replace front N/S road spring on A208 2002

HouseofStrauss

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I have a broken N/S/Front coil spring on my A208 convertible 2002 ELEGANCE. I'll replace this myself, but may I ask some advice first...

1- Do I need to drop the wishbone to extract the spring?
2- Will I need compressors for the spring removal/replacement?
3- Other than alignment issues, what other precautions required?
4- Is there a walkthrough anywhere, as I don't have a manual?
5- Is it really essential to replace these in pairs?
6- About £40 each on ebay, does that seem reasonable?

Thank-you for your advice and help
 
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nick9one1

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1- Do I need to drop the wishbone to extract the spring?
Maybe.. I did, but then I was replacing the wishbone bushes at the same time.

2- Will I need compressors for the spring removal/replacement?
Again.. Maybe. Most people will say you definitely do, but I replaced the springs on my w203 without a sp. compressor.
The first thing I did was to remove the top bolt when the car is still on the ground, that way when you jack the car up the spring tension is gradually released, a bit like when you release a spring compressor.
installing the spring is the same in reverse. Get the spring in position and VERY slowly start lowering the car. make sure the spring is properly seated in the cups top and bottom, and that the damper comes through the middle of the top bearing.

3- Other than alignment issues, what other precautions required?
If you do remove the bushes, make sure the spring/arm is compressed before you tighten them up.
Make sure the spring is seated properly in the cups.

4- Is there a walkthrough anywhere, as I don't have a manual?
Not sure.. but the w203 isn't much different to any other car I've worked on, just a slightly different arrangement of wishbone arms.

5- Is it really essential to replace these in pairs?
On an older car I'd argue not, everything tends to be a little worn out so a slight difference in springs probably wouldn't be noticed.
Although it's worth keeping in mind that mercedes does spec the springs for different engines/variations of the same car, They are usually identified by painted rings on the coils.
So an a208, convertible might be slightly heavier than a hardtop, so has heavier springs to give it the same ride height. The same goes for different engines, some are heavier, so different springs are installed.
Its probably going to be very difficult to find a spring that matches yours exactly. Installing a pair would ensure they at least matched across an axle.

6- About £40 each on ebay, does that seem reasonable?
Sounds about the same as my w203. I instead decided to buy a set of four after market springs for £100.
 
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television

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A 208 has the springs separate from the shocks, unlike a 203 that has struts as such. the spring can be compressed and replaced

401620b39b5096bad155782d64e212aa.png
 

nick9one1

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Ah, an easy job then. More like replacing rear springs!

You almost definitely don't need a spring compressor. Just remove the bolt (20) at the end of the damper so the arm can be lowered enough to remove the spring. The ARB tie rod probably needs unbolting too (not in the picture).
 

television

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Ah, an easy job then. More like replacing rear springs!

You almost definitely don't need a spring compressor. Just remove the bolt (20) at the end of the damper so the arm can be lowered enough to remove the spring. The ARB tie rod probably needs unbolting too (not in the picture).

Indeed :D and the way that many do the job, just take care if the spring has shaped seat to allow for the start of the coil to sit in.
 

bigasotonuk

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Hi,
I would only replace in pairs, I think its more essential on an old car than it is on a newer one, especially if you are not buying a single genuine spring.
Do check with MB as I bought front springs for my C43 AMG (CLK 208 is effectively a coupe version of a 202 c class) and they were only just over £50 each, though this was a few years ago.
So to sum up, if you must just replace one spring then buy an MB one, if you decide to replace both then you could use pattern spring at least they will be matching, though my personal preference would be to replace both genuine.
 

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Hi,
I would only replace in pairs, I think its more essential on an old car than it is on a newer one, especially if you are not buying a single genuine spring.
Do check with MB as I bought front springs for my C43 AMG (CLK 208 is effectively a coupe version of a 202 c class) and they were only just over £50 each, though this was a few years ago.
So to sum up, if you must just replace one spring then buy an MB one, if you decide to replace both then you could use pattern spring at least they will be matching, though my personal preference would be to replace both genuine.

Very good advice from Andy above. we have all agreed for as long as I can remember that 5 to 6 years as the max time for changing one spring only.


Sure there are only 5 different springs listed for the 208 (21 for 209), but the correct one is important, genuine does take the risk equation out.
 

Uncle Benz

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You can do the job with a decent trolley jack. You will need it perpendicular to the centre line of the car, under the lower balljoint end, and it must be able to roll on its wheels. You will need to loosen the wishbone inner pivot bolts to allow the wishbone to drop without damaging the bushes. Be careful, as it has a small element of danger about it... The correct method involves an internal spring compressor
 
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television

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Thanks Uncle, I hate springs and have never done one.
 

Uncle Benz

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Thanks Uncle, I hate springs and have never done one.

A sensible course of action mate. They can be very dangerous, even when you know what you are doing. A mechanic at the local Renault dealer suffered a broken jaw recently when a spring compressor slipped.
 
