simandang

I am lowered on h&r coils. After lowering I put 2k miles on my car and had blowout in front. My front tires look new on the outside but on the inside the wires came out and it was bald.

My steering wheel always was off center from potholes and what not. After lowering its way more off and pulls to the right when driving.

I got brand new snow tires put on last week. I was told I might not need the camber bolts, so i went to the local car mod friendly alignment shop. They told me the best they could do was done and my steering wheel is still off center and I honestly think my car pulls worse now.

He also told me that camber bolts will not help. I honestly think this shop sucks and he told me he will have to charge me full price plus $25 to install the bolts which will 90% not work to realign. .Is it true if you align the front you have to do the rear again??

I just feel like I got robbed and threw away my money. Any suggestions how bad is this

Jasonoff

Your LF must have been damaged. That's way too much camber.

That's almost like a nascar alignment for an oval.

simandang

I wonder what/how because the car drives fine. The roads here are so garbage it wouldn't surprise me.

What could be damaged a tie rod, control arm? Could a bad install of the suspension cause this?

BLKROKT

Check the frame for LF damage. That's way off.

simandang

The car was on the lift recently. No accidents, frame and everything is good. I would think there would be significant issues if the frame was bent anyway.

Here is the old tire that was on that LF

simandang

Looking online and searching more doesn't really give me good news. Looks like this will be an costly adventure. I don't even see any C63 with this much negative camber from factory.

With that much negative camber and the steering wheel being off what would you guys think could be bent/damaged? Are we certain that something is bent and or damaged?

BLKROKT

That's the only logical conclusion

simandang

Here's another guy who was at -3 in the front. Never posted an update

https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w204/560083-c63-camber-adjustment-help.html

I guess we will find out soon either way

Jasonoff

How low are you?

Either way, it's either the bottom pushed out, unlikely, unless your lower balljoint is severely damaged that I hope you'd notice lol. Or the top is pushed in.

BLKROKT

It's not that your front camber is at -3 like that guy. Totally different situation. Your problem is that you are way off only on one side, and it can't be adjusted out.

simandang

I am not that low at at all. One finger gap in the front exactly. Front left and right are dead even the same. Fingers vary I know but its not slammed or anything stupid low.

BLKROKT makes, sense. I cant believe i didn't notice anything. Car drives fine and handles ok. I honestly want to say the wheel got really crooked after installing the suspension. The tire literally went to **** within a week and half. Could something have gone wrong there?

I know I have to get it on the lift which I will do this weekend. I really hate not knowing though I want to know ASAP and order and fix it right away. Hate leaving things as is. My worst nightmare is spindle, axel and or broken/bent strut? I am shocked the wheel/tire are not damaged/bent/cracked after bending something so bad that the camber is that badly off.

CarHopper

I would put the stock suspension on and work from there to sort it out.

BLKROKT

Wait, I thought you said that the wheel was always crooked and it pulled right from the start? If it only happened after you installed the springs, then something went wrong with the install.

CarHopper

"After lowering its way more off and pulls to the right when driving."

Then ignored the extra pulling and suffered a blowout...

And here we are

m a x i m u s

Sounds dumb, but are you sure they centered the steering wheel properly before aligning? With that much camber diff from left to right, they may not have, which would result in massively uneven cambers.

K-Mac

Do point out that OEM there is only ‘Toe’ adjustment front (and rear)!

OK if vehicle maintained and driven at showroom height, but day to day commuting with high cambered roads, altering/lowering height, load carrying, suspension sag, fitting wide profile tires or curb knock damage – the feature of having “ongoing Camber adjustment” to change tire “contact angle” is essential. Along with front Caster to “correctly resolve” steering pull and improve brake and steering response.

For the front (only) you can purchase fluted bolts – but they are inaccurate having ONE ONLY OFFSET POSITION, providing 3mm (1/8”) which is a minimal 0.3 degree change.

We saw the need therefore to not only design, manufacture and reinstate from the early 90’s front kits that provide up to “3 times” this adjustment range and are precise/accurate – on car under load direct on alignment rack. But also to replace the 4 front and 4 rear highest wearing suspension bushings at the same time. Result is no more ongoing trips to dealers or alignment shops or constantly changing tire brands. Fixing it right.... the 1st time!

