Well, I was at PNP today and saw a 500SEL with
100K less miles than my SD, so I grabbed the
aluminum trailing arms w/calipers, also the sway bar and springs.
Noticed right off that the sway bar is different.
Calipers are on the opposite side of the hub from the SD, too.


My trailing arms are out now so I figure I'm halfway there.

Everyone talks about those aluminum arms so I nabbed 'em.
Are they plug N play--except for that sway bar.
Also, are the springs & calipers specific to those Alum arms?

Opinions from anyone whose done the swap
would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

__________________
1984 300SD 300,000 miles--two tank WVO setup
2.88 diff & 500SEL anti-squat rear end

There is a fellow here who has studied it in detail. I believe maybe Stretch. I believe the mounts for the sway bar are larger with the aluminum arms.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The parts from the 500 can be directly exchanged. All of them! The sway bar is part of the anti-squat geometry, and must be used with the rest of the parts.
The caliper hydraulic connections may be in a different place on the caliper, but are otherwise the same.
Springs can be directly exchanged physically, but may be of a different rate.

Does anyone know if this would work in the W116? I know much of the suspension is the same between the W116 and W126 (control arms are identical), but I don't know how much is the same.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

Stretch was trying to install them on a W123 w/o good results.

Trying to fit an aluminium W126 / 107 trailing arm to a W123 - a question of compatib

This thread is about installing them on a w126

Are W126 rear control arms interchangeable?

Iam wondering if you also need the Sub frame that goes with the Aluminum arms?

Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Yes, the hardware that attaches the sway bar to the subframe
is different on the two. Larger, with larger bolts and further apart on the 500.

Frank, so just bolt up the new sway bar using the old hardware?
That would be great.
Seemed like stretch was going to have to weld his two sway bars together.
Maybe because it was a 123?

Jeff

__________________
1984 300SD 300,000 miles--two tank WVO setup
2.88 diff & 500SEL anti-squat rear end

I believe the calipers are different on the aluminum arms vs the steel ones. They mount differently and are full floating instead of fixed calipers.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The new bar can be installed in the existing mounts, providing that the bar fits snugly in the rubber bushings. The larger attaching parts in the donor car reflect the additional loads that are applied at that point. The bar in your existing configuration is loaded only in torsion. In the anti-squat geometry the bar is additionally loaded fore and aft; it is a suspension link. While you can bolt it all together, you may wish to consider some reinforcement in the area of the bar mounts, as the factory did.

You might have the same trouble (well it is hardly trouble if you can weld or get someone else to weld) as I have with the conversion to the W123 chassis - the W126 anti-roll bar is too wide for the W123 chassis. The W116 chassis might be of a a different dimension to the W126 - but other than that the swap should be quite straightforward.

I guess the W116 might also have axle related problems as I believe the axle cans on the W116 are larger than the W123 / 6 versions. Check with someone who has been around these beasts for longer than me!

The downside to this conversion as far as a normally aspirated 300D / 240D is that the aluminium trailing arms are heavier than the steel. They are also more complicated and the last time I looked at the prices for the additional bearings and rubber connecting parts I took a deep breath...

...the benefits with a limited slip differential and a powerful engine however would be "well lush"

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Heavier? What a letdown!

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Yes, I am wondering if the benefits are worth it.
There's a reason they only put them on the bigger engines.

As far as I can tell I would be the first one to do this swap
and am beginning to wonder if this is worth it.

I still need to figure out the bracket mod.

Ok everyone, talk me into it or out of it............

Jeff

__________________
1984 300SD 300,000 miles--two tank WVO setup
2.88 diff & 500SEL anti-squat rear end

Anti-squat. It's the geometry change that is significant, not the material.

I had them on my 84 500 SEC and that was a very sweet handling car. It drove small.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Need to figure out the hardware change.
For those who haven't seen it here are some photos.
The bolts & bracket for the anti-squat bar are substantially stronger.

The anti-squat bar will fit into the existing rubber mount.
Maybe just get a longer bolt and stack two of the smaller brackets together?

Attached Thumbnails

     

__________________
1984 300SD 300,000 miles--two tank WVO setup
2.88 diff & 500SEL anti-squat rear end

If you have the will power take a picture of the underside of your W126 chassis so we can see if another captive nut can be added to the "chassis rail" (it isn't really a rail but you know what I mean) so you can just fit the whole anti-squat hardware



To help me with my project I'm interested in learning the difference in length of the arms of the anti-roll bars (if any) =>



But only if you have the time

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!