mtnman82

Hey guys - hope everyone's doing well, been a while since I've visited this corner of the 'net...

I've got the H&R springs and Bilstien shocks installed on my '03 c230 sedan. I put the camber adjustment rods on the rear and had it aligned and the rear seems to be doing pretty good. I didn't think I had to worry about the front tires, but went under the car to look for anything loose/tighten things up because of that annoying clunk in the front end (still can't find it, but haven't replaced any of the control arms yet - I did tighten the sway bar links which helped some, but didn't get rid of it...) and found the inside of the front tires completely bald! Still have meat left on the center and the outside.

I did some searching here but only found people having trouble with outside wear. Neither my STAR CD or EPC will run on my PC anymore (sent emails a couple weeks ago now, but no response) - I'm wondering if the control arms are different for the '05, which is all ready lowered?

Also wondering if there's anything else that might be going on?

I got 4 of the alignment bolts and am going to take it in for an alignment, but I'm in a small town with no computerized alignment in any of the shops. I wanted to print out the MB recomended alignment and instructions for the alignment bolts before I took it in. Wondering if anyone can help me with that?

Any other insight would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

mtnman82

Could the bushing that goes bad be a cause of tires to wear on the inside? My car falls in the affected VIN range and I don't think they've ever been replaced...

splinter

Best advice I can share would be to get it on an alignment rack so a competent technician -not that you’re not- can see where things are pointing and inspect for tired hardware.
My experience has been it’s difficult to adjust in enough negative camber with this chassis to manifest excessive inner front tire wear regardless of ride height…
at least enough to counter the outer wear from sliding around corners. :D

Burned up a perfectly good pair of Michelins in no time owing to insufficient toe-in (toe-out, actually).

Glyn M Ruck

Great advice from splinter. Check castor bushes for cracks, Get alignment done. I'll bet she has toe out of spec.

mtnman82

Yep - Splinter I was thinking along the same lines, i.e. to check things out first. Even though I'm going to try to arrange to take her in tomorrow, I'm only going to have some spare tires mounted on the front, have the alignment checked out, and see if the shop is capable of replacing the bushings. Thanks for the inputs Splinter and Glyn!

Glyn, I ordered two of the bushings last night then got to wondering if I should have ordered a pair for the camber? I.e. - do the camber bushings need to be replaced too?

Also wondering if you could post the alignment specs for me, Glyn? I've found a bunch in searching and they all seem to differ slightly...

Thanks again guys!

sammydragon3

a shop isnt going to able to replace the bushings only unless they have a press..
does the front end clunk when u lift your foot on and off your brake?
ordering bushings blinding isnt going to help since u have 2 controls arms per side
get under their again with the front end on the ground (loaded) and push on all 4 balljoints on the control arms...check the tie rods balljoint

your toe should be at .07 toe in
your camber -.08
caster should be at 10

Glyn M Ruck

Any half decent shop should be able to press out the bushes on the car.

See my reply to your PM with specs & PN's

Glyn M Ruck

Here are specs for anyone else who wants them



Please remember this is for RHD you must do the opposite for LHD with castor spec.

mtnman82

Glyn - as I said before, you the man! Thanks a bunch!

Sammy - my local po-dunk shop has a press and can take care of the bushings no problem. What makes you think I'm blindly ordering parts? The castor bushings are a known problem and there's a STAR bulletin out stating one of the leading causes of the klunking over rough roads is the castor bushings. I'm definitely going to have the shop check over all the front end components to see if anything is loose.

mtnman82

Well, caster & camber were within spec (camber was not quite a degree). Toe was almost straight, so he toed it in a tad according to spec to see if that helps.

The castor bushings didn't look that bad. There was a bit of dry rot, but they hadn't leaked any fluid. And, the bushings did not take care of the klunk in the front end. .

Also found out that I all ready have the adjustable bolts on the car from the factory (which are in the center groove, as stock), so I have a set of 4 bolts for sale.

Really, really wish I could nail down the klunking. He checked things over but also couldn't find anything loose or suspect...

hanknum

Check your anti sway bar bushings. Mine were worn to the point that the bar was rattling inside them. This occured over uneven pavement. You can disconnect the bar and drive and see if the noise goes away.