Suspension replacement on CLK A209

[tannedpotato]

Hello all

I took my CLK for a wheel alignment yesterday, but was told the alignment is out of whack because of bad shocks (apparently passenger side is sagging so the toe/camber are all a mess).

The alignment shop chap recommended me to replace all four shocks. After a day of internet trawl I found the Koni STR.T struts which are reasonably priced.

So the question is, should I just replace the shocks (£270 for parts) or buy a suspension kit that comes with springs (£440)?

I am a mechanical noobie and have no clue whether the existing springs can/should be reused. Only by visual inspection I can see the springs are at least not rusting. The car has 96k miles on the clock.

Would love to hear people's takes on this.

Cheers

 

[LostKiwi]

Only replace springs if you know what you are doing and have the correct spring compressor.
Compressed springs are extremely dangerous and demand the correct tools and a knowledge of what you are doing.

 

[sonic]

A 2005 car I would replace both, LK makes a very valid comment.

 

[tannedpotato]

Thanks both for the advice. I will be ordering the parts and taking them to a local garage for installation.

So far I have only trusted myself to replace a brake light bulb so I definitely will not be swapping suspension parts on my own...

On a side note, the internet seems to tell me that misaligned wheels are sometimes caused by sagging springs, rather than shocks.

If that is true, I wonder why I was only told to replace the shocks?

 

[grahamcol]

My belief is that low ride height is caused by weak or broken springs and that the shockers do not affect height at all. Obviously worn shockers will affect ride quality by not damping spring oscillations properly. In your case I'd probably replace springs and shock absorbers.

 

[Droverunner]

What sort of alignment shop was it? I would be very wary of buying suspension components for others to fit on the opinion of many places that do alignment.

 

[tannedpotato]

What sort of alignment shop was it? I would be very wary of buying suspension components for others to fit on the opinion of many places that do alignment.

It is an indie shop specialising in wheel alignment.

I was slightly wary of the chap's opinion too but he seemed fairly knowledgeable and he did not really have much to gain from me replacing suspension parts. He did not charge me for the alignment inspection where instead he could have just fiddled randomly with my wheels and called it a day? Not sure if this train of thought is sound.

I have used my mechanic a few times and he is reasonably trustworthy so I will probably get his second opinion too before making any decision.

 

[LostKiwi]

The only MBs where shock absorbers control ride height are those fitted with ABC or SLS (such as S, SL, E Class Estate etc). In these vehicles there is an hydraulic ram inside the shock absorber.

Yours won't have these systems.

In yours the springs determine ride height and the shock absorbers (more correctly dampers) control the action of the spring.

If your car is sagging it needs springs not dampers.

 

[Droverunner]

>>>seemed fairly knowledgeable and he did not really have much to gain from me replacing suspension parts. He did not charge me for the alignment inspection

Yes he had nothing to gain but importantly nothing to lose. Assume you bought four shocks and asked your garage to fit. They do so and the problem is the same. They are not responsible for the error doing as you instructed and neither is the alignment guy having not charged "just given friendly advice".

But take the problem to a trusted garage from the start and they should be invested in sourcing/fitting the appropriate parts first time.

 

[tannedpotato]

Thanks all for the input.

Took the car to my mechanic this morning and confirmed the shocks indeed need replacing. The springs are fine for now but I decided to also replace them anyway.

Hopefully this will solve the wheel misalignment problem.