[180]

Hopefully 2 degrees of adjustment should be enough. I'll give the MB bolts a try first.

Measured on the rack with stationary ride height, I got:
Front Left: -2.2
Front Right: -2.2
Rear Left: -2.9
Rear Right: -2.4

Specified Range is
Front -1.3 to -0.6
Rear -1.9 to -0.9

so I really only need to take out about 1 degree of camber at stationary.

How can you measure camber when the car's in motion?

Also, how much discount is the MBCA membership good for?



Oh, and if anyone's looking for a quick and cheap alignment, Lamb's Auto Center in Rowland Heights (corner of Colima and Nogales) does it for $59. The service tech was excellent and took his time to explain all the alignment stuff to me. They use a Hunter alignment machine. Only issue was that their rack isn't low enough, and my car scraped.

MarcusF

You've supplied your current camber numbers, but without the ride height, the numbers don't mean anything. Any camber angle is within spec of a certain height.
You don't. Mercedes-Benz specs take into account that the chassis will settle at speed. I don't know where other places get the specs they use.

It depends on the dealer. I paid $7.50 per plug for a set last year. Call your dealer and ask the parts department what they charge. The discount on labor for my alignment was 20%.

John 99CLK430

Great info Marcus, you definately are the man.

So what do you suggest, MB Dealership or a Local shop? I live out here near Anaheim so Walters dealership is not that far. How about other close by dealers as well? Do they do alignments? Such as Caliber Motors, House of Imports, Penske, and the LA ones?

Do I need to get the Camber bolts to get the car aligned?

MarcusF

Most (if not all) dealers do alignments, but the only dealer that’s aligned mine has been MB of Valencia. I can't vouch for those other dealers. I do know many of the wrenches and the service writers at MB of Valencia (including their best suspension guy) came from Downtown LA Motors 18 months ago. I don't know how Downtown replenished their techs and writers. They may have promoted from within, or put ads in the paper.

If the car is at factory height (stock springs, CLK55 springs, or euro CLK55 springs – HINT HINT), I’d let a dealer do it. At $80 to $100, they’re on par with most places and they’re not too likely to say "Wow, a Mercedes Benz. Quick – double all the prices!" If aftermarket springs are installed, the first thing I’d do is ask around. We live in the car capitol of the US, and plenty of people in southern Cali have had their cars dropped and aligned. If you’re a member of MBCA, their forum is a good place to start. The best independant suspension tech I know is at Rick Green’s shop in Valencia, but there must be a ton of shops in LA and OC.

Re the camber bolts: W208’s come with adjustable camber bolts, so if it’s on factory springs, new ones probably won’t be needed. If the car has aftermarket springs, aftermarket parts may have to be used to align it.

johnnr

Hi Marcus and all,

I just had an alignment done at the dealer and one new tire installed, (because of a tire pull on an old tire) the car seems nearly good to go, but does still seem to have a slight drift to the right on many streets and freeways and a slight, Infrequent and less noticeable drift to the left on some streets.

Was curious if you could offer your thoughts on whether all looks ok?

Fyi - I'm also going to include a print out from a previous alignment NOT DONE at the dealer. I wasn't satisfied, so I went to the dealer.

2000 clk w208 alignment before and after results sheet from Mercedes dealer.
W208 2000 clk 430 alignment results NOT from a dealer.

exhaustgases

I guess fancy wheel alignment machines aren't all that accurate.

A1EK

Mercedes generally always drift to the left if the car is right hand driver and to the right if left hand drive, this is a safety feature so that if you become unconsious the car will steer to the kerb I read somewhere.

Also if your tyres are different tread or wear they can pull the car one way or the other. The mercedes front camber bolts are dead easy to install and cheap, you can get them off ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAMBER-COR...EAAOSw-RRXBbuY

The grove is designed to fit into the vehcile chasis and hence allows the bottom part of the steering arm to move inwards, which in turn reduces the negative camber.

The amount of movement you need to adjust camber, toe, caster can be less than a mm but the bolts will give you 3mm of inwards movement which equates to a degree or two camber adjustment.

You can also apply the same principle to the rear single arm bottom pivot bolt to reduce the rear camber. Unfortunately there is not the same bolt availiable, however if you loosen the pivot bolt and then use a ratchet strap to pull both of the rear arms inwards you can get about 1mm of additional adjustment which is significant. If you want to be brave you can also do as I have an very slightly elongate the bolt hole which allows you to adjust further. I beleive that I am the only person who has done this !!

johnnr

Thank you sir!

