bettyboop

Hi everyone,
I'm a newbie Benz owner who bought a 99 C230K that was lowered with Eibach Pro-Kit springs. The owner had 18" wheels put on at the same time but blew out two and put the stock tires back on (I think they were Perilli 16" b/c he got the sport package originally). Now that I own the car, I took it in to replace 2 of the tires at a local Wheelworks and when I got an alignment done they of course said I needed a camber and caster(?) kit for the front and rear. According to the printout, the camber readings were as follows(hope I'm putting this down correctly):

-2.4 degrees front left
-2.1 degrees front right
-2.2 rear left
-2.4 rear right.

Now this is already after the original owner had an alignment done at the MB dealership in early April 2003 along with the factory service so I guess I'm worried the alignment is already so out of whack after less than 3 months of driving?

After doing some searching in this group, there seems to be 2 opinions/option:
a) pay $700 for K-MAC camber kits (though I don't know if this covers the caster part) or
b) get those 4 camber bolts from Mercedes that run about $7.5 apiece and throw those on, call it a day and then see if that helps and I don't wear through all 4 tires in the next year?

I'm primarily driving the car within the SF BayArea and average about a 1,000 miles/month.

Tpliquid/Soldsep/Scorchie - any advice?

Thx for any input as I don't want to have to shell out $500+ on tires + alignment in a year or so if I go with one of the 2 options.

I don't think the original shocks were replaced so am thinking about the Bilstein shocks but right now the ride seems pretty good.

Thx again....
Betty

KWiK

To reduce the negative camber you have a few options.

Front choices:
- raise the car. Thicker springs pads would do.
- install the camber bolts, this would give you about .5 deg improvement. These are not expensive so this would be the first thing I would do.
- install a camber kit like the Kmac one

Rear choices:
- raise the car. Thicker springs pads would do.
- install a camber kit like the Kmac one
- have some adjustable camber arms custom made


I would be curious to see how low your car sits. could you post some pictures?

tpliquid

i might hacve a set of stock springs i can sell to u and stock wheels. if u like to buy off me i can install for u that will get u alignment back to spec

bettyboop

Thanks for the responses...

I actually have the original sprints and I'm ok with leaving the Eibach ones on since I like the look of the lowered car. The stock tires and rims are staying on for right now too til I figure out what I want in the future as I have to save up a bit. What I'm more interested in fixing is the negative camber.

So Kwik if I'm reading your posting right I should at least get the camber bolts put on for the front but I won't need them for the rear? Should I just get them direct from MB and have them throw them on at the same time or just get them and have the local Wheelworks guys put them on?

As for getting my hands on the K-mac kits, can I get them locally (stateside?) and hey tpliquid - can you get your hands on a set and for how much and also what would the installation cost be?

Thanks!

P.S. I need to still take a pic of the car and will post later (hopefully tonite)

Betty

KWiK

scorchie

Hope I can jump in...

First of all, I have to throw in to the equation, that more often than not, I see that improper tire inflation causes more tire wear than the excessive negative camber from lowering the car. So, unless you're going to check your tire pressure at least every month, expect to spend $500 for tires every 18-24 months anyhow. With camber of about 2 degrees, you should expect your tires to last at least 18 months anyhow, if the inflation pressures are correct. To top it off, hitting a pothole or a curb can throw out the toe setting on your car, and that causes excessive wear too... so if you want to save your tires, expect to do a lot of preventative maintenance: check and adjust tire pressures at least monthly, do wheel alignment at least yearly, or more often if the car exhibits symptoms of misaligned wheels (pulling to one side, steering wheel off center, etc.).

The bolts available to adjust camber on the front are available from the dealer. They are called "repair bolts" and actually add more adjustment for camber AND caster.

If the alignment was done at the dealership recently, it does not necessarily mean it was brought into specification. Actually, the way the specs from Mercedes work are more like:

"If the reading is 1.6 to 2.0 degrees, adjust the bolt index to 30 degrees."

They don't read like that, but there is chart in the service manual that cross references the current settings and returns the adjustment made. So there really are no "specs" in the traditional sense of aligment. It's difficult for me to explain, I'm sorry.

In my opinion, I would be wary of having the Wheelworks guys do any suspension work... just my experience. Especially the shop down on Howard or Brannan or wherever it is.

I think Jun (MIC280) still has a kit or two, or can get them. You may want to contact him.

Look forward to the car pics.

-s-

osocold707

osocold707

Oops! Hit the submit button to early. To answer that question from my experiences, f### the dealerships. I will go to my local shop for everything that I can, since they overcharge on labor. They will make your bill triple just from labor alone. So if you want to spend money have the delear install. If you want to save go to a different shop. Getting parts from the delear seems to be safe so far.

tpliquid

shgold come to me..im cheap

HYPERI0N24

Uh oh...good thing this post came up to remind me...I think I may have to have somebody install some bolts in the very near future..(cough, cough) liquidtp:p -we'll talk about this later, alone

timecop369

I got my front camber bolts at the MB dealer off Steven's Creek, it was $21 for both w/ tax.

Gonna get those installed this weekend at a local shop. And then go next door to Wheelworks and have them align it again.

Like Scorchie said, don't trust the Wheelwork guys for labor, they themself told me they charge triple the price! It shouldn't cost more than $140 labor & alignment.

As for the rears, I'll leave it be and just change my tires every 18 mo. (I'm hoping they last that long). No point for $350 on rear camber.

timecop369

steve s

betty, u can also go to the shop european motor uses...they're located on 1250 howard street.

alignment and suspension of san francisco
jose vargas

bettyboop

thanks guys...i was planning on stopping by european motors tomorrow. Hey does the mb shop that does repairs and maintenance on 11th and folsom (i think) carry the bolts too? It'll be closer to work to run over during lunch as i work off of howard.

I emailed mic280 and he said he could get the k-mac camber kits for $350/kit so i'll be doing that soon.

So when I put the bolts on i'll have to do another alignment and when i get the k-mac kit i'll need to do another alignment and i just did one this week b/c of the 2 new tires i got so i'm going to pay for 3 alignments in a short period of time...is that right guys?

Thx

Betty

2~s0L~t

hey i saw this today and thought u may wanna use it as your avatar (animated icon) for this site to post under ur name. u can do it through the user cp menu under edit options.

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/1085/#pics

go to the site above and save the betty boop icon and then u can upload it to this site.

later.

sol-t

steve s

yes, european motors should carry the bolts..