1999 C280 on 18inch Monoblocks (18x8 and 18x9). Need suspension suggestions

[adge_dre]

i was wondering why the car didnt feel darty as u said it would before. i already have the DIY rear camber arms that i will be installing tommorow and then i will get an alignment.

[Vetruck]

i was wondering why the car didnt feel darty as u said it would before. i already have the DIY rear camber arms that i will be installing tommorow and then i will get an alignment.

The wheels are smaller diameter so the thinner OEM tires have a taller more forgiving sidewall that has more rounded shoulders. The low profile tires on larger diameter wheels have more of a squared off shoulder- thus when the alignbment is not correct the inside squared tire shoulder will catch grooves when the tire footprint is massively cambered.

Edit to add info: I actually documented in a post when i first lowered my car that I put my OEM wheels and tires back onto the car for a month until I was able to get the KMAC kit and press them into the arms and install them. After that I put my 18's back on.

[adge_dre]

would the car be just as darty if i fixed the rear camber and left the front?

[Vetruck]

The front is what causes about 80% of it. The rear camber arms are mainly for tire wear but will have a little effect on catching grooves. The front will toss you about. Marlee did not want to drive the car at all. She was very unhappy with it when I lowered it at first. I told her patience...I need to order a few more parts and I would simply put your other OEM tires back on for now and you can keep driving it - so I did and she re-test drove it around the block and said OK.

Ive lowered hundreds of cars in my day for friends. I am known as the go to guy for suspension stuff amounst my peers. I try to do things as bood or better then OEM. With that said, this was the worse result I have seen of any car I have ever touched when it come to not having enough provisions to correct factory geometry. Most cars you can simply buy camber bolts etc and get it to drive decent, not this car. It took dropping the A-arms and pressing in new bushings to get the provisions I needed. It took stiffer front springs to reduce nose dive and unwanted camber gains. the lower you go with these cars the camber curve increases with the same wheel travel as higher OEM height. It grows faster when lower. The roll centers go down quick and need larger sway bars to control the greater positve roll axis- that means locking up ride quality. I reduced that side to side effect with higher rebound shocks and just using the smaller of the two aftermarket front sway bar options from H&R. I did not opt for the larger bar and be tossed side to side and limit mechanical grip and ride comfort. I lowerded this car to handle better than stock, not just look good. The cars suffer bad enough from massive nose dive at stock height, lowered height will be even worse with geometry change and trying to drive sporty. This is why I tried to preach what I did in early posts on this thread.

[Vetruck]

FWIW- Suspension wise I can hammer this car anywhere and everywhere I go. I do not worry about the fenders grounding out or tires rubbing at full lock. It drives like you would expect a brand new car to drive and not rub or contact anything or break anything or clank noises over any bumps or dips etc. I would dare to say there is not another car lowered as much as mine that can say that. Many are lowered more than mine from what I see and have to be careful everywhere and drive slow over bad roads.

The only thing I have to watch is my low lip on my Brabus front bumper. It will scrape on steeper driveways unless I enter with a little caution at an angle to reduce contact. It has hit a few times at first until she got used to taking steeper driveways at an angle. I look at it when I wash the car for her and she has hardly hit the underneath of that lip with very few little scrape marks- That is to be expected with bumper airdam this low and wide.



ps- I had put up pictures of this car on facebook showing friends when i first finished it. Everyone that then saw it in person later says those picctures do not do this car justice. It looks much lower and wider in person. For some reason that camera does not show it properly- Im not talking kids, I talking racing peers of mine in their 30's 40's 50's and 60's. Im known for my street cars at the local professional tracks.

Meet Vetruck (My "Corvette truck") that I drive somewhat daily and use to haul building material around. It will carry 4000lbs in the bed and has beat every Corvette I've raced against at the local autox tracks when they and I are both on street tires- Yes this truck handles big time.I build the entire front suspension geometry from scratch (I cut off the old suspension mounts and started fresh). Even has a full cage. When I build things, I build them correctly- hence the reason I am using this also for an example. My suggestions are like OEM or better, never worse.

[BolivianFuego]

Very nice! At this point I am going to drop her on the Bilstein shocks and H&R Super Sport springs I just ordered. She will then go directly after to get an alignment.

I will give it a month or two and reassess if I need a camber kit after the alignment. Thanks for all the input fellas!

[mercedestech]

don't mean to hijack thread but I thought I could/would possibly add to this by this post: I am in a very similar situation I just got a 1999 c280 and am looking at getting h&r springs and Koni's or bilsteins. My question is, should I get 17" monoblocks or 18" monoblocks?? I can't decide!

[wichipong]

don't mean to hijack thread but I thought I could/would possibly add to this by this post: I am in a very similar situation I just got a 1999 c280 and am looking at getting h&r springs and Koni's or bilsteins. My question is, should I get 17" monoblocks or 18" monoblocks?? I can't decide!

in all essence its all up to you.... ive done some 17 inch rims and mostly been rocking 18s...

[mercedestech]

in all essence its all up to you.... ive done some 17 inch rims and mostly been rocking 18s...

I want the flushest possible look. I know when I lower the car that I will be taking care of the fender gap vertically, as in the the fender gap ABOVE the tire, but in front of the tire and behind the tire the only way to take up that gap is with a bigger wheel, as in filling in the ENTIRE wheel arch... will 17's fill that gap I am speaking of or will 18's fill the entire wheel arch better? I want it to be as flush as possible! no fender gap anywhere above the tire or around it at any point...

[wichipong]

I want the flushest possible look. I know when I lower the car that I will be taking care of the fender gap vertically, as in the the fender gap ABOVE the tire, but in front of the tire and behind the tire the only way to take up that gap is with a bigger wheel, as in filling in the ENTIRE wheel arch... will 17's fill that gap I am speaking of or will 18's fill the entire wheel arch better? I want it to be as flush as possible! no fender gap anywhere above the tire or around it at any point...

ill go 18s then with 215/45 tires up front... remember, the wheel arch in front is higher that the back if you look at it closely