In my previous note I should have mentioned all tires are identical (Conti Pro Contact) and the treads are all the same. I did replace one last week because it was causing a pull (the dealer confirmed) The new tire is exactly the same And did fix the pull issue.

Also, camber and caster bolts are already installed, to the max capability there is.

I think the car is driving pretty darn straight and I have heard of the 'Mercedes designed to pull right' concept.

Note my fiancé' Prius and my other car also pull right and I wonder if it's ''many cars are designed to pull right' and not just Mercedes.

Anyhow, was originally seeking any thoughts on the specs I provided from the dealer. (1st photo in my previous post) All specs are now within tolerance.

They also were were in spec from that previous alignment (per the 2nd photo) but it wasn't feeling perfect to me so I took it to the dealer (1st photo has dealer print out)

i am not certain but I think non dealer alignment machines don't really drill down to a specific year of a model vehicle - from what I can tell, they drill down to a range of model years.

I believe the dealer drills down to the specific model year and that may be the difference between a perfect alignment and one that's not as dead-on?

K-Mac

Yes for the front (only) you can purchase fluted bolts – but they are inaccurate having ONE ONLY OFFSET POSITION, providing 3mm (1/8”).

We saw the need therefore to design, manufacture and reinstate from the early ‘90’s front kits that provide up to “4 times” this adjustment range and are precise/accurate.

Along with similar rear – also providing 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 accurately (on car under load direct on alignment rack).

These unique patented design kits are “single wrench” adjustable. Not only providing “full/precise” adjustment but at the same time replace the ‘4’ front and ‘4’ rear highest wearing suspension bushings and with twice the load bearing area!

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).

Fixing it right the 1st time - day to day commuting with high cambered roads, altering suspension height, load carrying, suspension sag, fitting wide profile tires or curb knock damage – the feature of having “Camber” adjustment to change tire “contact angle” is essential. Along with front “Caster” to correctly resolve steering pull and improve brake and steering response.


W208
Front Camber and Caster kit #502016J $380
Rear Camber (and extra Toe) #502026H $320
(208 Convertible) #501426H $320


Delivery $30 one kit or $50 front and rear kits. We accept PayPal, Visa or MasterCard.

E63007

Actually, the WIS has a graph of how much each (C,C,T) is affected when one uses the “Crash” Bolts correctly and it specifies that the “movement” adjustability is 4mm going in both directions. I can confirm this myself as when you lower say, the Torque Arm, you can easily see the two raised notches above at 10 & 2 o’clock and below at 8 & 4 respectively. The “Crash” Bolt flutes would then align with either 2 & 4 o’clock or 10 & 8 o’clock. This is to be done by raising your car and releasing all air (down to 3bar) and then removing the bolts then installing the “Crash” Bolts. You have to push or pull the carrier/wheel in order to get the proper position and hold it there somehow while you get the nut on to slightly tighten. Only fully tighten when the Suspension is positioned correctly (b/n 3.1-4.1 degree for the Airspring Arms).

