460332 - 12/2/2006 4:14 AM


Dai, what heavy duty springs did you buy? The original MB springs from the tables with other colour codes or some of the the later, and some stiffer, 463 springs? There are also some special MB Geländewagen heavy duty springs for hard driving or heavy vehicles etc, these are special orders and only fitted to some top of the line GWs, AMG etc. Then there are aftermaket spings?

I mounted original MB 3-stroke yellow-orange springs on the front and back and had no vibrations. My previous springs was 2-yellow and 3-green. I have a short 300GD that get steeper angles on the backward axle. The springs works great even for the shorter, lighter vehicle, got a slight lift of about 2,0 cm and I can drive much harder off-road. When problems with reduced articulation can be solved with GW's diff-locs.

You have probably checked the U-links if you are on original MB springs with vibrations, also axles/bearings in/out of transmissions? If you have springs with an evident lift, double U-links, CV-links, as on 463, or experimenting with another off-set angle on the cardan axles might be the solution (might need to dig into matematics then) Vibrations can anyhow be a mystic on the GW's.

I bought "lilac" one stripe rears (463) springs and "white" three stripe fronts. The SWB truck weighs less than the LWB trucks but the combination lifted the truck 70mm, about what the spring charts said they would. The problem is that normal is hard to determine. What do you measure to know what the correct body height is with new stock springs? I had OEM green stripe in the rear and I measured from the ground to the center of the rubber strip on the side of the truck.

I solved the rear vibration problem by having a double cardan end driveshaft made up. That and I made an adjustment in the rear axle angle. The rear shaft in a SWB diesel truck is extremely short because there is a damper unit hanging off the T case so the rear shaft has a pretty extreme angle. I got it to run smooth.

The problem with the front I have not yet had the money to tackle. The lift caused the axle to rotate in a way that puts severe angle on the U Joint. I think the proper solution will be to buy the brackets that are used on the Canadian army G's that drop the control arms down which would twist the axle back to a correct orientation. My truck has 0 caster so it wants to wander around on the road. The drop of the control arm link at the frame would also dial back in some needed caster. This has been a long process that has been interrupted with other issues that needed money sprinkled on them. Rust. Transmission/clutch. T-Case. I look forward to getting this problem solved. I really like the spring choices. I can toss a lot of weight in the back and the truck handles through curves beautifully. Every modification from stock seems to have consequences that need to be addressed. I find this machine very fun to work on and think about.

-Dai

460332 - 12/3/2006 5:07 AM

Yes, 3-white and 1-lilac are stiff springs!! I thought I was brave to try out yellow-orange without any
experience. I am happy with the springs, don't carry much load.

Dropping the control arm link must be the best way to go, do you move it a bit forward too,
assuming they move in a circle? Is that what you did on the rear too? Do you have any mounting details
from the Canadian vehicles? I am glad someone here have experience
with the stiff springs, caster adjustments and double links as a future reference. :o)

It would be interesting with some pictures of what the car looks like?

(Kerry460, my vehicle is (G)od, it was a demo vehicle at the main Daimler-Benz office in Stuttgart in 1984-85!)

Jonathan Joseph - 12/3/2006 4:18 AM

Just a few more thoughts/questions:

I'm still not sure how to tell if my current stock springs are weak, do you think there would be measureable height differance at rest with no load other than the truck's own weight? If they are weak then maybe I'll be happy with new stock ones.
If I'm reading the chart right it looks like the white springs would result in a lift of about 60mm over the stock green ones, is this right?
I'm attracted to the stiffer springs for the added capacity and better handling but as I do alot of highway speed driving I'm concerned about the effect on the driveshafts. I don't really want to get into the kind of mods that Dai is talking about. Will that 60mm affect the drivetrain enough to be concerned?
Jonathan

dai - 12/4/2006 7:04 AM

Amzimmy, next time you come to visit will you help me organize my garage/workshop? What you have managed to fit into/onto a SWB G is absolutely amazing. Amzimazing.

-Mr Chaos

460332, great looking truck and a vehicle certainly deserving of the star on the hood.

-Dai