Front shock absorbers for W116 [and other models]

[BAR]

I started lloking for front shocks [preferrably gas units] for my 450SE.

First call was G-Brothers in Sydney and their parts person quoted my AUD $750 each [excluding GST].

My friendly MB mechanic quoted me $140 each for Bilsteins and MB Spares quoted me $180 each for the Fuchs units.

A quick scan on e-Bay and I found:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MERCEDES-BEN...QQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247#paymentmethods

American made with AC Delco Brand name Gas Shocks and only $89.00 for a PAIR. For the money, worth a venture.

I have order mine and will report back after fitting them to the car.

 

[B13]

I have Monroe's in my 450SE, and have also used KYBs.

Basically anything will be better than worn-out 30+ year old shocks of any make.

The Delco's look pretty good.

Ian.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Sorry to spoil your party, but I got some of those AC Delcos on ebay for my W123.......waste of money, they don't have the correct two bolt fixing on the bottom, it comes separately in the box, and you have to put another bolt through the bracket and through the bottom of the damper. The hole on the bracket is too big, meaning if fitted this way, it would rattle on the through bolt on rebound - ie when unloaded - so you need to weld on thichk washers of the correct diameter.
Having got them finally fitted it drove worse than the knackered old pair I took off.
i am now wrecking that car to give up useful parts, but the front shox will go to the scrappers with whatever is left.
A classic case of too cheap is not good.
I have used Monroes before and certainly they work well but not cheap, but Fuchs or Bilsteins, at the prices quoted above are the way to go.
We all learn by our mistakes, hope someone else can learn from mine!
Chris M.

 

[BAR]

Finally installed mine and yes, the bottom connection -'yolk' - is not fixed as on other units.

I was a little taken back myself and called up the supplier and was advised the correct method to mount the 'yolk'. Simply, bolt it to the lower cross member and then fit the shock. Pass the bolt through one side of the yolk and through the shock and then out the other side: fix washer, spring washer and then nut to the bolt. Make sure shock is centered and fasten bolt tightly. This secures the shock in place [yes there appeared to be the possibility of free play] and after 2,500 kms of driving it is still tight and rattle free.

As for the performance, well yes it is much better than either of the two older shocks [one of which was worn].

I dare say the shocks perform better than the tyres, so it's not much of a problem; given that I have 16" W126 rims and not the original 15" W116 rims, there is more grip from the 60 profile tyres, so I haven't a complaint about the shock absorber performance.

 

[B13]

Can we get a picture of this yolk business? I'm intrigued...

All the W116 front shocks (Billies, KYBs, Monroes etc.) are all a direct replacement and mount with two M6 (I think) bolts at the bottom and the usual locknut pair at the top.

I.

 

[Goldacre]

G'Day BAR, i recently received a set of front shocks from Autohausaz. They are the Sachs-Boges gas units and were $59.35 US each.

Fitted them last Sunday and have made a great difference to high speed running, i don't get the slight wobble through the steering wheel anymore and the car just feels different, although i often get that feeling when i put the tools on the car, it must feel loved

A question for people here, how have you gone getting your old shocks off and the new ones on? The original lower yoke bolts were 10mm with a multi faceted head making removal easy, but the Sachs-Boges supplied ones were 14mm and the normal bolt head configuration. I found no way to get any tools i had into the limited space in the yoke with the 14mm bolt, so cleaned up and put the 10mm originals back in.

Still a hell of a fiddly job

Jules

450SEL 1979 (4.5)

 

[WGB]

I have done a 116 and a 126 before and from memory it is easier to leave the shockie compressed so that the body can be swung from side to side to give access to the internal of the two lower bolts.

Then when they are fixed (with some loctite on the threads of course) you can allow the upper mounting to be extended by removing the wire holder that the shockie came with.

Bill

 

[Goldacre]

G'Day Bill,

the German Car Day in Northam was tops, hope to post photos soon, have a great one of a two tone chocolate VW Beatle going great guns on the
race track

The most popular Mercedes was a W126 560 SEL, drew a big crowd when he popped the bonnet, nice tidy engine bay and boy did those twin air intakes look good

My Shockies came unrestrained so i tackled the job fully extended, you would still need a very fine tool piece to get in there and around the bolt, a quality 1/4 drive that won't sheer off (AKA Kmart cheepies)

Jules

 

[SELfor50]

I can confidently say that for about $250 per corner you can get the top notch bilsteins re-built with better valves and stiffened up a bit.. But they're f*kn great..
MB Spares can also sort these out for you. Personally I would recommend the bilsteins at the price quoted above. Can you please confirm the bilstein part number that you were quoted that price on?? Was it the B36's (i think) they are???!

Cam2.

 

[BAR]

Two areas: first performance and second installation / removal.

As for performance, the sping is the thing that controls the movement at the front: relates to bounce and roll. So not much is really altered unless the spring rates are changed. The shock controls the damping of the sping, so to a lesser degree the bounce and roll. Steering vibrations that are eliminated when a new shock is installed will happen no matter what the 'bound' / 'rebound' rates are in the shock. Simply that a worn shock isn't doing the job. In fact I drove my car around for 15-20 Kms without the shock absorber just to 'feel' what it was like.

As for installation and removal. I managed to carry out the work with the car sitting inthe garage, no jacks or stads, just with all 4 paws on the ground. Starting with the left hand side: I turned the wheels hard left and undid the outer nut with a ring spanner: found that I couldn't reach the inner nut and turned the wheel hard right and undid the inner nut in the same way. Then, turned the wheel hard left and removed the tops nuts and slipped the old shock out.

As the new parts were supplied as two elements - yoke and shock - not as one with the Bilsteins or Fuchs, I simply bolted the yoke in first ensuring that a proper amount of Lock-Tite was applied to each nut. Aligned the shock and bolted it through the yoke. Then made sure the top bolt was correctly aligned with the tower and released the retaining strap and allowed the bolt to pass up. Then do up the retaining nuts on the top of the shock.

Around we go and do the right hand side. All up 10-15 mins each side!

 

[John S]

I replaced the front shocks the same way, but I took longer than you as I did not have the matching spanner for the multipoint star type 10mm bolts. Not a hard job, just a bit fiddlesome.