mmmikemo

Hey,

Wanted to get some comparison data...have 20 inch Maya's with Falken 452's...wore the inside edge on the fronts badly at 13K mi...am replacing the rears now too since the inside is almost gone too...

Is this what I should expect?...car is lowered but otherwise stock...tracks straight so I don't think the alignment is off but to have them wear so unevenly is odd to me...camber?...

Your thoughts?...and recommendations to increase tire life...

thx...Mike

C6turbo88

bad camber (especially if lowered) on these cars. On all my cars im going through tires like crazy too.

1) Should rotate tires right when you start seeing inner wear
2) Keep tires at the right tire pressure
3) Don't slam your car

I've heard of a cambet kit, not sure if it works though.... please chime in if anybody had heard of any camber adjustments on these cars.

mmmikemo

Since the tires are staggered front and rear, are you suggesting dismounting/remounting left to right?...

hcetzneb

You can get a mercedes factory alignment bolts ... it a offset bolt gives you about .5 of a degree of movment. If you lowered it your camber and caster will be off also your toe..
??did you get a alignment after you lowered it ??? This is only for the fronts for the rear there are som tricks to get the alignment in spec just find a good alingment shop in your area

mmmikemo

I did not get it aligned after I lowered it...I lowered it at the same time I put on the 20's...

I have got new rubber on as of today all the way around and am going on Saturday to a local alignment shop that allegedly knows about lowered MBZ...recommended by a local MBZ tuner/wheel shop here in SoCal...

I'll ask about the bolts and report here early next week...I don't have any unrealistic expectations about wear, but would like to get more than 13K...

I assume I can walk into a dealer and they'll know what I am talking about at the parts counter?...

thx everyone...

Mike

newguycls55

Hey Mike. I am also located in Irvine and experiencing the same issues. As a matter of fact I am getting new Rears this sat at my friend shop in Lake Forest. I also use Falken 452. 305/25/20. I have try to research different camber options, but been told there are not any quality camber kit that will solved our issues. actually to my understanding, OEM cls wheels and tires have minor camber and wear issues. But you are actually lucky to get 13k out of those tires, for some reason I am getting approx 5k miles every set...

apdesign

same here. but mine wears on the center of the tires. especially in the rear. the front does not affect much. the car is lowered by Starmark. got an alignment too. and camber kit from the dealer. i'm assuming as long as our cars are lowered, it is pretty much hard to avoid it.

mmmikemo

Fletcher Jones has the bolts for the front only...the alignment shop says they can tweak the rears...so, we shall see...

I'll let you know after the work is done this weekend...

Mike

newguycls55

can you PM me where you going to get the work done at?

mmmikemo

After a few weeks of trying to find the alignment bolts...then taking them to a shop who claims they know how to do it...well, let's just say they didn't know how to do it...

I got under the car too and what the tech said and I saw with my own eyes is there is NO adjustment for camber on these cars...now the decision is to eat the tires quickly, rotate left to right for max wear and live with it...or,

raise it back up to stock height...which could give more miles...Unless I am missing something, I cannot find a camber kit for this car...anyone have any other ideas???

thx...Mike

azncarjunkie

Dunno how different the suspension is but the E55 guys have a camber kit...check in with renntech. I saw that they had a camber thing for the e-class

epico

how do you guys recommend lowering the cls model??

RedG

Mike,

That largely is your problem there...the vehicle SHOULD BE aligned each time the ride height is changed. If you have a lowering module than it should be aligned at the ride height you choose to drive the car at the majority of the time. Otherwise you can have the same experience on a regular basis if you don't correct it.

Find out what the camber and toe specs for the car actually are and then you will actually know if you need to get camber bolts or not. My guess is that the rear will probably need them, but lets just wait for vindication on that subject. Good luck.

whoover

Is the offset of the new wheels close to the stock spec? It's amazing how many people put on 20s with 15 mm smaller offset because the vendor says they're "right" and then wonder why their tires wear badly. That wheel puts the centerline of the tire 1/2" inboard from where it should be. Because the stub axle is set up for the stock steering geometry, the outside edge gets scrubbed during turns. And no alignment can fix that.

People think that any offset that prevents rubbing is ok, but that's not the point.

Make sure your wheels are close to the factory offset or you'll never get your steering geometry dialed in.

A Robinson

Well that's good to know, what should the offset be for a 20x11 rear and a 20x9 front?

whoover

What year and model? Generally. it will be similar to the closest sport setup that the factory recommends, which is listed in your owner's manual.

The AMG recommended 19s are 8.5 X 19 ET 25 front and 10 X 19 ET 28. The offsets are identical for AMG 18 inch wheels and would be the best estimate for 20s. Your rear wheels are pretty wide. What size tires are you running? The biggest I've seen are 255/30-20 on 20X9 front and 295/25-20 on 20X10 or 20X10.5. Are you running 20 series?

RedG

295s would work just fine on a 20x11" wheel.

whoover

Yep. 10" to 11" will work. It's just that most people go with 10 or 10.5 to minimize clearance problems. But the offset should be the same in any case.

mmmikemo

Well, I appreciate the comments about alignment...however, the alignment is exactly what the factory suggests as the tech had the instruments hooked up to the car...

There is no camber adjustment on the CLS...I am told by the tech and verified today with the service advisor at FJ Mercedes that there is no camber adjustment for the front...and couldn't see where it would be in the back...

Renntech has a camber/ball joint kit for like $1500 for each kit...makes no sense with the price of the tires...

Again, if someone can show me how there is a camber adjustment with a bolt holding the bushing through the frame, I'll be happy to eat humble pie...I just don't see it...

As far as the offset, it might have some small contribution...but the major issue is camber...I am off -3/4% in the front...and not too bad in the back...Toe was right on and caster was too...

I am frustrated...

newguycls55

I been down this road before, search for camber solution and found nothing. so I eventually accepted the fact that our car will eat up tires fast than normal.. I guess gotta pay to play type of speech. my rears has been lasting longer than expected, however I have gone through a few set of fronts every couple of months.. Good Luck...

A Robinson

305/25/20 rear and 245/30/20 front

soundspeed55

i am getting a set of camber arms "MBarts" from GLK4MATIC and i also might be test fitting a set from speedybenz

ocpun

has anyone tried the Renntech camber and toe links yet?

Are they for rear AND front?

tzenri

i've found from other members that the CLS55 / 63 do not have an adjustable camber kit, only the non AMGs have it to where you can install the adjustment rod. To fight tire wear a member recommended getting a symmetrical tire (Falken makes one) so that you can rotate the rears from left to right and the same with the fronts. i'm going to give this a shot as 12k miles is way too fast.

paulfromtulsa

i purchased a kmac camber kit for the rears on ebay for like $400 works perfect. my alignment guys says that it allows for tons on adjustment. my car is pretty low i have 20" with no fender gap at all. he told me i could lower it more and it would not be a problem. the only bad thing i have heard about the kmac kit is that it squeaks. i have yet to hear anything from my rear end. the kit has been great for me