I am frustrated. I had my 04 c230 SS lowered by F1 Motoring. They used H&R springs. I asked about alignment before I agreed to get the drop. They suggested I wait 3 weeks. They said it would cost 90 bucks for 4 wheels.

Well, it's been 3 weeks. So I drive to a car alignment place and they said that. They can not align it without a camber correction kit.

I called F1, the guy I talked to patched me to a George who said that he can get the fronts close to factory specs... the rears he said will take 4 hours and 300 bucks. WHAT????

I wanna hear bout all you guys who got their ride lowered. What should I do? Where should I go?

 

waiting 3 weeks or more makes sence to let the springs settle.

but i would go back to the guy that gave you the quote of $90 and tell him, you either want him to do it for the quoted price, or you dont want the springs and have them swap them back to stock and give you a refund.

i have not heared any one on this forum who lowered there car say anything of needing a camber kit.

 

umm, they're selling you a bunch of crap. Take it to another shop

 

300 bucks for allignment!!!???? Yeah right, that's bloody rip off!!! unless u really drop your car, i wouldn't worry much about that camber kit, i never use it and so far so good, well the last set of rear tyre only last for 1 year (forget to rotate).

 

Well they're not lying to you - without a camber correction solution for the front and rear, your car (now that it's lowered) will never pull into factory specs. Any alignment shop can get it as close as possible (which will still be significantly off, but a little better than before).

It's not uncommon for a car to be un-alignable after it's lowered. Mercedes are notorious for really bad negative camber in the rear after lowering. If you're balking at 4 hours and $300 bucks then I'll assume that you just want to have it as close to specs as possible, as opposed to having a completely tuned suspension (which costs significantly more than $300).

Here's the cheapie way to do it:
Get a set of crash bolts from the dealer (about $50-75). They're eccentric bolts for your front control arms. They will let you remove some of the negative camber (in the front). On a lowered car they won't get it back to specs, but it will be closer.

For the rear, there's really no cheap way to fix the negative camber because the stock links are not adjustable. There's some cheap "adjustable" control arms on eBay, but the quality/design isn't great. If you don't want to spend that money either, then just have them increase your toe in out back. It won't correct your negative camber, but it will spread the wear over the tire. When the inside edge wears down as much as it can, take it to a tire place and have the tires unmounted and side switched. I suggest taking it to a shop that only does alignments. They'll know to do everything I'm talking about without you having to say anything.

Now...

If you want to do it right and have/are willing to spend the $$$ here's what you do:

For the front, get a K-Mac bushing kit. This will allow you to completely adjust your front camber.

www.k-mac.com.au

For the rear, replace the non adjustable links with a set of aircraft/F1 quality TRAK-Links. You will be able to completely adjust rear camber, caster, and toe.

I would say to even out your gaps with spring pads but I don't think the 203 chassis has them all around.

Get a set of adjustable shocks and adjust them for your needs.

Pick up a better set of sway bars.

(The last two are not necessary to align the car to specs, but will definitely help your handling)


I got mine from the House of Power in Huntington Beach (www.hopracing.com)

The second solution is not cheap, but it's the correct way to lower a car for great performance as opposed to just the look.

 

wow, thats great info!! I'll have to look into that.

 

Some one on here said the found a site or they themselves make links for the rear w203 suspension for lowered cars to correct for this... I cant remember the site... Search for it youll find it!

 

I have H&R installed, next thing I did was bringing it to the dealer and have them aligned everything. $130ish out the door parts and labor, with a 3 months warranty on the alignment. No hassle. I have never thought of the dealer but I gave it a shot, turned out it was a pleasant experience.

 

that website?

http://www.speedybnz.com/ $250 for the rear camber correction. 350 at K-mac, but you get more than camber arms if you're serious.

you're welcome . I'm planning on buying myself a set as well.

flip

 

i lowered my car and had the dealer replaced the front suspension strut arm bushing so that they had to re-align the wheels. so yeah, it was FREE BUT RENNTech springs are black with no marking on them. it looks stock.

 

First off, thank you to all who responded to my problem aligning my c230 ss after lowering with H&R springs.

i am closer to a solution, thanks to you all.

however i am wondering.. if the MB dealerships can get it "close" to alignmen for about $130, why would I spend $250 for the rear camber correction (http://www.speedybnz.com/) or 350 at K-mac... is it because the Dealer is NOT able to do anything about the rear camber?

 

W203 ADJUSTABLE UPPER SHOCK MOUNT PLATE
You need a set of these, but they wont be finished until end of Sept.
just finished testing the prototype today.


MADE IN THE USA.

 

what's that?

also, if you've had the car aligned before (mine was aligned for free at the dealer), I saw that they add a "camber-kit" to your car. Is it still there when you have it aligned again? Or do you have to buy it again? Does that make the alignment cheaper if it's still on?

Thanks!

 

It is an Adjustable Upper Shock Mount Plate also known as a Camber plate.
It moves the top of the strut to create more or less camber. It has a wider range of adjustment than the adjustable bolts.

 

Very interesting. Does Speedtek have a website? or contact number? Very interesting...

 

I'm having the speedybnz rear camber arms installed this weekend!

 

if i missed it i am sorry. but how much is this thing? how much for install? is it available in so cal? thanks.

 

looking foward to that!! Keep us posted

 

According to Darth Speed, the upper mount is supposed to be available this month, but when it comes to R&D deadlines can always change.

 

It cost me 500 from this shop for the camber bolts but hey having it align as close as possible will save tires which add up to much more over time

 

I assume these will move back and forth as the stock do when turning lock to lock correct?

 

Stock is adjustable?