BayAreaBenzDude

My car pulls to the right, I mean real strong pull, not a slow drift. Even at low speeds when I let go of the wheel, the car will pull to the right. It is not only unsafe (I have ding on the right fender caused by a rolling pull when looking for directions ), but a major annoyance. I have to hold the wheel slightly turned to the left to get the car straight. Below is some symptoms and diagonsis of the pull.

1) I don't think the pull is due to the bent rims, bent rims should show up during tire balance, right? My tires were balanced recently.

2) My new set of Bridgestone, Potnezas started wearing out on the outer edges. The rear right wearing out on the outside than the front right on the outside - the rear right outside wear is very pronounced. Below is the picture taken after a recent tire rotation. [I will attach the picture later, I'm having trouble with finding the cable for the camera]

3) This the second set that is wearing out similarly, my previous set was Pirelli P6000. When I had Pirelliset on the car, the dealer and independent shop where I live, kept telling me it was the bad tire causing the pull not the suspension. The dealer did the alignment twice on this set, nothing obvious jumped out.

4) On the current Bridgestone, Potneza set, which was installed by Wheel Works, the car started pulling to the right after this set was installed. The alignment was done during the install. I took it back the alignment was checked and it was in spec., this did not still solve the problem. I got cyncical of the Wheel Works alignment and took the car to MB dealer ship, and the alignment was in spec. Now after 3 alignments nothing at changed.

5) Just before the Pirelli's were installed the independant shop noticed the steering shock had worn out (the car 40K miles then) and replaced it.

6) I have been noticing tire wear on the right side slowly wearing out the outer edge. I was shocked to see the tire wear after a recent tire rotation, the Potenza's have only 14K miles on them.

7) When stopped on a uneven surface the car wheel will be turned to the right.

8) The dealer ship and the independant shop checked the suspension (yeah, I paid them both and they told the suspension was clean.

Given all these symptoms, I'm tending to think it's supension problem not a tire problem. Given the many components part of the suspension, I'm suspecting the shocks, springs, ball joints, front rear control arm bushings or subframe. I don't want to replace all, my philosphy has been don't replace if it ain't broke. As you can tell, I'm very keen on identifying the problem and getting this fixed than sell the car. Even if I sell the car, I don't want to pass the problem to another owner. Otherwise I love this car.

I'm told the front rear control arm bushings wear out on this model, I'm thinking of replacing the them. I found a Polyurthane bushing <www.lpdauto.com>

The car is '99 C230K sedan, sport suspension, all stock, has 70K miles on the odo. Never been in an accident, never abused. I bought this one used, at 24K. I checked the carfax report, I did not see any accident report on the car.

I'm seeking the wisdom of the list to shed some light on this problem.

SDR

Sure sounds like a camber problem to me. How/why else would the outer edge be wearing on multiple sets of tires? Did you get printouts of the alignment pre- and post-? Any reputable place will give you this and you could see for yourself. I know MANY of the chain stores get lazy and if it's within spec they just have a smoke and take your money. You may want to try an indy shop (where in the Bay Area are you?) give it a look. Within spec could be -3 degrees on the dirvers side and +3 degrees on the pass. Enough to cause the pull, but still technically within spec assuming the range is +/- five degrees.

BTW: A lot of us in the W202 AMG section are talking about the same bushings. I have mine in hand, but have yet to install them.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c36-amg-c43-amg-w202/117233-has-anyone-changed-their-lower-control-arm-bushings-themselves.html

2000c230sport

I had the same problem. Took 6 times to the shop before they finally confirmed 2 bent rims. It was amazing how the bent rims affected the tracking of the car. I switched the bent rims to the rear wheels and even that made a huge difference. I spent $1500 trying to get the car to track right and not vibrate. New tires, alignment, balancing multiple times, 2 new rims and overall car still tracked wrong and vibrated. Some tire places have force road balancing-at discount tire it was $40 compared to their normally free balancing. Somewhere between new rims and that balance the car rides straight and true. Be absolutely sure it's not the rims. Also, my carfax is clean but low and behold..................accident. Right front fender replaced at some point.

BayAreaBenzDude

I do have all the alignment numbers, I have them document. Unfortunately I don't have access to the notes right now. I live in San Francisco, work in the San Jose. Do you have a recommendation for shops in the vicinity of San Fran. or SJ?

I''m thinking of replacing lower rear (polyutherane) and lower front (OEM) control arm bushings and the Ball joints (if they are worn).

I will be posting the pictures of my right rear and right front tires after I respond to this post.

Appreciate your input.

BayAreaBenzDude

I thought alloy rims don't bend. Would not mind replacing them, if they are bent. How was your rims determined to be bent? Force balancing machine?

Appreciate your input.

BayAreaBenzDude

Picture 1, Front right tire (was in the rear before the recent rotation):

BayAreaBenzDude

Picture 1, Front rear tire (was in the front before the recent rotation):

SDR

There's the problem - you're using that weird front rear tire setup

From what the guys on the C43 thread say, the lower front bushings don't go out - only the rear.
A bent wheel usually results in hopping or the feeling of an unbalanced wheel (having bent the TSW's a few times on the 190E) rather than a pull. Plus that tire wear looks even all around. As I recall, too much negative toe will cause a scalloped edge and not a smooth one like you have. This sure looks like a classic positive camber issue. I could be wrong though...
The place that I've gone to with weird stuff is Bruce's Tires in Fremont. There must be a similar indy shop near you though. Make a few calls.