280sl Ride Height

[n/a]

I have my 280sl 1971 in the shop having the shocks and spring pads replaced. The tech has asked me what the ride height should be, evidently the height from the ground to some point on the car. My Blue Book does not show this. Any ideas?

[mdsalemi]

SD280SL (gee that's a funny name)

Are you sure you don't have the ride height?  My blue book (which I sold to Malc) had the specs and procedure in it.


Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

[George Davis]

SD,

rear ride height and rear wheel camber are inseparable, the adjustment for one is also the adjustment for the other.  Rear ride height is correct when rear camber is correct.  Rear camber should be +1.5 +/- 0.5 degrees, with softtop down and hardtop fitted, spare tire in trunk and full fuel tank.

HTH

George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by George Davis

rear ride height and rear wheel camber are inseparable, the adjustment for one is also the adjustment for the other.

This makes sense because the differential is fixed to the body of the car.  If you use larger spring pads to increase the distance between the axle & body at the end of the axles, then the axles would "tilt" creating a camber change.  I love learning new stuff!

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[mbzse]

quote:Originally posted by SD280SL

I have my 280sl 1971 ../.. what the ride height should be, evidently the height from the ground to some point on the car. Any ideas?

The Mercedes factory tech literature "Book of tables, 1969 ed" gives this to be 160mm (nominal), measured from the underside of the floor plates of the body of the car to the ground, at a point in line with the door handle.

Note that ride height is influenced by several factors, one which is the condition of the big rubber parts in the wheel mountings, the springs, tire diameter and more.

Your car should sit level, i.e. if you open the door and place a long spirit level on the door sill, you need to adjust front and/or rear suspension to make the car sit level. The same goes for level sideways, in this case open the trunk and place the spirit level on the trunk threshold, adjust suspension left and/or right until you are satisfied. There are different thickness rubber rings available to place at the end of the main coil springs, these are useful for this kind if fine tuning.

/Hans in Sweden

.

[hauser]

Take a look at Tom Sargeant's hompage.  There you'll notice quite a difference in ride height comparing NOS springs vs new John Olson progressive rate springs.

1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

[JimVillers]

Working on the ride height of the 190SL, we chose to use the measurement from the center of the hub cap to the the eyebrow (it would be the bottom of the fender on the 113).  This eliminates all of the tire variables (size, wear, inflation pressure etc).  I have developed progressive springs for the 190SL Group and use multiple 1/8 inch rubber spacers to finely adjust the desired ride height.  It can be a little work to get everything right but it is worth it.

Jim Villers
190SL, 230SL 5-Speed, 190E 2.3-16 Kompressor

[n/a]

I got the car back from the shop today. They said the rear shocks were totally shot. After installing all new spring pads and aligning the car, you can see the car has "negative" camber from the rear (tires angled out at the top). They measured the ride height. It is as follows:
Left/Front: 26 1/8"
r/Front: 26 5/8"
Left/Rear: 26 1/8"
r/Rear: 26"

The rear seems to be OK, but the front is off by 1/2", probably due to a driver on the left side all those years wearing the springs there down.
Does this seem OK to leave it as such?
FYI I used Bilstein shocks, and M/B pads.
Thanks

[A Dalton]

<<car has "negative" camber from the rear (tires angled out at the top). >>

 That would be positive camber ..

[Vince Canepa]

Two things:

1) The dimensions given indicate that the chassis is twisted.  The LF is lower that the RF, but the RR is lower that the LR.

2) M-B doesn't give ride height as a dimension from the ground.  It is given as a measurement of the suspension geometry (i.e. the angle of the lower control arm in relation to the horizontal, etc.).  Within limits, you can raise or lower the car with shims (spring pads).  The original purpose of the pads was to compensate for springs of different length tolerance and to compenstae for weight differences caused by equipment differences.  If you can get the car aligned within spec, and the chassis or suspension has not been damaged, the ride height should be as the factory intended.  You can choose to go outside the specs to acheive a goal.  For example, positive camber at the rear leads to oversteer at the limit.  I choose to accept a bit more negative camber at the rear than the specs call for in order to combat the oversteer characteristic.

Vince Canepa
1967 250SL
113.043-10-001543
568H Signal Red
116 Caviar MB-Tex

[JimVillers]

One more ride height issue.  The new shock absorbers are "gas" shocks that will exert an upward force of about 20 pounds per wheel.  The use of gas shocks will raise the ride height by a little amount.  Koni "Classic" adjustable shock absorbers are an alternative.

Be careful of setting the rear ride height with a negative camber.  When loading the trunk for a trip, the rear camber can become excessive, changing the appearance of the car and wearing the inside of the rear tires.  


Jim Villers
190SL, 230SL 5-Speed, 190E 2.3-16 Kompressor

[A Dalton]

>>I choose to accept a bit more negative camber at the rear than the specs call for in order to combat the oversteer characteristic.
>>

  I Agree.....

[113gray]

FWIW, I put "John Olsen" VR springs on last summer & went back to my log & found the ride height comparisons before & after. All measurements are from level floor to highest point of fender wheel arch. With a full tank of gas, on P185/70R14 87S tires inflated 26 psi front & 31 rear, my measurements done after a month or so and several hundred miles to allow for any "settling" were in Oct. '04 as follows: DSF: Old 25 1/4"; New 25 1/8". PSF: Old 25 3/4"; New 25 7/8". DSR: Old 26 5/8"; New 25 7/8". PSR: Old 25 3/4; New 26". This spring, they are virtually unchanged
So,in summary, differences: DSF - 1/8"; PSF + 1/8"; DSR + 1/4"; PSR + 1/4". The MB rubber pads I ordered were as close to stock original thickness as possible. These variations may not meet the requirements of some, but for my requirements, the car rides & handles fine, noticibly better than before.    -JP- '66 230SL/5 spd.

[Bob G ✝︎]

I think I raised this question last week. I also have  John Olson's Progressive rate springs. this sunday morning I set the tire pressure a bit to high 34 front 34 rear as I had the trunk loaded with extra parts and supply in the car transporting it my new house. The front has 25 mm spring pads it should of had 32.5  the rear is too high causing positive camber 24 mm in stead of 18 MM to say the lease the car was a bit squerly so I keep it at 60MPH and did not attempt to jocky it. I down loaded this post to compare with my old notes I gave John Olson with the stock springs. This is one of the first repairs I will attempt to get corrected .
On a second note the old girl does not like sitting, she leaks transmission fluid when  left parked for long peroids of time. When I checked the transmission fluid level It was half empty. A quart after warm up brang it up just before the line. I got a drian pan under the car and I suspect a leaky seal  second on my list. third a new battery the third in 5 years. I also noticed some  blue smoke getting on the freeway not pushing her. It disappeared later after I got to speed and settled in my own lane. I do not know if it is valve guides or piston rings?
My intent iis to drive the car a little more frequently to see what appears and make a list and get one thing done as I can afford to. Since I have no idea of how many true miles are on the engine it is my hope that with my drving it will last along time before I need to have a Metric repalcment or rebuild.
By the way engine oil was super clean. The cooling system is high on my list to do also I would like it this were done first.

Bob Geco
1968 280SL

[Bob G ✝︎]

Next question and a related one to ride height. What is thecorrect camber and caster angle the car is suppose to bee set at assuming say 26inches is the tarket height and street use and good handling for spirtied driving once in awhile.

Bob Geco