Deferred maintenance on a used car

[captruff]

Mods...if this is not the right place, please move it.

I thought this was an interesting read.



http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...zone-the-annoyances-of-driving-old-cars-fast/



Jeff

 

[nocfn]

Good read Jeff, thanks for the post!

 

[Trae]

Thanks for the read Jeff. Polyurethane is most definitely the way to go on "replacement rubber".

Bet Jono knows where to source those type of bushings.

Louis, thanks for the ride in your very nice 560SEC and meal at Chewys!

One of the many benefits of this site is the friendships that are made.

Also, I was glad to finally meet the man who got me into the C126 world ( to my wife''s chagrins).

 

[gsxr]

I'm less of a fan of poly... and I have a strong suspicion the author's complaints were more likely to be fixed with different springs, shocks, and sway bars rather than a few poly bushings. The 190E-16 already had the "Sportline" bushings which are as hard as poly, for the front LCA's and rear subframe. Of course, the guy bought a car with 234kmi on the clock... and somehow spent $12k on rubbers? Talk about ka-veets!!

 

[Trae]

Woops, I thought poly would last longer and do the same job as the crumbling rubber parts they were replacing.

Is poly too stiff or unpliable? Would it affect the ride and handling?

 

[jhodg5ck]

I've had good luck on the 126 w/ poly on the front bar and of course w/ the rear bars. Thus far all have been quiet and to my liking. Now the rear poly in the LCA's on the Brumos, guh...it makes noise all the damn time..they are Kmac's best I can tell.
besides I replaced the uppers w/ adjustables to the kmacs are superfluous.
I do plan on getting that out at some point...

jono

 

[gsxr]

Woops, I thought poly would last longer and do the same job as the crumbling rubber parts they were replacing.

Is poly too stiff or unpliable? Would it affect the ride and handling?

Poly is definitely stiffer! The main drawbacks are noise/squeaks, which can be remedied with lubrication but that's a PITA. And yes, they add quite a bit of ride harshness. Definitely more of a track item, I totally understand using poly on a race car, but for a street car... no thanks. If lubed properly, poly might last longer than rubber, which is a good point.

My thoughts were that even with every rubber item replaced with poly on a W201, if it has stock springs/dampers/swaybars, it's still gonna be all kerflobbery in the corners. Stiff springs, fat bars, and custom KONIs would make it more track-worthy (along with a 2.5L engine upgrade!).

Now the rear poly in the LCA's on the Brumos, guh...it makes noise all the damn time..they are Kmac's best I can tell.
besides I replaced the uppers w/ adjustables to the kmacs are superfluous. I do plan on getting that out at some point...

I had KMAC on the rear of two cars and had to remove both, the squeaking drove me crazy. Lube didn't fix it. I went RDM TEK after that. Since those are NLA, my current preferred camber correction is the arms from Megan Racing.

 

[TerryA]

Jeff,

Thanks for the article. I don't really agree with it. How long does this guy think rubber should last? I realize that some of the rubber will have to be changed over time but this guy was way over the top. On my car I have replaced the motor & trans mounts along with the stablizer bar rubber and all of the tie rod bushings. It was due after 20 years but beyond that I think my car has a great ride and is quite solid.

Of course I am not racing my car but after reading R&T for 20 some years I recently quit when they fired the local SoCal crew in favor of the Car & Driver idiots in Michigan that have to race everything and NEVER have anything good to say about Mercedes unless they have no choice.

Just Say'n

 

[alabbasi]

I think that this topic has been beaten to death in recent days. Whether, W124, W126,Mercedes,Porsche or anything else. Some parts are going to wear and need replacing, other parts like rubber components, will wear while sitting on a shelf.

If you want to experience the benefits of owning an old car, it's the cost of entry. If you're the type that can do the work themselves, the cost of entry is low. If you're not, then a new car every 4-5 years is probably a better option.

The last girl I dated drove a brand new Honda Civic. While I can argue the merits of owning an old car all day and night, I never once suggested that she should do so or offer work on her car. Why? Because i'm not an idiot.

I did have to give her a jump once

 

[atg]

If you are changing the camber link and nothing else, you are inducing a lot of bump steer.

 

[atg]

Anybody who is racing is going to replace all that stuff no matter what car they buy, even if it is a Porsche or whatever. This is the main reason more people dont race - it is expensive.

 

[gsxr]

If you are changing the camber link and nothing else, you are inducing a lot of bump steer.

Toe has to be adjusted after setting the camber where you want it. With everything dialed in, there's isn't an issue with bump steer.

 

[atg]

This seems like an oversimplification. You can reset the toe but the camber length adjustment changes the relationship between wheel travel and toe. So at all other points of wheel travel it will be out of whack. You need to change all the link lengths if you change one. That is a big job. Practically for this use case it may not matter though.