Wagon Chat - Advice/Pics/Kick the Can/Whatever...

[danholm]

Whew, Been on a crazy travel schedule and no time to check in with the Kombi folks. ATL_S124, Looking for upgrades eh? Try Sportline or similar front springs, and struts. Adjust the rear self leveling to lower a bit, and the results are great at a minimal cost. Upsize to 17's. Wagons come with beefier sway bars and bushings, so your close to being there. Dan

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[ATL_S124]

Originally Posted by danholm

Whew,

Been on a crazy travel schedule and no time to check in with the Kombi folks.

ATL_S124, Looking for upgrades eh? Try Sportline or similar front springs, and struts. Adjust the rear self leveling to lower a bit, and the results are great at a minimal cost. Upsize to 17's. Wagons come with beefier sway bars and bushings, so your close to being there.

Dan

Thanks for the advice! Already got the 17"s, just need one more tire for the rears (there several upsides to working at a Benz dealer... especially when you have the most common tire sizes--thank you C-Class-- of the newer cars and ppl throw away perfectly good tires ). Im sure this is detailed elsewhere on the site but Im going to be lazy for the sake of fueling this thread and ask here; How would one go about adjusting the rear self leveling? Im tired of the Monster Truck look !
And please tell me you aren't in Columbus bc you are at Benning... unless you're a contractor then you're just lucky

Elliott

[danholm]

I'll tell ya how to lower. But first, there is more to Columbus GA than the Army. I have nothing to do with it, thank you.

To lower, check out the control attached to the rear sway bar. There is an adjustment which is quite simple. If you have any mechanical common sense, you'll figure it out. If you don't, best to stay away or you'll never get it back to normal. Mark the current setting then make small adjustments. and give it some time to let the pump try to adjust the level before you contune with additional adjustments. Once you see how this was designed you won't think it was MB engineered. Really basic, including a U clamp.

D

[danholm]

Originally Posted by ATL_S124

bump for Wagon-Winnage

Check out the wheel fitment guide. Those tires sound a little too large. With 17's make sure they use tape on weights, or the rim mounted units will hit the strut.

[RHW]

CHOCOLATE THUNDER came home today. Had a few rust issues, so we removed all panels and made her right. I matched the car color to the lowers.

Bodycolored grill ring, black grill. Monoblocks. 500E lights. Stereo rocks.

She's a grocery getter and 4matic winter wagon.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by RHW

CHOCOLATE THUNDER came home today. Had a few rust issues, so we removed all panels and made her right. I matched the car color to the lowers.

Bodycolored grill ring, black grill. Monoblocks. 500E lights. Stereo rocks.

She's a grocery getter and 4matic winter wagon.

Love the name - and the ride!

[ATL_S124]

Originally Posted by danholm

I'll tell ya how to lower. But first, there is more to Columbus GA than the Army. I have nothing to do with it, thank you.

To lower, check out the control attached to the rear sway bar. There is an adjustment which is quite simple. If you have any mechanical common sense, you'll figure it out. If you don't, best to stay away or you'll never get it back to normal. Mark the current setting then make small adjustments. and give it some time to let the pump try to adjust the level before you contune with additional adjustments. Once you see how this was designed you won't think it was MB engineered. Really basic, including a U clamp.

--Check out the wheel fitment guide. Those tires sound a little too large. With 17's make sure they use tape on weights, or the rim mounted units will hit the strut.

---CHOCOLATE THUNDER

D

And for my next trick, I will now respond to three posts at once!
1) Lucky you, Danholm and your nothing to do with the Army; I must start reading the things I sign MUCH more carefully ... and thankyous for the lowering hints, I am now interested to see what they've gone and done under there.

2) I am doing the mounting and balancing myself, and I believe all we have are the tape on weights, but thanks #2 for the heads up! and if those tires do turn out to be too big I'll just throw them back in the dumpster I got them from and root around till I find the appropriate 245/40/17s

3) Lookin good RHW! Have you given any thought to shaving the grille badge?

I really prefer the look of the preface lift grille... I bet I have to swap hoods to get one on me though, has anyone done that? Also considering trying to get my hands on a Right-hand drive wing mirror, so's they can match and all...

[RHW]

Thanks Chappy, Your monoblocks for all thread indirectly led to these wheels!

And ATL asked: "Have you given any thought to shaving the grille badge?"

I initially put on a flat badge to see what I thought, and surprisingly, I missed the star.

So maybe on another round of work, but for now, Chocolate Thunder is done.der.

[ATL_S124]

Originally Posted by RHW

Thanks Chappy, Your monoblocks for all thread indirectly led to these wheels!

And ATL asked: "Have you given any thought to shaving the grille badge?"

I initially put on a flat badge to see what I thought, and surprisingly, I missed the star.

So maybe on another round of work, but for now, Chocolate Thunder is done.der.

I think I was misunderstood, I love the Star on the hood, I meant the flat badge on the grille, Ive seen where others who have color matched the grille have removed and filled where those were to get cleaner lines... example 2phast's 500E, but I would definitely leave the 'targeting device'... I mean the Star on the hood, I love my Star

[RHW]

ATL, since you were nice enough to explain, I won't BS:

I did not understand what I was doing. When the work was done, I had removed the star and was left w 2 round badges which predictably looked wrong.

