badbrad97

My girlfriend took her CLK350 to a local tire place because she had bad tire wear on the inside front drivers side tire. They replaced the tire but said that they were unable to align it because the tie rods were seized and needed to be replaced since they couldn't be moved for adjustment.

Something doesn't sound right. I have had tie rods too loose to adjust, or the ball seized so they couldn't be removed, but nothing like this.

What do you think?

badbrad97

Looks like either a scam or an idiot. She took it to another place and they didn't seem to have any trouble aligning it.

Rudeney

Some shops just look at a "Mercedes" and assume that it's some strange piece of machinery that they can't work on. When you get that, run away! There are plenty of shops that know what they are doing and can handle the job.

craig001

Just an FYI, I took my '08 CLK350 to the Firestone Service center for their Lifetime Alignment a couple of weeks ago and after getting there they told me that they could not align the car because some special tools needed. I normally get the lifetime alignment on all my cars - my FEH, Trailblazer and 993 without issues. It was disappointing since I had a $20 off coupon which would have dropped the cost to $150. Which after two alignments pays for itself. For those that don't trust Firestone, the shop I use has a real nice Hunter Alignment System that is fairly new. I remember when they got it, the manager was so proud that he took me back to see it. If nothing else, it's a good deal to get your DD aligned twice a year. One time the guy at the shop commented that I get my cars aligned more than anyone else - Spring and Fall.

Yidney

An MB tie rod end doesn't look any different than a tie rod end from a '65 Buick. So in this case I'm not buying the "I'm scared of Mercedes" explanation. But what does seized mean? It can only mean one of two things. The ball is seized, in which case you could not turn a corner, or the nut and threads for adjustment are seized, in which case how are they going to replace them? I'd ask them what they are talking about.


Oh, now I see you got it taken care of. Weird.

M-Rods

I've seen the scared thing before, had a buddy who is a mechanic, i went by his place when I first got the car, opened the hood and his first words were....."I'm never working on that" lolol

TechSuperstar

I've also gotten the "deer in headlights" look from some garages. Yidney is correct, the alignment is just a matter of rotating the ball joint end on the tie rod threads. Depending on how old the tie rod end is maybe the threads could get so corroded that you cant turn the end?? I've never heard of that happening.
On a side note, I've done some maintenance on my CLK that was actually much easier than other vehicles.