JSeaman
Senior Member
When your shocks go you usually have symptoms such as knocking and/or poor handling. The normal reason for replacements is that they leak/degrade over time
so should be considered a service item (but at long service intervals, several tens of thousands of miles). When replacing the shocks you do not have to do
the springs as well, I would however recommend you do a bit of an exploration before starting work to determine whether any other work is required, it's
easier to do it all in one go. You do replace them in pairs! They have almost identical wear and there is rarely a good reason to change a single shock
absorber.
This is actually a very easy job on the W208, the shock and spring are separate so you don't need to worry about spring compressors etc. Also, the twin-nut arrangement on the top of the shock makes removal very easy indeed.
Step 1 - Crack off each of the wheel nuts on the front two wheels (just one turn is enough) while the weight of the car is on the wheels
Step 2 - Jack the car up off the floor, it doesn't need to be ridiculously high but give yourself a little room to work
so should be considered a service item (but at long service intervals, several tens of thousands of miles). When replacing the shocks you do not have to do
the springs as well, I would however recommend you do a bit of an exploration before starting work to determine whether any other work is required, it's
easier to do it all in one go. You do replace them in pairs! They have almost identical wear and there is rarely a good reason to change a single shock
absorber.
This is actually a very easy job on the W208, the shock and spring are separate so you don't need to worry about spring compressors etc. Also, the twin-nut arrangement on the top of the shock makes removal very easy indeed.
Step 1 - Crack off each of the wheel nuts on the front two wheels (just one turn is enough) while the weight of the car is on the wheels
Step 2 - Jack the car up off the floor, it doesn't need to be ridiculously high but give yourself a little room to work