W463 G500: Suggested Brake Upgrades + Suspension Lift

Lynch

New member
Hello everyone,

First post here. I've got a 2001 W463 G500 that is new to me, and I'm quite excited to take it on adventures, and upgrade it.

I would like to upgrade the brakes, and suspension, and after doing a bit of research, I have a rough idea of what's out there, but would appreciate any expertise offered.

[1] Brakes:
I plan to use Mercedes OEM 16x7.5 wheels, so as far as I'm aware, bigger brake kits such as Brembo or other offerings will not fit these wheels.
Is there any upgrades for brakes that will fit 16" wheels, aside from stainless steel brake lines?

[2] Suspension:


I want a 40mm lifted suspension, and hopefully better ride characteristics/less body roll than stock.

I've found out about the Koni RAID shocks, which seems to be the most robust and capable shocks out there.
I'm having more trouble deciding on the springs.

There are some people on forums that say the OEM Merc progressive springs are the best due to the ability to have different loads, and good for towing. I personally won't be doing much towing.
Also, the Merc springs do not appear to be designed for a lifted truck.

Are there any good progressive or Merc made springs that are designed for a bigger lift?
I see Mercedes made Mike Horn a customized G with lifted suspension, so I'm wondering if they have springs for a lifted setup that I'm not aware of.

I've also heard very good things about ORC's Eibach-made springs that will give me a designed 40mm lift, but I've also heard that they can ride very harshly and are too stiff for some people.

Does anyone happen to know if W461 springs would work on a W463 damper or are they completely different? I like the lifted look of the W461 PUR30 edition.

Would appreciate any experience and suggestions with springs, and possible brake upgrades for the 16" wheels. Thanks in advance! ;)

Cheers
 
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Lynch

New member
I understand my question is not so straight forward and not everyone would have the experience with the parts.

Does anyone know if there are good aftermarket brake pads for the 2002 G500 that are better than the stock pads? Will be changing the brake pads very soon.

Hoping for some advice! :)
 

McBride

Adventurer
Lynch,

I have the ORC springs on two of my G's and love them - one very heavy and one stock weight- not too soft in my opinion.

I have the Koni Raids on one G (my heavy camper) and they are perfect for that application. I have them on the firmest setting. If they were on my other G then I would definitely have to back them off a bit.

Regarding the brakes, does your G seem under braked to you. If so then I would suggest that something isn't working correctly. I have the G500 brakes on my 7000# camper (no ABS) and I can easily lock up the brakes. You likely have ABS so no locking up but the G500 brake system should stop you very, very quickly if it is working correctly.Master cylinder and caliper rebuild kits are available and not difficult to install. I'd also recommend a Motive power bleeder - easy to use when solo and zero air in the brake system.

Enjoy your G!

William
 

Eric Edwards

Adventurer
Hi McBride, do you have the part number for the ORC springs for stock? All I can find are the blue heavy duty ones online. Also, which Konis do you have paired with those shocks? Thanks!



Lynch,

I have the ORC springs on two of my G's and love them - one very heavy and one stock weight- not too soft in my opinion.

I have the Koni Raids on one G (my heavy camper) and they are perfect for that application. I have them on the firmest setting. If they were on my other G then I would definitely have to back them off a bit.

Regarding the brakes, does your G seem under braked to you. If so then I would suggest that something isn't working correctly. I have the G500 brakes on my 7000# camper (no ABS) and I can easily lock up the brakes. You likely have ABS so no locking up but the G500 brake system should stop you very, very quickly if it is working correctly.Master cylinder and caliper rebuild kits are available and not difficult to install. I'd also recommend a Motive power bleeder - easy to use when solo and zero air in the brake system.

Enjoy your G!

William
 

McBride

Adventurer
Eric,

I have the blue Orc/Eibach springs. I'm not sure of the PN but I believe you can get them from either fourbyfourclub or Couch Offroad. They are super strong and not what I would call stiff. They have plenty of travel even on an unloaded stock G. I'm not certain but I would bet they are progressive.

I have the Koni Raid shocks for the Gwagen. The other one, which I believe is a bit lighter is the Koni Heavy Track. Again I don't have the PN but you can go to KoniUSA, enter your make and model and it will show the two available options. I went with the Konis because they are adjustable (off the vehicle), super durable, high fluid volume, rebuildable and get excellent reviews from the off road customers. I live at the end of a 9 mile dirt road and I'm tired of replacing shocks every few years. They are build way heavier than any other shock I've looked at and barely get warm where my old shocks would be very hot.

