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| RE: Front Shocks Thanks Rodney and John. I am not sure if Rodney remembers, I used to live in Mountain Brook. Alabama and Georgia roads are are smooth as glass compared to the buckled and heaved tarmac and concrete up here. It is not uncommon to have long stretches of road here that are so bumpy that in the ML it is almost impossible to read or write legibly as a passenger. That is even on interstates. It gets crazy cold up here. Sub zero every winter and two winters ago it stayed single digit temps for 28 days.  Three sets of front tie rod ends worn out at almost 130k miles and I blame it on the jarring bumps. Rodney showed a place to get them for a great price for set #3, thanks for that. I agree that the low temps also stiffen up the tires. We have mitigated that a bit by going with Nokian snow rated tires and the compound is less affected by the cold in regards to getting harder. We are on the stock rims with 275/55/17 rubber. John turned me on to the deal on the OEM rear Sachs deal and I am grateful. I am going to ponder this for a bit, but I think I am leaning towards the OEM units. I have time yet, the front ones are really not in terrible shape, but I do want to get it done by mid summer. Rodney, funny you brought up the IS. My friend just got the 350 with the 300hp and I have to say it is a very elegant design and great ergonomics, but it was harsh riding and I expected more German like handling. | ||
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| RE: Front Shocks Noodles - 5/25/2006 6:54 PM I am not sure if Rodney remembers, I used to live in Mountain Brook. Alabama and Georgia roads are are smooth as glass compared to the buckled and heaved tarmac and concrete up here. It is not uncommon to have long stretches of road here that are so bumpy that in the ML it is almost impossible to read or write legibly as a passenger. That is even on interstates. LOL! I guess you haven’t been down here lately, huh? I travel I-459 between Acton Rd. and US-31 daily and it’s terrible. While we don’t have the freezing temps to up heave the concrete, we have that lovely clay that absorbs water and expands, then dries out and shrinks and has the same effect. Our daughter and her family lives in Atlanta (well, until tomorrow – they are moving back to B’ham), so we travel I-20 a lot and it’s bad, too. It gets crazy cold up here. Sub zero every winter and two winters ago it stayed single digit temps for 28 days. Three sets of front tie rod ends worn out at almost 130k miles and I blame it on the jarring bumps. In reality, tie rods and ball joints average bout 50K miles of service life, so 3 in 130K is not “horrible”. Of course it’s common for people to drive over 100K without replacing them because on many cars, the handling is so vague and the wear is so gradual that they don’t know they are bad until they start making noises. On the ML, with its weight combined with its European handling characteristics, most people can “feel” when they are ready for replacement. Rodney, funny you brought up the IS. My friend just got the 350 with the 300hp and I have to say it is a very elegant design and great ergonomics, but it was harsh riding and I expected more German like handling. You might recall from my posts over on BW that my wife was originally looking at an SUV. All the sudden, gas prices went up and she got scared of spending $50-$80 to fill a tank, so she decided she wanted a small car. The IS fits the bill for her. With the 2.5 V6, it gets decent MPG (I got 34MPG taking her to Atlanta Wednesday) and it is a nice looking car (IMHO). It does have the responsive steering and firm ride that she likes, but she’ll never push it to see that it really isn’t very secure at its low handling limits. I’m still looking for the “perfect” 2002/2003 ML55. I’m “officially” putting my ML on the market next week if you know anyone interested. I’m asking $18K – www.buymymclass.com
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| pleubner Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: Basel, Switzerland Vehicle(s): ML270CDI Brabus-W163,SL55 AMG-R230,ML320 CDI-W164  | ||
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| Re: Front Shocks It has been 18 years since I have been to the Heart of Dixie. I would be fool to think that things would not change. We just went to Chicago Friday to a reception for the opening of the King Tut exibit at the Field Musuem. It was called Tut at Twilight. OMG the fooking roads leading into downtown were just horrible. I am going to have to see a chiropractor after that ride. On the bright side we got excellent mileage with the AC on. We were in stop and go traffic for 40 miles of a 220 mile road trip. We flew with the fast lane drivers and averaged about 80mph in the clear stretches and the mileage was 19.7 on the trip computer. I am still loving this ML. Waxed an a-hole in a new Beetle on a curving ramp and then passed him again while merging. He was not pleased and me and the wife were grinning. HE was one of those pricks who races up to the end of a lane that ends and then shoves his way into line. It was hoot to shut him down. Amazing how "wide" an ML can get in a merging situation.  | ||
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