Spring Has Sprung!
Spring Has Sprung!
Spring Has Sprung!
Today was the Big Day, the day I set aside to replace the front springs. Never having done this job on a W111 I was expecting the worst, a major undertaking that would be a big deal.
First order of business, remove the sway bar. Bolt and bushings out of the lower control arms.
After removing the mounts on the chassis, the sway (or torsion) bar is out.
Next, the bolts on the lower control arm come out, and it gets lowered using a floor jack to release the pressure on the spring.
Comparing old and new springs, they look pretty much the same as far as their height. However, the driver’s side spring was definitely weak, as that corner of the car was nearly 2” lower than the right side.
A new spring pad for the top, clean out the lower control arm of 50 years of crud so the spring seats properly, lift it into the space, and raise the control arm back up to compress the spring and replace the bolts in the lower control arm.
And the new spring is installed.
Granted, this all sounds easy, but it took about 60-90 minutes a side to complete the work. So both springs installed and the sway bar with new bushings.
And now a confession. Sharp eyed people who know these cars will notice a gaff. The sway bar is installed upside down. Grrr. The angle of the ends is very subtle, and when I reassembled it, I got the sides reversed. Good thing I take pictures of all this, as when I was reviewing the pictures I noticed the mistake. Oh well, if that’s the worst thing to happen, I’m happy. First thing tomorrow morning I’ll drop it and flip it over. And then a test drive!
Saturday, April 13, 2019