 

I would love to get a definitive answer about what springs/pads would raise my td 2 inches. I've read everything I can online about it, and it seems like there isn't one answer.

If w116 springs raise the rear, what about the front? What springs would raise the front to the same degree? Also, what springs are in the sls conversion kit? A custom spring? I plan to keep my sls.

Here's how the car sits now. A spring swap (hopefully an inexpensive one) to get two inches is what I hope to do.

 

Looks to me like your rear is sitting low due to a Self Leveling Suspension issue. Fix that and you won't need the springs. And you'll be able to load it up with many hundreds of pounds while it stays level. Good stuff.

 

I actually adjusted the arm on the sls and it sits a bit higher in the rear. Just enough to level the car. But what I hope to get is the front AND rear two inches higher. If that can be done with springs, which springs? Trial and error would work, but I'd rather not go down that road if there is an answer.

 

The rubber pads come in 3 sizes to my understanding. The fattest are 19mm. If you add 19mm, you should get around 38mm of ride height increase. Not sure what pad you have now, so you will have to subtract that from the 19mm. So, assuming you had no rubber pads, you should get around 1 1/2" from 19mm pads. If you have 9.5 or 14mm (I think they are the other 2 sizes -- I just went thru the pad stuff when I installed my springs so I should remember all the nit picky details, but I dont), you would subtract that. Assume 10mm (9.5), you will net 9mm or around 18mm in height which is almost 3/4". The SLS delete kit should raise it by a bunch. I original installed the wagon springs in a sedan and look at the rear end of my car ... it's really jacked up. So, the SLS conversion is a great addition IMO.

 

awesome information! very helpful. I'll have to double check what pads I have on there later today.

 

Check out this post by DeliveryValve for the information on springs.

And this from him also "Another note is the single color paint mark near the bottom coils refer the height of the spring. With "Red" being short and "Blue" being long springs on a w123."

Here is an example of the long front springs. (also thanks to DeliveryValve)

 

My red-bottom rung painted springs (shorter version) on my 300D, which were stock, are paired to 2-nub pads in front, while Richard's blue-bottom rung painted springs (longer version) on his 300D (both 1983 his and mine), are paired to 1-nub pads, IIRC.

I wish there was a definitive thread about the HD suspension setup.

 

Be careful raising it too much, it will eat tires for breakfast.

 

With a proper alignment, why would increaed ride height result in tire eating?

 

The rear camber is non adjustable. Increased ride height over stock causes postive camber. Even if you were to completely dial in the caster/toe, you'd still chew your tires from the camber.

 

^^ thanks Pat. I couldn't remember what thickness pad a red spring would of gotten.

.

 

Any time, Richard. :thumbsup:

I made a wild guess on your front spring pad thickness...

 

I don't think there can be anything definitive because in use Springs compress some over time and from Car to Car how much they end up compressed is going to vary. That means what works for one Car may not work on another.

And, then as previously stated there could be several combinations of Spring Pads and Springs.

 

Well, all our cars are different, but I thought I would do some measuring just to show where my car is sitting.

Pads: 2 nub front, 1 nub rear

Springs: front: 2 red dots to the left of two green dots. I didn't see any blue marks. Rear: no visible marks.

Distance from ground to middle of fender edge: front: 27 3/8". Rear 25 1/8"

So it looks like I could at least go to bigger spring pads. Hopefully that won't change my camber too much. A picture for reference.

 

What I meant by definitive was something like, "This is what MB intended on the HD setup" and "this is what I have - how do I convert fully to the HD setup?"



2 red beside 2 green isn't a measure by the factory but by the manufacturer, IIRC. Mine has it too (see previous post). Check the bottom rung, or the 2nd to bottom rung, for coloration. This should be indicative of the length.

If you want to measure ride height this is a good reference:

Blueprint

Blueprint 2

 

Finally checked my front springs and it looks like I have the shorter red marked springs. So I guess now the question is: just how much more height would the blue springs give me?

 

I am not sure. But it would probably be like getting a thicker spring pad that has 1 more burl to what you currently have. If I had to guess, Probably around 3/4 -1 inch.

 

My SLS was progressively getting worse, and it would have been an expensive fix to make it workable again. I decided to convert to conventional shocks and springs (cue collective gasp from the td crowd :grin)

Here is what I did:
In back - slsconversion.com rear springs, new Bilstein HD shocks, 19mm spring shims (3 nub).
In front - new Bilstein HD shocks, 2 nub shims, and red stripe springs.

Car rides great, and with a few hundred lbs (costco run w/passenger in rear seat) in the back the ride height stayed where it should and the car handled well. I have not carried a very heavy load yet.

Again, lots of people have good reason to keep the SLS, and that is the best setup if it's working perfectly, but for me converting the rear was the better decision.

Only concern was when I first installed everything there was noticeable positive camber in the rear, but that has gone away after settling in the last 50 miles. I could still go to thicker spring pads in the front for more height (I'm at about 6.5 inches to the skid plate, and about 10.5 inches at the rear diff), but for now I'm very happy with the setup. The ride is a bit stiffer because of the HDs, though. The car really handles so much better than before, and I love the stance. My wife no longer thinks the car looks like a "dog with his tail between his legs".

I hope this information helps someone else facing a similar decision. The slsconversion springs are a very good option if you want a little extra height and/or your SLS is not economically feasible to repair.