2011 AMG G55 Build

[speedkills]

Got all of my shocks removed, removed the extraneous bumper, then added o-rings so I could see travel used and reinstalled them, plus swapped to Old Man Emu rear springs to handle the amount of stuff I like to carry around. Still waiting on front springs.

[speedkills]

Decent improvement in the ride from the rear axle, feels like a truck now, not a mini truck. Front is still terrible, maybe 20% less terrible. Won’t have spring for the front for a couple of weeks still.

[speedkills]

Lazy weekend, didn't do much on my truck. I did some mild troubleshooting of the locking system that won't engage, found the vacuum pump powering it is dead so I ordered a new one up. I also did a quick modification to the switch pack that controls my lockers. Stock it enforces them locking in order and dependent upon each other, center, rear, front, which means if center fails you can't use rear or front either. I just cut a couple of transistors off of the switch pack board to disable the enforcement of locking sequence.

[Jim]

speedkills previously posted:

[open_circuit]

I'm surprised there is still a warning sticker on the center stack. I'd have peeled that off on day one if I bought this new. Previous owner kept it all this time

[speedkills]

One of these days. I actually peeled off one that was higher up but that one is so low on the stack I never even notice it.

[TyTheJeepGuy]

Is there anything that can go wrong with, for example, the front diff locked but the transfer case / mid diff unlocked? I can't really think of anything but I'm wondering what their reasoning could have been.

[Jim]

ARB's default is the same - when one hits the front diff lock button they azzume the rear should also be on and both activate. Hitting the rear button (only) activates only the rear. I can't think of any reason outside of convenience. I like having the independent choice.

[speedkills]

There is something that can go wrong by enforcing them to be sequential, if the center fails, you have no rear or front lockers. The mod I did doesn't actually allow me to enable front without requesting rear, it just will go ahead and lock the front even if the rear never locks. As for purposely locking them out of order, people do it occasionally, mostly as a turning technique but I'm not too worried about that, I'm fine with the occasional Austin Powers if it comes to that.

[speedkills]

Made a little garage time tonight. Pulled the stock rear fiberglass bumper and rear fuel tank guard off in preparation to put a new steel rear bumper on and a trailer hitch. The 2009-2011 G-Wagen's didn't have a provision for a trailer hitch in the US so my bumper choice was made by the fact that the rear bumper I chose supports a class 3 receiver hitch. Made the decision easy anyway.

This was how I found the bumper in front of my house.



Getting ready to take the stock stuff off


Turns out there are factory antennas in each end of the stock bumper under the plastic end caps. I wonder if I need to relocate these or if they will still work within the steel bumper?


The factory rear fuel tank guard is actually quite nice, maybe I can use it to make some other guard some day. I was going to take a plasma cutter to it and cut out a notch for the new trailer hitch but then I lucked out and found a used aftermarket one in Denver that is exactly what I needed, and nicer than I could have done with my current skillset anyway so this one is coming off.


Underneath it is a beefy little roll cage, plus the skid plate was a nice thick steel on the back plate. The plate on the bottom is a little thinner but overall I'm pretty happy with the stock protection here.

[speedkills]

Some googling and I learned that those antennas are for a built in telematics system, GM Onstar type thing which I will absolutely never use so I will just remove them.

[open_circuit]

Better remove that GWVR warning sign too. If you have that sign you'll be compelled to overload the vehicle just to prove it wrong.

[Jim]

speedkills previously posted:

[speedkills]

That GWVR limit is just due to the AMG short suspension. The chassis, brakes, and axles are rated way higher and I'll be fixing the suspension, so yeah, you can be assured I'll be loading it up with more than that at some point. They have a manual with all of the details for upfitters on what to do to increase it, like if you add an ambulance shell they tell you to add a rear sway bar.

[speedkills]

Small amount of progress today. Removed the old telematics system that is no longer in operation then installed the rear bumper and receiver hitch. I probably won't get around to hooking up the parking sensors, license plate light, and trailer harness until next week.

[speedkills]

Also stumbled across this almost empty area in the drivers side rear when I was removing the unused antennas. I'm definitely going to do something fun here, it is a good size for a battery or some other electronics, and has holes in the body with rubber plugs for running wires already which is sure to come in handy.

[speedkills]

Front springs and shocks. This box makes my G look puny.



I'm enjoying this style of spring compressor. Much easier to work with than the two separate units I used on the last vehicle I swapped springs on.


Time to order up some limit straps and put some longer front brake lines on, I don't like how tight that is.


This feels like it will be an improvement.



Not a fan of the color but oh well, as long as they work well I won't care. Shock shaft looks reasonable on there finally.



Had to drill and tap a couple of holes to mount the reservoirs.



Happy with how this turned out.



All back together and off of the jackstands. Nice and level finally, and looks like I can fit maybe 33-34" wheels in there as is.

[TyTheJeepGuy]

Nice work shane. When I installed my lift it came with brake bracket relocators, so you could keep the same brake lines but they mounted higher. Maybe you can find something like that for das wagen?

[Java]

Rig looks great! Those lower control arms are ridiculously beefy, and I'm really into that spring compressor. I just had a bad experience with my two piece set last fall, ended up with a stripped one which ruins the set, and had it in the back of my head to upgrade but hadn't shopped it out yet. Thanks! I like those vice grips too, I guess you can torque them down after they're already attached? That would be soooo useful...


edit- just bought these, thanks! Been so long since I bought new vice grips I had no idea those existed.

[speedkills]

Yep, sized nicely to stick a screwdriver in the knob and get a bit of leverage to tighten them a little.