G500 modifications
The post refers to a stock 69,000km 2005 SWB G500 and to its owner’s ramblings.
1) I always found the suspension setup too soft: the car was all over the place. I also wanted an inch more clearance underneath. Camber slightly out on the left front wheel and steering damper decorative. I splashed out: 4 Eibach springs & Bilstein adjustable shock absorbers from ORC (decisions taken before current financial crisis). I did not get spacers to lift cabin. In all innocence I anticipated the job to be a doddle. Underside went up by 5cm and behavior firmed up BUT the chassis not suspended symmetrically from the wheels with the car at rest. Culprit: fixed length Panhard rods. Putting ill-fitting thinking cap on, I carried out a modification and made them lengthwise adjustable without weakening - on the contrary. Now the chassis sits symmetrically on the wheels, i.e. evenly distributed along its central longitudinal axis. Vive la difference. An interesting but doubtful project would be installing a rear anti-roll-bar because of the increased height of the car but I do not know how much it will affect it off-road.
2) I changed all front wheel bearings. I found one of the top “steering†bearings disintegrating on the RH wheel. Major hassle. Now tracking, toe-in & camber are perfect. Capo lavoro. A mishap: I used a new pair of ABS front sensors. The old ones broke when taking them off their housing. They were frozen-stuck. After new ones were in place, the ABS light came on and traction electronics went berserk at 190km/h. I traced the fault to too much and clumsily applied grease in one of the bearing housings obstructing sensor’s “viewâ€Â. They are extremely sensitive regarding their seating arrangement inside their housing. Watch out.
3) In the spirit of things, I went for some experimenting: I made brackets and fitted 2 (two) “heavy duty†MB steering dampers in parallel but opposite each other. Works wonders off-road. Downside: steering dead on tarmac. Nevertheless it affords less free-play on rack & pinion without punishing the system. It is “knife-edge†accurate.
4) I designed & hand-made a new exhaust system for the car. For fun. I aimed for a simplified system. I kept the stock down-tubes and all bracketry. I did not use a balance pipe. I started fwd of the front catalysts and worked backwards with a large catalyst and a huge silencer (capable of min 3,500cm³) – each side. Tubing at ä 54mm instead of the standard 47mm. RHS tube after silencer goes up the wheel arch, under the frame (inbound) and exhausts below & right of the rear differential universal joint. Similarly goes the LHS. My unorthodox way has its drawbacks but affords a “free†system which muffles noise better than exhausting directly under the door. Increased pipe length after the “free†silencers gives a marginally flatter torque curve. I welded all the structure in-situ in one piece, cut it up where convenient for future dismantling, removed it to the work-bench, bent & TIG welded new Corten pipes, fitted proper metallic joints and braced both exhausts together above the frame. Noise is an addictive basso profundo on the legal side of the rules. Bearable to the environmentally conscious “her-indoors†& adolescent “Prius-type†brats. I have kept the stock exhaust which can go back any time.
5) I also renewed the differential locking vacuum pump and associated rubber pipe joints which were found eaten by mice (see post at “General Technicalâ€Â).
Know the saying “easier said than done� Procedure took two months to think-out & complete.
Are the modifications sacrilegious? Maybe.
Am I happy? After elbow grease, €€€€ expended & grazed knuckles, I better be.
Am I ill guided? Possibly but there are worst cases at large.
PS. Apologies if my magnum opus confuses: I find it difficult to explaim clearly.
:shock: I gather that you have not been bored lately....
But I think it's way too much money and time spent in a virtually brand new car...
i thought us turks were bad enough.......obviously not :wink:
PHOTOS please..especialllly of the underside (on a lift of course, you must have one in the garage ;p)
I would be interested in photos of the exhaust setup too. Do the newer 500s have the exhaust coming out on both sides of the engine or only on the rightside?
If you can't figure out the posting here (when you hit "reply" there's a button at the bottom for adding attachments, which include photos) just drop me a PM and I'll give you an email address, then I can post them...
And here are the photos...exhaust part 1
exhaust part 2
last exhaust pic, plus beginning of panhard rod set
final panhard rod set and beginning of steering set
final steering set
Great work...my only concern would be melting the asphalt under the car if you rev it too much in one spot. Towards the front of the transmission/rear of engine there are like 2 dampers to each side...haven't noticed them before on a G..
whats with the blue springs brother?
very informative pics btw...
i have the sam ones being fitted to my G300 right now as we speak :wink:
cant wait to test them tomorrow. [over our local speed humps!! :oops: ]
Tried to point them out with the arrows...
well spotted m2dxb
please explain!
I get the idea of the exhaust now. Separate systems on LHS/RHS. I can't see the rear transverse silencer you mentioned. Just the 2 down pipes above the rear diff.
