For the last few days I’ve been searching for torsion bar link assemblies or even stand-alone buffers (bushings), thinking I would send out the bolt, spacer and washers for CAD plating.
I finally found the OEM buffers (111 323 00 44) for $14.25 each times eight equals $114 plus shipping plus Quebec taxes for me. OUCH! for eight little pieces of rubber. All the others in the suspension are about $2 each.
Being a cheapskate, but a cheapskate that can calculate, I’ve measured and analyzed the end links compared to some aftermarket Energy Suspension Universal End Links and am presenting the analysis below, along with the derivation of the Energy Suspension Part Number required for equivalence on a 230SL. I expect the 250 and 280 are the same, but I have not researched it.
The analysis and derivation is required because the Energy Suspension buffers are shorter but stiffer than the OEM buffers (A111 323 00 44), forcing the spacer to be longer than the OEM spacer. And because I’ve assumed the same percentage compression of the buffers, not the same dimensional compression, the spacer length has to be calculated.
If someone wants to check my calculations or calculate them for another car, I’ve provided the pictorial comparison of the two systems as well as the derivation of the spacer length required for a 230SL. I started on the left with the length of the bolt shank, calculated the compressed buffer heights, then the compression percentage and applied that to the Energy Suspension buffers and calculated the spacer length required to keep the torsion bar the same relative to the lower control arm.
The difference in price is $114 for OEM buffers only from Mercedes or $228 for the entire OEM end link kit from one of our favorite suppliers, versus an aftermarket Energy Suspension Polyurethane Universal End Link Kit, Part Number 9.8162G for less than $20 almost anywhere they sell suspension parts. (G in the part number means black buffers instead of R for red buffers).
I’m going to buy them for my car but it will take a few months before I can report on my level of satisfaction with them.
As I used to say when restoring a vintage Ferrari, I may tend to be a purist, but I’m not a masochist. I like saving 90%.
Tom Kizer