About a month ago I noticed my car making a weird "ka-chunk" sound when I would go over speed bumps, dips and small imperfections in the road. I ignored it because I was too busy to deal with it.

Finally I took the car in for an oil change yesterday and the mechanic told me that my front-drivers side shock had spewed fluid all over his garage... needless to say it was 'leaking" and needs to be replaced.

I went to Kragen and Pep Boys, they said that they don't carry the part and that I would have to go to the dealership for it. So now I'm going back and forth with a few specailty shops that were recomended to me so far i've got a quote of $350 to do the front. That seems a bit excessive IMO??

Since I have to get new shocks, should I lower the car at the same time or invest a bit more in to any other "mods" that would help the ride?

My car savvy friend offered to install the new shocks for me, but I can't track down the damn parts yet!! However when I find the parts, I will need specs and directions for him on how to do the install, figured the forums is the best place to start.

Or even better if you're in the So Cal area and can recomend a place/guy to install the shocks or do it yourself that would be awesome.

 

Hi Blond xo,
Replacing the front shocks is a very simple job. Keep in mind our cars are mechanically a 1998-2003 Mercedes Benz 320SLK. You can look at any replacment shock for the front of the 320SLK Benz and it will work. I would recommend replacing both fronts, not just one. KYB offers a shock in the $60 range and Bilstein HD's are in the $90 range on tire rack.com

 

it may be a good time to "forced upgrade" to koni's

 

I agree with Needswings (I love the forced upgrades).
Time to lower it!!!
I believe they have competitive prices too.

 

I just checked with my parts department, the oem front shocks list for $131.00 per side. It's up to you if you want to lower your car (alot more labor involved) . However, for less then the price of the oems shocks you can buy a nice upgrade . . . seems like a no brainer.

 

Do you guys have specific URL's to the parts? Cheapest i've seen is $105. I don't think I need performance parts, just the basic stuff.

 

What kind of additional labor?

 

I went on tirerack.com, and saw the Koni and Bilstein struts for the Crossfire. The I checked the options for the SLK320 and saw the KYB, which were not only cheaper but I heard they aren't as stiff as the others.

Are these okay to use on the Crossfire or is it not compatible?
Here's the link:
http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/s...731&perfCode=P

 

I know that the part #'s on the eibach springs are the same . . . Konis's are interchangable, so I have to imagine KYB's are as well. However I don't know anyone who has installed them on a Crossfire. I would call or email KYB before I purchased.

 

Once the car is jacked and the wheel is off the shock is just the top nut and one bolt at the bottom. With springs you are dropping the control arm from the inside or removing the ball joint to get to the spring. Remember this isn't a strut type suspension.

 

Just bought front Bilstein HD shocks from Tire Rack for $105 a piece. I'm having my car savvy friend install them for me. Hopefully it will be back to normal(ish) by this weekend.

I still can't believe the car has under 40k miles and the shock went out.. porr thing must have been abused!

I will not be lowering the car since the springs are a totally different thing. I'm also a firm believer in not modding a car without having te top of the line model to start with (in our case the srt6) . And quit frankly i'm starting to grow a bit tired of my car and may be looking to replace it soon. Otherwise I may just buy a more practical friend for it, that allows me to drive more than just myself and my purse.

 

LOL....you'll miss it if you get rid of it!!!



As a sidenote.......what, we only see you here when you have a problem? LOL.

 

Are you installing 4 new shocks on the car? Bilstein is a great brand however. I had the bilstein sport shocks (pretty much the same as the HDs, but meant for cars with lowering springs) and never had a problem. They also have a lifetime warranty should they go bad.


That rather bizarre logic IMO. Since you are adding Bilstein HDs to your car, you already are modding it. For those of us who insist on a manual transmission, the coupe is the top of the line. ;-) If you are getting bored of the car, right now is precisely the time to modify it. The right suspension can really transform a car.

 

I got the Billstein shocks (front only for now) becase they were cheaper than those from the dealership. If I were to mod the car it would be lowered, new exhaust, new hood, upgraded sound system, better suspension, and better tires.