SL 500 Suspension

[ajlsl600]

ok..... one would have thought that the costs associated with all this( different fastener ,different tooling, maintenance of different tooling, complications of keeping many different fasteners ) would be more than sticking with say metric bolts or torx only, and educating the assembly staff or ,robot ? i am NOT a fan or torx i dont believe one can exert the required force to shift them at times and under duress the internal splines often give way leading to huge problems getting the fastener out . anyway your explanation does beg the question ,( HOW on earth did we build cars before all this pokey yokey bs was dreamed up ???? and whilst we are at it .SURELY it would be a vastly better idea to have ALL the filters oil ,fuel air in one place as i have seen on some construction equipment ,open one panel everything there...

 

[Craiglxviii]

Well there are economies of scale yes, but the cost delta between a few pence per car for different fixings and having to rework an issue on the line don’t even begin to compare. In literally every instance I’ve known, Takt time takes precedence over incidental cost. As an example, all French cars have to be designed so that the operator must not enter the vehicle to assemble, they can only lean in no further than the torso. That’s a French legal requirement. So all French cars have design compromises to allow for that assembly method.

Educating the staff is one thing but chance errors do creep in. That’s what the concept of poke yoke is intended to counter. It’s a Japanese phrase, english translation “prevention of stupid act”. So, parts and processes that can only be assembled or carried out in one way.

Do t get the idea that each car has a million thousand different types of fastener either, probably 3-4 dependent on marque. They’re separated according to what is being fitted in what sequence on the line, what holding force criteria those parts have, corrosion resistance requirements (whole other ballgame) etc.

As to how we built cars before all this came out- badly. Look at anything out of British Leyland. Look at the American crap from the 70s. The whole idea is to make everything in the build of the car as ultra efficient as possible, muda and muri and all that, elimination of wasted time and material.

Having all filters in one place would be a packaging exercise. I suspect cars would grow by a metre in length and 150kg is mass to allow for a different routing of pipes and ducts. Remember, a styling model is created, then they work out where to fit everything. Cars are designed and mainly built from the outside in.

 

[Malcolm Johnson]

Greetings all,
I selected a company called ABC specialist based in Holland. The cost was £748 (861 euro) including delivery, with my old strut as return. It will arrive after Easter.
I've owned this car 7 years in a couple of months and this has been my first ABC related replacement. To be honest not even a failure noticed by the system just i noticed a leak on my garage floor. Remaining costs have just been maintenance, which includes a pentocin fluid and filter Change ever 2 years which i do myself. I'm a little bit of a fanatic when it comes to regular maintenance.

Cheers

 

[Craiglxviii]

Greetings all,
I selected a company called ABC specialist based in Holland. The cost was £748 (861 euro) including delivery, with my old strut as return. It will arrive after Easter.
I've owned this car 7 years in a couple of months and this has been my first ABC related replacement. To be honest not even a failure noticed by the system just i noticed a leak on my garage floor. Remaining costs have just been maintenance, which includes a pentocin fluid and filter Change ever 2 years which i do myself. I'm a little bit of a fanatic when it comes to regular maintenance.

Cheers

What warranty do they offer?

 

[flowrider]

Greetings all,
I selected a company called ABC specialist based in Holland. The cost was £748 (861 euro) including delivery, with my old strut as return. It will arrive after Easter.
I've owned this car 7 years in a couple of months and this has been my first ABC related replacement. To be honest not even a failure noticed by the system just i noticed a leak on my garage floor. Remaining costs have just been maintenance, which includes a pentocin fluid and filter Change ever 2 years which i do myself. I'm a little bit of a fanatic when it comes to regular maintenance.

Cheers

That's expensive. I thought these struts were available now for under £400.

 

[Craiglxviii]

That's expensive. I thought these struts were available now for under £400.

No, Arnotts have them for about the same so this deal is about the going rate. New from MB they’re only £100 more however.

 

[flowrider]

Can Phil at Welwyn Merx rebuild the struts for an SL?

 

[Craiglxviii]

Can Phil at Welwyn Merx rebuild the struts for an SL?

He can indeed.

 

[ajlsl600]

Well there are economies of scale yes, but the cost delta between a few pence per car for different fixings and having to rework an issue on the line don’t even begin to compare. In literally every instance I’ve known, Takt time takes precedence over incidental cost. As an example, all French cars have to be designed so that the operator must not enter the vehicle to assemble, they can only lean in no further than the torso. That’s a French legal requirement. So all French cars have design compromises to allow for that assembly method.

Educating the staff is one thing but chance errors do creep in. That’s what the concept of poke yoke is intended to counter. It’s a Japanese phrase, english translation “prevention of stupid act”. So, parts and processes that can only be assembled or carried out in one way.

