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April 2016, my C63 was pulling hard to the right. I took it to a Mercedes dealer and paid for an alignment. When I got it back, it was a little bit better but still definitely pulled right. I called the service advisor and asked what was going on and he said it's most likely my front tires because the alignment had been fixed.
December 2016 I got new front tires. I asked the tire shop about an alignment and they said Mercedes are complicated and they won't touch them.
Today, March 2017, the car was still pulling hard right so I went to Mercedes dealer again and paid for another alignment. They said it's "much better" but still pulls right a little bit. I asked why, and the advisor said it's probably my rear tires which are 2 years old and low on tread. I didn't tell the advisor about the previous alignment and didn't tell him that another advisor had suggested it was my front tires, because I wanted to get an honest opinion from him.
It's strange that one advisor would blame it on the front tires, and another advisor would blame it on the rear tires. More importantly, am I getting screwed here or is there any merit to this? Can somewhat-worn rear tires cause my car to pull hard right? There doesn't seem to be any logical connection between the two. The rear tires are 18 months old and have around 12k miles.
Also, where am I supposed to go? Tire shops say the Mercedes dealer has to do it. I pay the dealer to fix it and it's absolutely the same. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a more serious problem like a bent rim or suspension problem - but wouldn't the Mercedes dealer tell me that instead of just sending me home every time?
OP, blkrokt is right. There's more info on this out there than anyone is going to provide you with on this thread.
Read up on it. As someone who went through this and contributed a bit to the topic, I assure you the threads and info are out there.
Thanks. I did a search but I guess I didn't look very closely and ignored some threads I really should have read. So it's an issue with lowered cars that can be corrected with camber bolts and/or that K-Mac kit?
A lot of it still seems to come down to the person doing the alignment and whether or not they are experienced. I think the dealership is just giving me OEM Mercedes specs without any consideration of my actual driving issues. From what I've read, even if you purchase 4 camber bolts and pay extra for another alignment, the car can still pull right if the tech is no good. I might just have to find an alignment specialist or just live with this.
My car did that and it was all about ride height. The right side was three quarters of an inch too low. My 2005 S55 has ABC so I just ordered lowering (adjustable) links and made it right. Been perfect after that and since. YMMV!
Vince
Thanks. I did a search but I guess I didn't look very closely and ignored some threads I really should have read. So it's an issue with lowered cars that can be corrected with camber bolts and/or that K-Mac kit?
A lot of it still seems to come down to the person doing the alignment and whether or not they are experienced. I think the dealership is just giving me OEM Mercedes specs without any consideration of my actual driving issues. From what I've read, even if you purchase 4 camber bolts and pay extra for another alignment, the car can still pull right if the tech is no good. I might just have to find an alignment specialist or just live with this.
No. Once you're car is aligned within specs, EVEN specs, your car should not pull.
Depending on what part of the country you live in, there could be a ton of specialty shops in the area that can do this with their eyes closed.
If you live in a place like Massachusetts or something like that, finding a specialty car shop might be a bit more difficult. Here in the bay area, you can't drive more than 15 mins without being close to a shop that does work like this.
I had an issue where the dealership said the car was in alignment, but it stilled pulled right. They said it might be a tire pull issue.
I switched the front wheels around and it fixed the problem so there ya go.
Thanks for the advice. I swapped the front wheels/tires last night. Car is instantly 75% better. It has a very slight pull to the left now, which is a massive improvement over the major pull to the right that it had.
I may still go ahead and get the camber bolts for the front to see if I can make a small adjustment.
specs are everything. Yes worn tires can cause a pull, new tires can cause a pull, bent wheels etc.... What tires are you running, what wheels and ofcourse most important - specs!
My C63 also had steering pulling right issue:
I first of all changed all 4 tires as they were wasted.
Bring the car to BM shop, they tried to align but highlighted that bolts have to be changed to really improve it, after test drive I don't feel it's any better. According to the alignment measuring report they are able to define what adjusting bolt is required.
They then changed 2 bolts on the 2 front lower arms, adjust again and now the car drives straight.
FYI the MB bolts ref: A0003331071
that car should drive straight on a flat level road, but most roads are crowned and slope down to the outside for drainage which is why they pull right usually. Given that- your car probably actually drove better prior to the alignment judging by the specs. Dont worry about the caster numbers nothing wrong there. while that is by no means a bad alignment it has no compensation for road crown and needs some to actually drive straight.
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