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Took the car to the dealer for an alignment after replacing my inner and outer tie rods. Car is 2003 C230 sedan with stock suspension in good shape. After I asked for the report, I noticed the front camber settings were still showing in red. The service adviser told me at the time this was not adjustable on my car, and the setting was just barely off according to the technician.
After researching this a bit more at home, my understanding is that while the REAR camber is not adjustable the FRONT definitely is with the use of the repair bolts. What I am also having trouble with is interpreting the camber settings. Why are there 3 different target numbers, and how bad are my readings?
Am I being too demanding going back and having them redo the alignment to adjust the front camber? The car does drive straight, even though the steering feels a little light for my taste (but that could just be be the new Michelin pilot sport 4 all season tires).
Front camber requires bolt kits and only goes .33 degrees (20') one way or the other. Better off leaving it as is. Is your ride height that far out? Spec is 1.6* front but measured is 6.0/6.1. That will affect the desired camber angles. That's at the far end of "acceptable" height, which isn't adjustable on a 203 but that's where your other readings come from.
Front camber requires bolt kits and only goes .33 degrees (20') one way or the other. Better off leaving it as is. Is your ride height that far out? Spec is 1.6* front but measured is 6.0/6.1. That will affect the desired camber angles. That's at the far end of "acceptable" height, which isn't adjustable on a 203 but that's where your other readings come from.
Ok so close enough not to worry about it then? When you say the ride height is "far out", do you mean the difference left/right or overall height above ground? Maybe I need a trigonometry refresher, but not sure I understand what the three "8.5* +1.6* -3.2*" target numbers refer to exactly...
The numbers are spec, then tolerance. It is optimal at 8.5 but can be +1.6 or -3.2, so the range is 10.1-5.3. I read it wrong the first time but you are still at the low end of the range. That angle is measured at the lower control arms, so the farther off it is, the further off the height is from design.
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