Do t get the idea that each car has a million thousand different types of fastener either, probably 3-4 dependent on marque. They’re separated according to what is being fitted in what sequence on the line, what holding force criteria those parts have, corrosion resistance requirements (whole other ballgame) etc.

As to how we built cars before all this came out- badly. Look at anything out of British Leyland. Look at the American crap from the 70s. The whole idea is to make everything in the build of the car as ultra efficient as possible, muda and muri and all that, elimination of wasted time and material.

Having all filters in one place would be a packaging exercise. I suspect cars would grow by a metre in length and 150kg is mass to allow for a different routing of pipes and ducts. Remember, a styling model is created, then they work out where to fit everything. Cars are designed and mainly built from the outside in.

yr last para explains the issue as best i ever heard . especially the last ten words !!!!!!!!

 

[Malcolm Johnson]

Morning all,
With reference to a few questions, 2 year warranty with part and fully tested £748 and includes vat and delivery.
uk merc was £873+vat, Arnotts was not much below merc.

re the far east and the lower price, always a bit cautious re quality on that front. This stems from having worked in the Aerospace industry for 38 Years before calling it a day. A common scourge of the industry is illegal copying of parts with incorrect material specifications. The majority of these parts emulate from outside the US & Europe.
We pays our money and takes a choice.

cheers

 

[flowrider]

Has anyone here tried Rebuild MasterTech in the US. They have very decent pricing and will ship worldwide.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Just had a look on the ABC Specialist site, impressive find Malcolm!
OK, I’m sure you could trawl the internet for bargains, but these look competitive and knowledgeable
Just found an ABC information file on there , I don’t think I’ve seen all the information collated so comprehensively on one document so looks a keeper. I might even go have a look nest time i’m Over (which is often)- the document was 5mb + so too big to upload on here
But it’s on their site https://abcspecialist.tweego.nl/uploads/documents/active_body_control_uk_2019_watermark.pdf

 

[Craiglxviii]

Morning all,
With reference to a few questions, 2 year warranty with part and fully tested £748 and includes vat and delivery.
uk merc was £873+vat, Arnotts was not much below merc.

re the far east and the lower price, always a bit cautious re quality on that front. This stems from having worked in the Aerospace industry for 38 Years before calling it a day. A common scourge of the industry is illegal copying of parts with incorrect material specifications. The majority of these parts emulate from outside the US & Europe.
We pays our money and takes a choice.

cheers

I do plenty business in China with engineered/ing parts. I know the risks.

What’s surprised me here is something as abstract as a pre facelift CL ABC strut being available. About 25000 cars were ever built using those struts before shifting to the modified units. So, even for China that’s a minuscule and rapidly dwindling vehicle population to tool up to support.

What I suspect is that this strut is from the OEM plant and tooling that was making for MB originally, that’s been bought on and kept in production.

Either way, AliBaba’s warranty return policy is pretty rigidly upheld, the PRC central committee don’t want bad publicity on foreign currency sales.

 

[LostKiwi]

Just had a look on the ABC Specialist site, impressive find Malcolm!
OK, I’m sure you could trawl the internet for bargains, but these look competitive and knowledgeable
Just found an ABC information file on there , I don’t think I’ve seen all the information collated so comprehensively on one document so looks a keeper. I might even go have a look nest time i’m Over (which is often)- the document was 5mb + so too big to upload on here
But it’s on their site https://abcspecialist.tweego.nl/uploads/documents/active_body_control_uk_2019_watermark.pdf

Excellent find!

 

[Craiglxviii]

Just had a look on the ABC Specialist site, impressive find Malcolm!
OK, I’m sure you could trawl the internet for bargains, but these look competitive and knowledgeable
Just found an ABC information file on there , I don’t think I’ve seen all the information collated so comprehensively on one document so looks a keeper. I might even go have a look nest time i’m Over (which is often)- the document was 5mb + so too big to upload on here
But it’s on their site https://abcspecialist.tweego.nl/uploads/documents/active_body_control_uk_2019_watermark.pdf

That is a really good find I must say. Regardless of struts, the valve blocks and accumulators there start making ABC attractive again (for when John goes back to man fuel )

 

[Malcolm Johnson]

Thought i would Drop you a line re how it went with the strut. We are all fitted and my old strut has been returned back to Holland. No problems to report, it functions fine.
costs were as follows:-
recon strut £748
installation & fluid £ 149 including Vat
return of old strut to Holland £35 inclusive of insurance.

combined with rear discs,pads and transmission fluid change on the S. Not something you want every month.

Still wont drive me back to work though...............