[R129 SL] ADAPTIVE SUSPENSION

[George Simpson]

About a month ago, I had the two front suspension spheres changed as the 
membranes had become permeable. The car stopped curtsying on undulating 
roads and I was back in heaven.

However, a new noise is now present. It is a 'dry', tapping noise when I 
go through a town at low speed and appears to come from the front. 
Looking at the front suspension from underneath, it appears that the arm 
connected to the front anti-roll bar has a little play. I was able to 
take some of it out by loosening and turning the clamp that secures this 
arm to the anti-roll bar but I think that the noise might be coming from 
the place where this arm pivots. The anti-roll bar passes through a hole 
in the arm and there is plastic(?) sleeve between this hole and the 
anti-roll bar. I disconnected the arm with the two oil pipes and tested 
- the noise had gone away.  It looks as if the sleeve might be the culprit.

One interesting fact - when the car has just been started up after a 
period at rest, the noise is not present for the 500 metres - then it 
comes in. I thought of using an old throttle return spring to put some 
tension on the arm but this might make the ADS think that the roll bar 
has turned and, in turn, jack up the suspension. Has anyone ever seen an 
R129 with the ADS up to its maximum? It looks like a 4 x 4 - there is 3 
inches of space between the top of the front tyre and the edge of the 
wing !!!!  

Anyone out there with experience of an ageing ADS?

George Simpson
1990 500SL