optimizer

Not sure where to go from here with this issue. In a nutshell, my w124 coupe seems to have started pulling to the right and has lost about 10-15% fuel economy. I'm not sure what triggered this, but here's a quick history of what changed in the past few weeks that could be related....

Mar 09 - right front lower ball joint was wearing out. Ended up replacing the entire lower control arm (I originally thought it was a $20 ball joint but apparently in the coupe the ball joint and control arm aren't seperable...). In any case, right lower ball joint was replaced. Once this was complete, I had an alignment done as well.

Problems... nothing really... I would say I noticed a very slight pull to the right but can't even confirm that. I just remember wondering if the alignment was done properly.

Mar 09 - got the AMG staggered monoblocks mounted. Tires were the Falken 912's, 225/45 upfront and 245/40 in the rear.

Problems... now is when I really noticed the car pulling to the right. I notice I have to hold the steering wheel about 5 degrees to the left to correct.

Also, I'm not sure if this is related to the alignment issue or the tire size but my fuel economy has dropped as well. on my second tank of gas and I notice as well a drop in economy by about 10-15%. Normally, my car is dead predictable in that I should reach the 3/4 fuel mark right around 100mi even (give or take 5mi). My last two fills ups had me at the 3/4 fuel mark at around 85mi. If this is related to tire size, why would a wider tire drop the economy by that much? I would have suspected that my X-Ice winter tires would have had much more drag with their 'grippy' seeves.

1st Apr 09 - got a second alignment done with a *slight* improvement.

Some other observations:
- the car pulls to the right much more when I am driving on the right side of the road where it is more heavily banked
- the car still pulls to the right when I am driving in the middle of the road where it should be flat / unbanked

Not sure where to go next? Any thoughts / ideas are welcome!

rivcal4life

Mine used to do the same thing with my old set of wheels. How do your tires look?

optimizer

Well the tires look great! Very happy with the 245 in the rear vs going with the 255's.

Was isupposed to try and find some tire problem? LOL

rivcal4life

Well if you did find a tire problem, you could possibly blame some of the alignment issue on them. Guess not though.

Glad you like the 245's. I love mine! I did a little drifty powerslide at the empty end of some parking lot today and they put up soooo much smoke. Plus they look gorgeous from behind. What do you have in the front? Oh and sorry to change the subject

optimizer

no worries... 225's upfront. :-) haven't gotten around to taking any pics yet, but yes, they look freakin amazing from the back. Fit with the body is perfect.

what should / could i look for in terms of a tire problem? I will check the pressure in the front tires tonight but that's all I can think of to check.

rivcal4life

Well like I said, with my old wheel setup my car was pulling hard one way and I think it was largely due to the overworn tires. Just ask chrisDpham. When I bought these wheels from him, my old tires were more than down to the wires. No exaggeration.

If the alignment didnt fix it, I would take it back and have them do it again. Thats kinda BS if you ask me....

optimizer

so I called the shop that did my tire mounting and install and they suggested that I come in and they will try to rule out the tires by reversing the left and right side. If the tires are indeed an issue, then the car should start piling to the opposite side, otherwise the problem should remain as is.

This make sense? Makes sense to me but I'm just wondering why there would even be an issue with brand new asymetrical tires with even pressure on both sides?

I'm expecting this test to pretty much rule out the tires. What else should I be checking?

rivcal4life

The usual, power steering fluid leaks, tie rods, lower ball joints, tightness of upper and lower strut mounts.

Could be one worn shock/spring on the right side. Though unless your car used to run nascar, I dont know why you would have one that further worn than the other.

hartj

Who did your alignment? Back when my Benz was running I had similar issues. I took it to les Schwab (shudder) twice with little to no improvement; they told me that some of the adjustments were already maxed out. Finally some one suggested I take it to an mb dealer, and I did. They took about two hours (cursing the les Schwab mechanics the whole time) and put everything back to factory specs. Well factory sportline specs for a little more aggressive turn in and handling. and if I rember correctly they only charged about $140, about $60 more then Schwab’s but so much worth it. I then went straight to Schwab’s and got money back. Long story unless you have an Indy who is competent and knowlagble in Benz’s the only place I consider for alignments is an mb dealer.

optimizer

I took it fir two alingments and both to Indy MB mechs. One of them has consistently had exceptional reviews in the local MB community and the other seems ok...

MB was also charging roughly $70 more for the alignment than the two indy guys.

GEDaggett

Pothole side. The right side hits the curbs, washout and potholes on the side of the street.

Also if you changed the overall size of your tires then you may have messed up the odometer as the gear in there is set for the size tires that are standard for the model. I think it may be adjustable but i am not for sure.

optimizer

Unbelievably, swapping the two front tires resolved the problem of mycar pulling to the left. Ivan now let go of the wheel and track dead straight. I'm still in disbelief, mostly because I have no idea why that would have fixed it....

I just got a full tank of gas so well see how the mileage fares.