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I replaced the front axle lower control arm yesterday on the right side. Now the steering wheel is off alignment and when the left wheel is straight forward the right wheel is pointing to the right. Like ”toe out”.
what did I mess up? Was on a jack stand, with a jack on the rotor but thinking I wasn’t pressing up the suspension enough when tightening the inner bolt?
I don't know where you bought your replacement part, but I too need new front "lower" control arms. Looking at both FCP Euro and Pelican Parts, it seems they only only sell front "upper" control arms aka thrust arms aka torque struts.
These online parts retailers also claim that these torque struts fit all models from the W203 C230 to the W204 C63 and CLKs and SLKs sold in that time. And there are 3 different Benz part numbers listed between these 2 sites. While they may all use the same arm on these chassis, I find it hard to believe that the same bushing hardness is used on a 2004 C230 as a 2013 C63. But that's just my skepticism.
I would just make sure you even have the right arm first. Did you take any pictures of your work?
Also, loading the suspension before final torque is to not have the bushing under load at static ride height and would not affect the alignment to the degree you describe. If you have the right part it should be as simple remove & replace & alignment to dial in just right.
Did the bolt at the subframe have grooves in it and the new bushing have an elongated hole with little "teeth" inside? That could also allow you to have affected the geometry significantly by having the set at the wrong position of the three possible.
Also, loading the suspension before final torque is to not have the bushing under load at static ride height and would not affect the alignment to the degree you describe. If you have the right part it should be as simple remove & replace & alignment to dial in just right.
Did the bolt at the subframe have grooves in it and the new bushing have an elongated hole with little "teeth" inside? That could also allow you to have affected the geometry significantly by having the set at the wrong position of the three possible.
The bolt in the subframe was a standard whole perfect round. BUT the new control arm came with as you said, not a perfect round hole and two ”teeth” in it... that may very well be the problem. Control arm didn’t come with a bolt. So used the one I had before.
If you have a standard bolt then the bushing should be in the right place in the subframe.
I'm still curious what control arm you have. Did you pay around $500 USD for a genuine Mercedes control arm? Seems our front lower arms are not supported by aftermarket oem brands.
If you have a standard bolt then the bushing should be in the right place in the subframe.
I'm still curious what control arm you have. Did you pay around $500 USD for a genuine Mercedes control arm? Seems our front lower arms are not supported by aftermarket oem brands.
aftermarket one from autodoc, says it is the right one. My english is not the best, but I’ll try to explain it right.
the bushing on the new control arm is elongated/oval. With ”teeth” in it, I think for 3 optional settings? The old one was not elongated just round hole. For the new I need the bolt with grooves, right?
The bolt I used is the old one without grooves just a standard bolt. That only goes in the middle of the ”teeths” and allow no options.
The result is the control arm seems too short, so the back/inside of the wheelhub/brake disc gets ”pulled in” just lika 5mm or so. That makes a bigger different when wheel is on.
I’ll have the bolt with grooves tomorrow and it should fix it if mounted in the ”farthest” optinal position of the teeths I think?
Last edited by DanielC63; Jun 2, 2021 at 12:34 PM.
aftermarket one from autodoc, says it is the right one. My english is not the best, but I’ll try to explain it right.
the bushing on the new control arm is elongated/oval. With ”teeth” in it, I think for 3 optional settings? The old one was not elongated just round hole. For the new I need the bolt with grooves, right?
The bolt I used is the old one without grooves just a standard bolt. That only goes in the middle of the ”teeths” and allow no options.
The result is the control arm seems too short, so the back/inside of the wheelhub/brake disc gets ”pulled in” just lika 5mm or so. That makes a bigger different when wheel is on.
I’ll have the bolt with grooves tomorrow and it should fix it if mounted in the ”farthest” optinal setting of the teeths I think?
Well without pictures or a link I can't say for certain, but if it was the correct arm it would fit no issues. And if you are going to adjust the subframe mounting point, I hope you are doing it to both sides, otherwise that's just janky. And you'll definitely need an alignment.