Both the springs and shocks are special order so they can take a while to get to the U.S.

William
 

Lynch

New member
William, thank you for the response and insight, it's really appreciated. :)

Just a few quick questions, since I'm planning to run literally the exact same suspension setup as you.

Are there any problems with the suspension geometry after the 40mm lift using ORC springs (40mm) + Koni RAID shocks?

Have you done anything to change it or is it completely fine with you? I don't need anything more than this lift, but was wondering if such a lift is already "too much" and may require some correction.

Cheers!
 

Eric Edwards

Adventurer
I've been really leaning towards Radflo or King suspension, but Koni shocks are looking very attractive. I was always worried about nicking up my Radflo shock bodies and pistons on my Landcruiser. If the Koni shocks are in the same ball park comfort wise I may have to go that direction. I will only have about 500 pounds of gear total above stock, so not too heavy of a truck, so I may look at Koni Heavy Track (SPX I think) unless someone recommends the full blown Raids.
 

McBride

Adventurer
William, thank you for the response and insight, it's really appreciated. :)

Just a few quick questions, since I'm planning to run literally the exact same suspension setup as you.

Are there any problems with the suspension geometry after the 40mm lift using ORC springs (40mm) + Koni RAID shocks?

Have you done anything to change it or is it completely fine with you? I don't need anything more than this lift, but was wondering if such a lift is already "too much" and may require some correction.

Cheers!

The additional 40mm will definitely change the geometry and feel of the vehicle. My opinion is that the lift isn't enough to cause undue stress that the drivetrain can't reliably handle. The ORC blue springs are very nice and benefit the performance of the vehicle - I like it.

If it were easy I would correct the caster angle - I like laser beam steering like my camper has. Maybe someday I will, but it is lower on the list at this point - the G500 needs new shocks - I'm going for the Koni Raids again.
 

McBride

Adventurer
I've been really leaning towards Radflo or King suspension, but Koni shocks are looking very attractive. I was always worried about nicking up my Radflo shock bodies and pistons on my Landcruiser. If the Koni shocks are in the same ball park comfort wise I may have to go that direction. I will only have about 500 pounds of gear total above stock, so not too heavy of a truck, so I may look at Koni Heavy Track (SPX I think) unless someone recommends the full blown Raids.

I'll be putting the Raids on our G500 in about a month. I'll let you know.

I'd love to have some Kings but they are almost twice the cost. I'll get them for my camper some day.
 

Lynch

New member
McBride, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the RAID shocks + ORC springs combo!

Should be very interesting.
 

Lynch

New member
By the way, I just came across this photo of Mike Horn's G.

Does anyone have any idea what was done to achieve a lift like that?

11415522_1036564076368596_4772566628263374205_o.jpg
 

otiswesty

Regular guy
The Mike Horn Gwagens are MB corporate cars loaned for the promo. They appear to be a custom/special build to accommodate the Europe to Himalaya adventure.

My G came with the Europa winch bumper up front and 3 stripe brown MB front springs. With the winch off, the front end sat high. I leveled it out with by adding a 30 mm spring spacers from G-wagenaccessories.com at the rear end on top of 3 stripe yellow-orange MB springs, which are stock for pretty much all G500's.
For shocks I use the standard Bilsteins, no issues so far.
 
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TripleD513

New member
I put Fox Shocks and ORC springs.. I'm extremely happy with them. Fox now valves their shocks properly for the non armored G's. Couldn't be happier.
 

mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
I had Koni HT Raid's and OEM Mercedes heavy duty Red3 up front and Brown2 in rear. Lifted it ~25mm(1") above stock. Very comfortable, controlled, non-harsh ride. I loaded it up a lot too and then it would sit a tad low in the rear, but handled the weight well.

Stock brakes for me, the setup does very very well. You could upgrade the pad compound(look at Carbotech, we've had great success with them, the 1521/Bobcat's are their street compound...everything else is race) but I stuck with OEM to keep squeaking away. At the 2yr brake flush mark you could upgrade your brake fluid to Motul RBF600 but I doubt you'd ever boil stock/ATE dot4 fluid, unless you're driving REALLY hard.
The 16x7.5" Hutchison WA-1207's BARELY fit over the G500 calipers--couldn't run stick-on wheel weights, had to do clip-on's on the outside of the wheel. If you go with Hutchies then talk to Tony at Motorsports in Portland about making them truly hubcentric like he's doing to my old G now; 503.244.9010

Have fun with it!
PS--links to pics of my G are in my signature.
 

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