I have been meaning to write this blog post for almost a year, and finally got the motivation to do it when a fellow W114 enthusiast asked what I have done to UGU with regards to her ride height.
As those of you who have been following my posts will know, I am keen to keep UGU looking as original as possible, but there was one thing that had really bothered me which made me stray from that ethos. That issue was how much higher her nose sat relative to the rear. This first came to my attention when UGU was lined up at a Mercedes Club display day. Sitting between a W113 Pagoda and a W108, her nose was notably higher than her neighbours.
UGU with her nose in the air (5th car in line from the foreground)
I asked a few other owners if their coupes had the same issue; the general consensus was that they all sat lower at the back, perhaps to give that sportier look, but UGU's nose did seem to be excessively high with almost 90mm clearance between the top of the tyre to the wheel arch, while the back was almost flush.
Front wheel clearance, looking very high!
Front tyre clearance almost 90mm....
...whilst the back was almost flush.
After displaying UGU at another classic car meet where the following photo was taken, I decided enough was enough - it was time to do something!
Professional photograph of UGU at Custom Cars & Coffee meeting
After checking that the rear shock absorbers were not worn causing the rear end to sag, I set about sourcing a spare set of front springs which could be reset to bring the front of the car down. I find it amusing that I have kept the original even though I am positive I will never fit them again!
Sourced from a fellow enthusiast, spare set of front springs
Now, I know this is going to cause some purists to get their knickers in a knot, but this is what I did; it is not a recommendation for others.
Rather than taking a hack saw and cutting a few lengths of the springs I took them to a suspension specialist who heated the springs and reset them, reducing the overall length by 45mm. Mercedes-Benz springs are cold wound, which is why heating them will cause some people to get upset; but this is what I did after much discussion with other car folk.
The picture below still confuses me, and I have no explanation for it. The freshly painted spring on top is the replacement spring. You can see the coils on the left side are closer together than the ones on the right; these are the ones that were reset. The confusing bit is that even after the replacement spring was reset, it is still longer than the original! Like I said, I can't explain it, maybe someone reading this will be able to shed some light on the matter.
Replacement and original spring.
Confusingly the reset replacement is longer than the original
With the help of a friend who has built one of the most unique classic Benz show cars I have ever seen, we spent the afternoon fitting the new springs to UGU.
I have heard some horror stories about trying to replace the front springs on a W114 due to restrictions on spring clamp locations. As it turns out we didn't even use spring clamps, just three trolley jacks, two axle stands and a few spanners.
UGU gets new springs with the help of a friend
With UGU up on stands and the front wheels removed, we tackled one side at a time. The lower control arm was raised to remove the tension of the shock absorber so the bottom two retaining nuts could be removed. The jack was then lowered and repositioned with another alongside, each one on the hinge points of the the control arm. We then removed the two cam bolts (a fantastic fixing meaning that we didn't need to worry about alignment as they can only be fitted one way), the two jacks were carefully lowered at the same time allowing the spring to extend to its full length. The spring will take on a scary bend when doing this so please be careful. As I said this is what I did, it is not a recommendation to others, and I take no responsibility for harm caused to others by doing it.
With all compression removed from the spring it was removed and the new one seated in the lower control arm before the two jacks were used once again to lift the arm back into position. I will admit that this was a very fiddly job as the shock absorber needs to be located at the same time the cam bolts are being fitted, all of which happens while the spring is under compression. Careful adjustments with the trolley jacks finally allowed the bolts to slide home.
One side done, repeat for the other, job done! All that was needed next was to get the wheel alignment checked at the local tyre shop.
After taking UGU for a drive, the front began to settle down and by the time I got home the 45mm resetting of the replacement springs, directly translated to the height reduction in UGU's nose. For the first time she sat level, and I love the look!
I have now been driving UGU for about a year since she was lowered and I have not had a single issue, no rubbing, bottoming out, and if anything I find she tackles speed bumps much better.
So there you have an inexpensive exercise thanks to the help of a few friends with some knowhow, making one very happy me.
