CL55 AMG, CL65 AMG, CL63 AMG (C215, C216) 2000 - 2014 (Two Generations)

CL65 abnormal front tire wear

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Old 04-16-2018, 12:02 PM
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'15 GLK350, '05 CL65 AMG, '04 C320 4matic
CL65 abnormal front tire wear


I just discovered that my front tires are shot after only about 8K miles. They are Michelin PSS installed in 2016. Is it normal for a CL65 to wear just the inside edges like this? Both tires are showing the abnormal wear pattern, but the driver's side is worst. There are deep chunks out of the rubber and 'flaps' pulled away.
I do drive and corner it hard on twisty roads on occasion, but it seems like more of the tire should show signs of this, rather than just the extreme inside edge. Seems like excessing negative camber on cornering only. Could this have happened in just one or two instances of hard high speed understeer?

The rest of the tire is worn very smooth and even across the full surface -- no signs of feathering, and plenty of tread depth. I haven't yet had the alignment checked, but it drove and tracked very well. For now I'm just going to replace the fronts with another set of PSS, but I want to know, before I take it in, if I should ask for changes to the alignment specs from stock.
The rears are still fine and wearing perfectly evenly.
Old 04-16-2018, 06:30 PM
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2008 E63 wagon (1 of 62)
Do the tires and get an alignment. The combination of camber and toe on Mercedes vehicles makes them drive nicely, but can kill tires like this if the specs are out. How often are you checking your tire pressures. Is the vehicle lowered?
Old 04-16-2018, 09:24 PM
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'15 GLK350, '05 CL65 AMG, '04 C320 4matic
Tire pressures are monitored frequently and inflated to the standard settings, give or take a pound or two. Original correct AMG wheels. Only 37K miles total on the car. Not lowered, but I do always drive it on the lowest standard height setting.

Last edited by Geraldius; 04-16-2018 at 10:41 PM.
Old 04-17-2018, 02:56 AM
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I had similar wear with stock ride height. Alignment was okay, I think it just has to do with a heavy car trying to handle. I run pilot sport cup 2 tires very soft and feel great. I think you may be unhappy with the car's handling characteristics if you try to change the alignment for tire longevity.
Old 04-18-2018, 12:54 AM
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Mercedes-Benz CLK 550
CL65 abnormal front tire wear

Originally Posted by Geraldius

I just discovered that my front tires are shot after only about 8K miles. They are Michelin PSS installed in 2016. Is it normal for a CL65 to wear just the inside edges like this? Both tires are showing the abnormal wear pattern, but the driver's side is worst. There are deep chunks out of the rubber and 'flaps' pulled away.
I do drive and corner it hard on twisty roads on occasion, but it seems like more of the tire should show signs of this, rather than just the extreme inside edge. Seems like excessing negative camber on cornering only. Could this have happened in just one or two instances of hard high speed understeer?

The rest of the tire is worn very smooth and even across the full surface -- no signs of feathering, and plenty of tread depth. I haven't yet had the alignment checked, but it drove and tracked very well. For now I'm just going to replace the fronts with another set of PSS, but I want to know, before I take it in, if I should ask for changes to the alignment specs from stock.
The rears are still fine and wearing perfectly evenly.
There is no front Camber or Caster, no rear Camber allowing to adjust tire contact angles OEM!

Only front and rear Toe (directional) adjustment. We saw the need therefore to re-instate from the early 90's once again full, precise adjustment to cater for other then showroom height conditions.
Day to day commuting encountering high cambered roads, altered height through load carrying or lowering, fitting wide profile tires / wheels, curb knock damage.

The unique K-MAC patented design Kits simply replace not only the 4 front highest wearing suspension bushings but also are Camber and Caster adjustable - single wrench accurately under load (direct on alignment rack). With up to 4 times the adjustment of the "front only" inaccurate, one offset position fluted bolts. Allowing therefore to fix it right the 1st time. No more ongoing trips to dealers / alignment shops or constantly changing tire brands

Similar Kit for the rear also providing Camber adjustment for the 1st time (with extra Toe adjustment to compensate). Importantly K-MAC rear adjust the lower arms inward to reduce premature inner edge tire wear unlike "adjustable arms" that need to move top of tires outwards diminishing essential clearance to outer fenders.

Another popular kit manufactured especially for AMG models is uprated bushings for the 6 multi link rear arms. Allowing significant improvement re rear end flex, twitch, more traction - especially when applying power to lane change / overtake.
CL55, 65 AMG (W215)
Front Camber & Caster adjuster kit #502516K $480
Rear Camber (& extra Toe) #502226K $480
Rear Multi link bush kit #502828K $480

CL63, AMG (W216)
Front Camber & Caster adjuster kit #502316 $480
Rear Camber (& extra Toe) #502526K $480
Rear Multi link bush kit #502628K $480
Delivery $30 one kit ($20 each additional)
Paypal, Visa or M/Card
Old 04-20-2018, 11:24 AM
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'15 GLK350, '05 CL65 AMG, '04 C320 4matic
Front wheels both had about 0.080" runout at the inner side of the barrels. Apparently from prior road hazard impacts. I'm sure that was contributing to accelerated tire wear, as I had a vibration at the 70-80 mph range. Getting them trued up before installing the new tires and doing alignment.
Old 04-20-2018, 11:28 AM
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'15 GLK350, '05 CL65 AMG, '04 C320 4matic
Originally Posted by K-Mac
There is no front Camber or Caster, no rear Camber allowing to adjust tire contact angles OEM!
...
LOL!
Yes K-Mac, the whole world knows this because you spam every thread that mentions the word 'camber' to push your overpriced rubber bushings.
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Old 04-23-2018, 11:11 AM
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'15 GLK350, '05 CL65 AMG, '04 C320 4matic
Originally Posted by Geraldius
Front wheels both had about 0.080" runout at the inner side of the barrels. Apparently from prior road hazard impacts. I'm sure that was contributing to accelerated tire wear, as I had a vibration at the 70-80 mph range. Getting them trued up before installing the new tires and doing alignment.
Got the front wheels trued to within .015", and new tires mounted with road-force balance. Vibration at speed is totally gone!.
Last set of tires required about 2oz. weight to balance. This time it was only 1/2 oz. on one and 3/4 oz. on the other.
Now to get the alignment checked.
Old 04-28-2018, 07:51 PM
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W215 CL65
Originally Posted by Geraldius
Got the front wheels trued to within .015", and new tires mounted with road-force balance. Vibration at speed is totally gone!.
Last set of tires required about 2oz. weight to balance. This time it was only 1/2 oz. on one and 3/4 oz. on the other.
Now to get the alignment checked.
Road force is the way to go with these cars. Remember that for alignment to be correct, the ride height should technically be adjusted with star diagnostic in order to measure the angle of inclination for the control arms. A simple digital angle gauge can be used if set in the right spot. The reason this setting can change with age is that the strut mounts slowly start sinking and the height of each side may be off. On mine, the passenger side was lower than drivers due to the strut mount. If you use star diagnostic and the angle measurement per WIS, alignment should solve these issues.

As the camber caster is non-adjustable, all of the factory alignment settings depend on the correct ride height which is checked by using these angles.

Cheers,

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