jkv11503

Thanks to information I found by searching this awesome forum and with the helpful advice of several equally awesome members I was able to replace the front suspension (lower control arms, toque struts, sway bar links, ties rods (inner/outer), struts, bellows, and upper/lower ball joints) on my 2005 W211. That was one heck of a DIY for me.

Now that it's all back together the front toe seems to be way off. I counted the number of turns on each tie rod as I removed them and installed the new ones with exactly the same number of turns (21 turns on passenger side, 22 turns on driver side).

The steering wheel is 45 degrees to the left of center when driving straight and I can hear the left tire scrubbing when I drive onto my painted (slippery) garage floor. With the new parts that I've installed could one extra turn on the driver's side tie rod make such a difference?

Oh, and I also get the ESP malfunction message when I start driving. Not when I start the car but when I start moving ~10-15 mph.

I'm going to attempt the DIY alignment tomorrow to see if that helps get the toe a little better and corrects the steering wheel centering issue. I don't want to drive it to the alignment shop with the toe so far out of spec.

From what I've read here and there the ESP error could be triggered if the alignment is way off. Is this true?

I was careful not to damage the front wheel sensors when I was working so I would be surprised if that was the problem. But I guess anything's possible.

Any thoughts?

jkv11503

I went out and used the string method to set the front toe. It worked pretty good. It just took a while working by myself.

The steering wheel is now centered and the ESP warning is gone. It must have been the steering wheel being 45 degrees off center that was causing the ESP warning.

Now the car just has a slight pull to the right which I'm guessing will require a bit of caster adjustment. Not sure that's something I can do myself. I'll get it to the alignment shop to see what the numbers are. Might have to get those repair bolts after all.

cmriv

Correct. Your steering rack and steering column control module were not lining up. Most likely cause, steering rack being moved during repairs. Your steering angle sensor see's your steering wheel 45 degrees off and sees you are driving 45 mph.... it thinks something is wrong. At least you know those components are working correctly.

edit: next time use your seatbelt or some type of sports ball, basketball/football/deflated soccer ball and raise your steering wheel up, lower your seat bottom to its lowest point and jam something under the steering wheel so it doesn't move during repairs.

jkv11503

That's a good tip. I'll keep that in mind for next time. Thanks.