K-MAC rear kits also provide Camber (and additional rear Toe adjustment to compensate for the new Camber facility). Advantage of the K-MAC rear bush design compared to adjustable “Camber Arms” is that to resolve premature inner edge tire wear Camber arms need to move “top of tire” outwards, diminishing all important clearance to outer fender – K-MAC moves bottom arms inwards and easier access allowing to be adjusted also accurately (on car under load).

RACE DAYS/PERFORMANCE DRIVING – this adjusting of “lower” arms allows “extra” Negative Camber and also “track width” (applies for both front and rear) suspension.

The front bushings are 2 axis/self aligning but without the oil and air voids of OEM. Result is noticeably improved brake and steering response. No modifications to fit - come with instructions and extraction/insertion tubes (Rear Camber can be fitted on vehicle).

W204
Front Camber and Caster #502216K $480
Rear Camber and extra Toe #502226K $480

Delivery $40 one kit or $50 front and rear kits. We accept PayPal, Visa or MasterCard.

Jasonoff

Hey K-Mac, this user has an actual problem with his suspension. Let's help him with his problem first, then, if he wants to dial out some camber you can chime in with your product.

Is the piston rod bent on that front coilover?

TPete19

This is a great point.

Simandang, is your turning radius the same for both directions? Go to a parking lot or cul de sac and check how tight your turns are both right and left.

simandang

The roads that I drive on are absolute garbage and I drive a good amount. The steering wheel WAS off prior to lowering the car but in the past this has happened to my previous cars and i just figured it needed an alignment.


Whatever happened I believe happened after the suspension install. After lowering i have only driven my car for a week and half, the dealer had it the rest of the time. After lowering, the steering was off more (i think) and there was a pull to the right. Once again I read about these issues and figured I would take care of it when I get an alignment. I had checked all my tires when I got the suspension installed and everything was wearing OK.


I went out last night for a drive. Don't hear any noises whatsoever. Noticed nothing out of the ordinary. I did notice the car seems very bouncy on the front and this has been going on for a few days now. I don't think it was this bouncy before. In my head I was wondering why this might be or if its normal but maybe it has something to do with the -4 camber!

We will see very soon but from what I can see/tell (which doesn't mean anything lol) i don't notice a thing wrong. The alignment is pretty bad so is the pull, I can take a minor curve by just letting go off the wheel.

i believe they did try to center it while aligning because they had it on and off the lift 3 times and last time he goes I can't do anything more and started asking me if it was like this before and whatnot. I will try the parking lot trick when I get a chance.

AMG3.2

Yikes...

How could he possibly not center the wheel...? That's purely a tie rod adjustment and I'll be damned it your out of thread on one tie rod, and maxing threads into the tie rod on the other side.

Something really isn't adding up.

You have to have something bent on the left side. Severely bent. Are the at the same ride height on both sides? Like actually take a measuring take and measure from mid wheel to fender. If nothing is bent, something isn't sitting right at all.

More so, installing the camber bolts is easy. $25 is fine for labor.

AMG3.2

Another good thought. Somethings pulling your wheel in.

simandang

The more I try to figure it out the more nothing adds up. While the alignment shop is known for being mod friendly/servicing high performance cars the techs and workers are all a bunch of dirtbags and very unfriendly/no customer service. He just brushed me off and was very vague about what might be wrong. I didn't think anything was that serious until I posted the sheet up and you guys started saying something might be bent.

I am going to go to the guy that installed my suspension tomorrow. He just got a alignment rack and I hope he can point me in the right direction.

The drop looks even but I haven't used a tape measure. From the finger test its pretty even in the front but the tape would be the key to knowing for sure. I just can't believe something is bent or significantly off and there is no hint of noise on any surface.

Jasonoff

The alignment shop didn't create that camber issue.

Were the coilovers new?
Any idea what the alignment was like before the coilover install?

simandang

Yes they were new. The alignment wasn't the best because the steering wheel was still off but the car tracked straight. Now it pulls to the right, and wheel is off more.

The tires were wearing normally. Although its possible they were starting to wear on the insides and after it was lowered the process was just sped up.

All guesswork until tomorrow I guess.

Mort

Check your ride heights. Measure from the fender lip to the floor, on a level surface, or better yet to the centre of the wheel. These measurements should be equal side to side. From your camber readings it looks like you need to raise the left side and lower the right side. Your camber readings should be equal from side to side, within certain tolerances. A 20mm = .75" drop should give you readings of approximately -2* to -2.5* on a PFL and maybe close to -3* on a FL for a 25MM =1" drop.