thunderbenz

Hi:
I noticed that several months ago my CLk350 w209 was pulling to the right.

My car is lowered with H&R Sports and I had 19" Miro rims staggered setup. I live in LA and hit a lot of potholes. But I remember I hit one pretty big months ago and discovered that my f/passenger wheel was bent. I was quoted about $125 to fix but opted to go with stock rims for awhile. **Btw if anyone is interested in buying my rims let me know**

Anyways, I thought I would get new tires and alignment and that would fix the pull. But when I got some new tires and alignment last week the car still pulls. I had the tech guy check 3x as to the alignment but toe is fine, a little camber (due to the springs) but no sign as to the pull.

Any ideas? I know it could be a number of suspension issues, but hoping someone had a similar issue that can pinpoint problem before I go to the shop.

Symptoms:

-noticed f/passenger tire more worn than f/driver tire (old set)
-noticed gap between f/passenger tire and f/fender is smaller on the f/passenger side (I can fit ~3 fingers on the f/driver side; but only ~1 on f/passenger side
-alignment was to spec; tires new and same psi on fronts
-on flat road and steering wheel straight, the car would just move to the right

THANKS!

Rudeney

I'd check the strut and spring - the spring could be broken, or just overstressed, or the strut valves could be shot.

thunderbenz

Hey Rod!

Thanks for your help a few months ago (?) for the transmission issue and cam magnet issue. Unfortunately, I had to replace the sensor plates w/ a tranny flush. The car runs fantastic so I got some new rubber and align to find this pull issue. Can't get a break. Haha.


UPDATE: I noticed that after being parked for a few hours, I can fit same amount of fingers on both front gaps. Weird, you think the shocks bounce back when not running on the road? If it was springs, probably wouldn't raise back up.

THANKS!

Glyn M Ruck

Sounds as though the rebound damping valve in the shock/strut is kaput! Might just be stiction on the seals though.

See here for pull.

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...lts-2-4-a.html

Rudeney

Yep, like Glyn said, it sounds like a bad strut. How many miles on them? Driving on poor road conditions, 50K is about the lifespan.