Well without pictures or a link I can't say for certain, but if it was the correct arm it would fit no issues. And if you are going to adjust the subframe mounting point, I hope you are doing it to both sides, otherwise that's just janky. And you'll definitely need an alignment.
Based on the picture in the link and the fact that it doesn't fit your car, I'm going to put my money on you have the wrong part.
You have the old and replacement part in front of you; did you lay them side by side to see if they're even the same?
Not sure where you are located, but in North America, there are no aftermarket options available for our lower control arms. Doesn't seem like Europe is any different.
Based on the picture in the link and the fact that it doesn't fit your car, I'm going to put my money on you have the wrong part.
You have the old and replacement part in front of you; did you lay them side by side to see if they're even the same?
Not sure where you are located, but in North America, there are no aftermarket options available for our lower control arms. Doesn't seem like Europe is any different.
Added some photos of a Lemförder replacement and original...
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
Well that’s weird. If the Lemforder arm is the clean lighter colored one, then that looks EXACTLY like the OEM LCA. I’d say that’s the correct arm to use.
However, the other arm in the photo does NOT look OEM. The bushing side is way too small.And the OEM LCA does not have a bend at the ball joint like that. All wrong.
I’m not sure if that’s the aftermarket one that didn’t fit, or if it’s whatever came out of your car. But whatever is going on something’s not right. Perhaps you unknowingly had a bad arm in all along with the suspension adjusted to compensate somehow, and the new arm is just putting your knuckle back in correct alignment.
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
Hmm. Maybe scratch what I said above. Here’s a pic of my OEM replacement LCAs with SDW bushings.
Looks more like the arm that came out of your car, less like the Lemforder. My memory was off because of my huge SDW bushing. Your carrier looks the same though.
Could you have maybe ordered the thrust arm by mistake? That had a big honking bushing and straight ball joint end hmmm. I’ll dig through my photos now for mine…
Here you go. These are OEM front THRUST arms with SDW bushings. Your Lemforder arms look like these. You either got thrust arms by mistake, or something from a non-AMG C-class maybe. No wonder it ain’t fitting.
Hmm. Maybe scratch what I said above. Here’s a pic of my OEM replacement LCAs with SDW bushings.
Looks more like the arm that came out of your car, less like the Lemforder. My memory was off because of my huge SDW bushing. Your carrier looks the same though.
Could you have maybe ordered the thrust arm by mistake? That had a big honking bushing and straight ball joint end hmmm. I’ll dig through my photos now for mine…
Here you go. These are OEM front THRUST arms with SDW bushings. Your Lemforder arms look like these. You either got thrust arms by mistake, or something from a non-AMG C-class maybe. No wonder it ain’t fitting.
thank you, I also found out that I got the wrong part. It’s the differents in languages, in my language there is no word for the ”thrust” part.. it’s just control arm, lower and upper. They’ve sent me the wrong part to times now... started to think I was stupid, the worn out part I took off is AMG-stamped so it’s oem.
Hmm. Maybe scratch what I said above. Here’s a pic of my OEM replacement LCAs with SDW bushings.
Looks more like the arm that came out of your car, less like the Lemforder. My memory was off because of my huge SDW bushing. Your carrier looks the same though.
Could you have maybe ordered the thrust arm by mistake? That had a big honking bushing and straight ball joint end hmmm. I’ll dig through my photos now for mine…
Here you go. These are OEM front THRUST arms with SDW bushings. Your Lemforder arms look like these. You either got thrust arms by mistake, or something from a non-AMG C-class maybe. No wonder it ain’t fitting.
Hey, what all have you looked at/talked to SDW about putting their bushings in? They are local to me and I'm in the planning stages of a major suspension/handling upgrade plan.
I have the thrust arms and am going to get the lowers done as blkrkt has. They are definitely going to firm things up especially with the lack of the bolt being able to move under heavy loads. I haven’t noticed any nvh from them being installed. Can’t report on the handling improvements yet as I haven’t driven it that hard since install. But no negatives that I can think of...
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