So...the front emblem will go at some point, and the star stays. (Sportline and Cabriolet projects are now front burner)

I went too black on the grill too, it has no matching gloss black anywhere- bumpers are not high gloss enough except when recently coated with jet black; then they look great.

Chocolate Thunder has made my utility trips more pleasant. It might have the best sound of my group left (3 way hex w silk dome tweeters), and loves big loads and snow.

[ATL_S124]

anyone tried rolling/pulling the rear fenders on a wagon? i am trying to fit these damn free 245/17's i have and they rub by a mere inch... trying to figure out how to fix that, any thoughts? (the wheels were free is why i didnt check to make sure they fit exactly... )

[myfirstbenz]

Chocolate Thunder is looking sweeeeeeet! Very nice color.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by ATL_S124

anyone tried rolling/pulling the rear fenders on a wagon? i am trying to fit these damn free 245/17's i have and they rub by a mere inch... trying to figure out how to fix that, any thoughts? (the wheels were free is why i didnt check to make sure they fit exactly... )

Check out this thread....

http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=202938

And in particular....

http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/sho...7&postcount=24

[ATL_S124]

Originally Posted by Chappy

Check out this thread....

http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=202938

And in particular....

http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/sho...7&postcount=24

thanks thanks thanks! any clue if he used some secret Mbenzman process other than just heat-gunning the area and moving slowly?

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by ATL_S124

any clue if he used some secret Mbenzman process other than just heat-gunning the area and moving slowly?

Not sure - I always leave the hard jobs to a pro (anything other than washing and waxing lol).

p.s. Tell Mr. Ingold I said 'hi'

[ATL_S124]

Originally Posted by Chappy

Not sure - I always leave the hard jobs to a pro (anything other than washing and waxing lol).

p.s. Tell Mr. Ingold I said 'hi'

I guess that just leaves a few PM's to send then...

[danholm]

Originally Posted by ATL_S124

I think I was misunderstood, I love the Star on the hood, I meant the flat badge on the grille, Ive seen where others who have color matched the grille have removed and filled where those were to get cleaner lines... example 2phast's 500E, but I would definitely leave the 'targeting device'... I mean the Star on the hood, I love my Star

94-95 did not come factory with an emblem (badge) on the grill.

[ATL_S124]

Originally Posted by danholm

94-95 did not come factory with an emblem (badge) on the grill.

yes yes, but his be a Pre-Facelift and he's got a flat badge and the Star, go figure

[Chappy]

Ahhhhhhhhhh.....my kombi is clean. I washed it at home Saturday after getting a letter from the water dept. saying we could now wash our cars once again on the odd/even system till 10am.

Thanks for the offer ATL_S124, but I can now baby the wagon once again.

[M104-AMG]

Originally Posted by ATL_S124

anyone tried rolling/pulling the rear fenders on a wagon? i am trying to fit these damn free 245/17's i have and they rub by a mere inch... trying to figure out how to fix that, any thoughts? (the wheels were free is why i didnt check to make sure they fit exactly... )

Get adjustable camber arms and bring the negative camber between -1.75 or -2.00

I had run 245/45R17 on 17x7.5 ET 37 wheels once with no rubbing on my wagon

:-) neil

[RHW]

ATL, I just rolled the fenders on my wagon (and white Sportline, and our black Sportline)

The tool I used, I rented from a poster here, OmegaBenz. You remove a wheel and bolt this up like a wheel, then it will roll your fenders as slowly or carefully as you can be. He asks for a deposit and a donation, and he will ask me to ship it to you next if you would like.

I am running 215s on 17s on the wagon, but before the body shop rolled my Sportlines, I wanted them to practice on the wagon.

So far, the Sportlines have not rubbed - I am running 245x40x18s on the rear on 18x8, et31 wheels...240x45x18 et31 on the front

[pvision]

Just a few from the UK to tempt you!





Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

[RHW]

Welcome, GREAT FIRST POST!

[ATL_S124]

Originally Posted by RHW

ATL, I just rolled the fenders on my wagon (and white Sportline, and our black Sportline)

The tool I used, I rented from a poster here, OmegaBenz. You remove a wheel and bolt this up like a wheel, then it will roll your fenders as slowly or carefully as you can be. He asks for a deposit and a donation, and he will ask me to ship it to you next if you would like.

I am running 215s on 17s on the wagon, but before the body shop rolled my Sportlines, I wanted them to practice on the wagon.

So far, the Sportlines have not rubbed - I am running 245x40x18s on the rear on 18x8, et31 wheels...240x45x18 et31 on the front

Well i just got tired of waiting/rubbing and rolled them myself today at work... and the verdict is you MUST use the heat gun to warm up the paint, no matter what the Brazilian guy who does all the fender-rolling for the dealership says!!! so end result is minor cracks on driver's side rear (only rolled the rears) and good looking work if i do say so myself on the passenger's side. Oh, and of course i am no longer gouging giant strips o' rubber outta my tire's sidewalls. now to test drive for a few days to see if dropping ride height is now feasible, or to see if i will need to do more work! Thanks a ton for everyone's input!!!

[myfirstbenz]

This looks nice for you late model boys... my gray works better on mine.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/W124-...spagenameZWDVW