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HouseofStrauss

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Hello Everyone, thanks X 100 for such a detailed group of replies. I thought this was going dead, then you all came in with some really helpful advice. I saw some youtube vids on this also and it does look like I'll need a spring compressor. They seem to vary hugely in price. On ebay they vary from £22 to £100 plus

Does that internal hook spring ( £22 ) look suitable for the job?

Again thanks for your helpful input. ;)
 

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Not seen that one before, it looks OK to me, see what the others say.
 
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HouseofStrauss

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Summary of the job

So here is a quick summary of how this front spring replacement went. I hope this may be a start for anyone else doing the job :)

There are 3 ways to do this job.

1- dismantle the suspension so that it drops sufficiently to remove the spring
2- use proper spring compressors, that allow you to do the job without dropping the suspension.
3- Take it to a Mercedes garage and pay £500 :-? (they quoted me)

Dropping the suspension is a longer job and may well require wheel alignment, afterwards especially if you are not careful with the shimming of control arm bolts.

I decided to remove the spring with the control arms in situ. However, you MUST use the correct spring compressors, or there is little chance you will get the spring out of the top and bottom retaining cups. I tried with side spring compressors and internal hook types. Both failed to compress the spring correctly or safely. Really I did try to make this work, as it would have saved me £60!

In the end I purchased a kit from ebay Took about 4 days to arrive (to UK)

These compressors fit the mercedes A 208 coil spring perfectly and they cost me £60.00 They seems to be good enough for infrequent use, which is likely for most DIY-ers.

The spring I purchased from ebay for £46. I also telephoned the company and they were very happy to match the spring correctly by using my car registration number.

The compressor ket was ebay here link here

The spring was from ebay here link here

Both the spring and the compressor kit will fit a variety of vehicles, but I do advise you check with a phone call to the suppliers first. Always a good policy...

Despite checking out the youtube video here I did have to release the lower shocker mounting bolt to gain a little bit more room to remove and replace the spring.

Here are some tips that may be useful for anyone else undertaking this

1- DON'T try to use anything other than proper Mercedes spring compressors, unless you are prepared to drop the suspension (lower control arm)

2- If you use the proper compressors, you can replace the spring without too much dis-assembly.

3- Just FYI it took me exactly 4 hours, including a break and tidy up time.

You don't need any special tools, except the all important spring compressors and a good socket set. Also a decent pry bar.

4- I jacked up the car on the drive, removed the wheel but also used a second jack to raise and lower the control arm at various points in the process. It just makes alignment and easing things in and out a bit smoother.

5- Make sure you wind the jaws of the compressor as far to the top and bottom of the spring as you can in order to make the spring as short as possible when compressed. You need to do this, because the space is tight.

6- With the compressor fitted, wind the spring as short as you can, but stopping just before the coil begins to touch.

7- You will probably still need to lever the assembly out and maybe drop the shocker lower retaining bolt to allow that last bit of travel on the lower control arm. Don't forget the top rubber cup inside the spring housing and maybe the circular shim on the lower control arm, if its fitted.

8- Compressing the new spring needs to be done carefully. The trick is to leave just enough coil at the top of the spring to go into the rubber cup. If you take the top jaw up too high, this will be a problem.

9- Take the bottom jaw as low as possible. You'll need as much of the spring to be compressed (shortened) as possible.

10- I managed to put the end of the spring in a vice while I was turning the compressor threaded shaft. Be aware however that the thread of the compressor does not foul the vice.

11- You need to wind up the spring, again to as short as possible (stop just before the coils begin to touch.) This should be enough to ease the assembly back between the lower control arm and the top enclosure.

12- I tried fitting the top rubber cup on before replacing the assembly. This did not allow enough space and clearance. In the end I put the cup into the housing and noted where the end of the spring should locate IMPORTANT it's notched!

13- You can now ease the spring assembly into the top rubber cup, before levering the bottom into the lower control arm retainer.

14- Go easy, there's a helluva lot of energy in that compressed spring! Turn the spring so that top end of the coil in in the rubber notch and lower end is against the retainer stub.

15- With the spring in place, you can reassemble shocker mount, if you had to release it and then start to unwind the spring compressor.

16- I rand into a small problem here: In order to make the spring as short as possible to get into the gap, I placed the top jaw too high on the coil. The problem is that when you release the compressor, the top jaw can get jammed into the metal cup housing at the top of the spring. The bottom one came out easily however.

17- With the compressor released and the center shaft removed, the bottom jaw can be removed easily.

18- In my case the top jaw was firmly wedged into the top metal housing of the spring.

19- This was fairly easy to remove, by using a chisel and hammer to tap the top jaw anticlockwise with a sideways action. The idea is that you 'unwind' the jaw down the coil and away from the top metal cup that its jammed on.

20- Do the usual checks for tightening any remaining reassembly fittings and call it job done!

I took the car for a test drive on bumpy roads and everything was fine. Heavy breaking in a straight line should allow the front of the car to dip and return with equal travel and bounce on both sides. My tests were conclusive.
 
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