On the early 500s the exhaust from the LHS of the engine crosses over to the RHS behind the engine and then joins together to form a single system. I can't work out why, the twin system seems easier to make. What was yours like originally?
Did you buy the large silencers or have them custom built? Nice work.
How much to ship to the UK :D ?
Aha sorted, I'll have to look under the older G500 one day to see if it has those too...
Roly,
Earlier G500 OE systems are vastly different to my car's OE.
The original exhaust system is exactly like my contraption, with two differences:
1) I use 54mm Corten pipes instead of the OE 47mm.
2) OE have a 3rd rear silencer seating transversely over the rear axle into which both LHS & RHS systems merge and from which a single pipe comes out exhausting under the front door. I omitted it and exhausted the pipes directly at the side of the rear differential without interconnecting them by a silencer or pipe. My doubt in removing the OE transverse silencer (which functioned also as a balancer between the two independent systems) centered on the possibility of ruining the pulses of the system. This could have had a negative effect on torque. I am happy to report that all is well.
I have done 2,000km with the new arrangement. When I reach abt 7,000km I will remeassure power and torque (it is not easy to find free time on a rolling 4x4 power tester).
Catalysts and silencers were bought ready made.
Excellent setup but... what about prices?
Nice job,
And as you mention it,cool bit of work on the panhard rods. I presume they are lockable and adjustable too so you can get your settings right?
The very first thing I broke off roading was my steering damper and guess what the second thing I broke was?
Yes, Right again, my second steering damper.
Now, guess what I dont have anymore? Yep! a steering damper.
I wish you the very best of luck with yours and keep away from tree stumps unlike me.
Regards,
Mike
Mortinson,
Please let me know exactly which prices are of interest. I have indicated a cost of abt 2,600 euro for suspension, exhaust and steering experimentation materials - excluding the cost of one steering damper: anyway I had to change the decorative one fitted.
To my mind the interesting modification is the one carried out on the Panhard rods. Cheap and effective.
Thanks, I missed the 2,600 total.I was just curious about a ballpark figure...
Tyreman,
Lockable and adjustable - of course.
It is a pleasure to drive the car accurately adjusted.
What do you think about my idea to fit a rear antiroll bar?
The increased height of the car reminds me of the Edgar Allan Poe story "Pit and the Pendulum"... :shock:
Fit the rear anti roll bar if most of your work is fast road. If you intend on a bit of off road and play days the anti roll bar will limit your articulation a bit.
Great to see you grab the bull by the horns and do the work you talked about on a vehicle thats so new.
Regards,
Mike
Anakreon,
Great work !
Thank you for sharing.
Respectfully,
James Van Thach
Valid point, I doubt many people go that far in analysing it unless they do the work themselves. There must be a reason MB specify that volume of oil in there, any less might mean the diff gears suffer, not a cheap experiment!
You certainly are a perfectionist! I wouldn't worry too much about having a slightly smaller amount of oil there but I would compensate for this by changing the oil more often.... I say this on the basis of seeing many lifted Gs around here, running for many miles without problems. In any event, I agree that the best solution would be to drill another hole higher up, assuming that this is feasible...
Anakreon whats your profesion?
you must be an engineer of some sort. your info and attention to detail is of a doctors level :wink:
did you follow the thesselonika challenge by any chance??
i wouldnt be suprised if you are involved with some of the G's in the challenge.
rgds hus
My concern was the colour of the outer case of the rear RH wheel bearing turning blue. I suspected high temperature therefore deficient lubrication (rear wheel bearings are fed their lubricant from the differential - no grease there).
Maybe people who have lifted their cars did not change the differential oil and are still running with the old quanity inside. Anyway the difference between 1,8ltrs and 1,2ltrs is about 30% less - perhaps too much for comfort.
Yesterday - Sunday - was a miserable day pissing incessantly. So I removed a complete tap-cum-thread from a discarded military G differential cover. These taps are fine conical affairs, really difficult to make and worth keeping. I opened a 41mm hole in the cover (7cm up from the original hole) with my cutting lathe and inserted accurately the old tap-thread in place. Argon welded from the inside and, for cosmetic reasons, TIG welded from the outside.
Now I can adjust the level of oil.
Huss, thnks for yr comment but I am an nothing: I just enjoy the process.. :shock: .
Speechless :shock: I am speechless :D
anakreon hi there.
i am passing through greece in january, might stop off while you do the same to my G300 :wink:
cheers !!
btw, would you know if there is a ferry service from italy to port in greece in late january early febuary?
got it, many thanks!
you are folowing the quick release 'disconnects' my brother has on his wrangler :wink: very very effective device indeed :!:
i will ask him,and foward you the link.
but try looking under rubicon express susupension lift etc...
You are correct regarding car's age but...I did it for me.
Working on weekends and evenings clears my mind.
Expenditure abt 2,600 euros + my time.