In my case, I had such “Crash” bolts installed when I bought my car on both Torque Arms unbeknownst to me. All I knew was that the car pulled hard right, but I figured I could fix that eventually. I have since rebuilt the entire car practically in the past 4 years since I bought the car as I’ve, in that time, only driven 6k mi!! Nevertheless, even after rebuilding the entire suspension with new everything, I’m still encountering some drift, now to the left. I initially had Mercedes do the alignment, as by that time after rebuilding the engine I got to know one of the head mechanics, but even though I informed him of my having installed F1 Fab’s Adjustable Front Control Arms, he not only managed to “Strip” the threads of the Heim Joint causing me to have pay for a new replacement, but he also released the car to me with the same problem, only worse! The explanation was that it must be the tires! So being that I was less than thrilled at the notion of going back there again, I found another shop and they mounted 4 new tires for me and spent nearly 7 hours trying to fix the problem. It turns out the “genius” there had to call another tech for their input and in the end, it still pulled right! After paying them $700, I was at wits end and threatened to sue! I was given “credit” for future work, and the time to hand in that chit may be now as last week, after having spent 15 months rebuilding the Rear Suspension, starting with the rear Main Seal, changing the Gearing in the Rear Diff and adding a LSD, I went to yet another shop only to have them adjust the rear Toe, (easily done with the UPD Rear Toe Arms!) and when they raised the car from the alignment lift to correct “Camber”, I was explaining that I had adjustable Control Arms, But No-that would take too long! So the guy starts unscrewing then AirSpring Control Arm Bolt without prompting me to release air (I had Star/Xentry/DAS attached and ready!) and I hear a Bang! It turned out to be “Crash” Bolt having released from its locked position due to the force of the AirStrut pushing down on that Arm! I was concerned he may have caused those notches to have been sheared, but ironically, it landed right on the number he was trying to get on the “Hunter”, so I left it at that. (That bolt slid the 4mm or so from where it was) Even so, his guy, after taking it for a test drive, noted there was still a drift to the left. When I asked if he drove it on the highway, of course the answer was “No”. So when I suggested checking out the positioning of the other “Torque Arm’s”, he ignored me and defaulted to the usual, “Well it must be the front tires!” I clinched my teeth and agreed that after driving 6k on them with it out of alignment it might be the case so I agreed to pay them (a Premium) when the tires came in.

I go to drive home on the highway and immediately notice that not only was the car drifting left, but now the steering wheel, if centered, would cause a drastic pull Right! So, over the weekend I inspected the positioning of the “Crash” bolts only to notice that they were in the 1 position they were NOT Supposed to be in, according to Mercedes. Although it’s not specifically mentioned necessarily, I deduced this by referencing the WIS Alignment Graph for the “Crash” Bolts and noticed that it did not provide a result for how my “Crash” Bolts were set up! Specifically, on my car each of the Air Spring Arms were pulled inwards (+ Camber) whilst each of the torque Arms were pulled forward (+ Caster)!!! There is no position on the graph to account for positioning both arms (+). The graph specifies that you can adjust the AirSprings each way, and either leave the Torque Arm set to (0) or (-), but not (+). Or you leave the AirSprings set to (0) and can adjust the Torque Arms (+ or -). So being that the guy hit the right number when he erroneously “released” the Crash Bolt Passenger side now set to (0), which caused the steering wheel when centered at 12 o’clock to steer to the right when I drove home, I set the rest of the Arms to (0) and took her for a drive and found that the severe steer right was eliminated! I might add that since I moved the Driver AirSpring Arm back to (0), I moved the Upper Heim Joint of the Control Arm out 2 turns to account for the 4mm movement (outwards from center) of the Arm. There would also have been a bit more movement as a result of my adjusting the Torque Arms back to (0) too, but I figured I’d get a better look at that when I went back to the shop after the new tires came in. Further, by pushing out the driver side, I know it should have affected the Toe-in and/or wheel centering position. I set the bolts to (0) using 2 same diameter round (no flutes) as the “Crash” bolts I had for the AirSprings, but had to use the “Crash” Bolts for the Torque Arms with the flutes pointed up or down centered between the notches. But, all in all, I was pleased with the big correction made with MY Adjustment!

So I go to the shop a couple days before my appointment to reschedule as I was waiting for new OEM Bolts (Not Crash Bolts) to install before getting the, to be 4th, alignment. When the sales guy mentions that I would have to drop the car off and allow for 5 hours, I reminded them that I had paid already and agreed to pay a Premium for tires through their shop and that because I was worried that the removal of the nut on the crash bolt being done without my releasing air from the Airmatic may have caused the notches to be sneered off in the AirSpring Bushing and since the car was steering worse after leaving the shop, I had set all the arms to (0), the owner throws up his hands and says I “messed” with the alignment”. Well, that was it, I’d had it and proceeded to talk over his rancor directed to me mentioning if he had ever thought to release the air from the suspension before removing that Nut and questioned why he didn’t even look at the positioning of the front Torque Arms (he didn’t want to take the time to remove the two more 8mm screws that would remove that shield covering those “Crash” Bolts)!!! He said he had enough of “that Mercedes” as if it was some POS to which I exclaimed I’ve been re-building “that Mercedes” for the past 4 years! He then directed his female assistant, who was appalled not to mention the poor couple behind me!, to refund me the $271 and to return the tires he had ordered for me! Unbelievable!