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Just took to dealer to get alignment. Had vibration in steering wheel. Previous owner liked hitting curbs.
After I got new wheels, tires, hubs, tie rods and sway bar end links, they were able to get alignment very close. No more vibration in the steering
Only right front wheel is still a bit out of of camber. 0.5 vs 0.2 for the left side. Technician said I could replace camber arm, which looks to me like the lateral arm, or just replace the bushing.
I would prefer to just do the bushing, but cannot get a tool set that would just let me press that out. Any ideas of a tool set that would work to just get the arm bushing out?
If I can do the bushing, I will do it. Seeing the alignment is so close, if I have to do the arm, I wont do anything soon. I am getting a bit tired of working on the car.
Tires will probably wear a bit bad, but I have 18s, so I can swap the wheels all around.
Maybe call it quits for now and do the whole arms next year?
These arms are readily available; for example, here's a replacement 'spring arm' for 2014 - 17 RWD cars. $127 gets you both bushings and the ball joint, so whatever's worn in there all three are new when you do the arm.
Probably do the Lemforder route. The OEM ones are almost $300 each.
Will OEM last almost twice as long as Lemforder?
Mmm, doubtful. But what I've seen so far with my W222 is that the run flat tires are quite punishing to the suspension. I've put Lemforder on my Benzes for 30+ years and never had to do it twice.
I took the 20 inch run flats off when I bought the car.
Now have regular 18s on.
They don't look at nice as the bigger wheels, but a few weeks ago I hit a big pothole, and I am sure I would have ended on the side of the road if I still had the big wheels
I took the 20 inch run flats off when I bought the car.
Now have regular 18s on.
They don't look at nice as the bigger wheels, but a few weeks ago I hit a big pothole, and I am sure I would have ended on the side of the road if I still had the big wheels
Wondering if you find the 18s are stiil good for performance? I have stock 19s now and will be going to non-runflats soon. But 18s could be an option if i can still have fun on the onramps.
I don't have a problem with the performance. The car isn't a sports car after all. Only think I noticed was that certain areas where I used to feel bumps on the the road, I could not anymore.
I could see some small imperfections that I had felt with the 20's, but did not feel them anymore. And then if you hit a big pothole you hold your breath a bit and are thankful you don't have the bigger wheels.
I don't think bigger wheels aren't really there for performance as much as for looks. The 20's were also super heavy compared to the 18's
The only downside with the 18's is that they get super dirty with brake dust. I use OEM pads. The 18's have more material closer to the wheel I guess. You can drive around the block and the wheels are dirty again.
It's ridiculous.
I've gone to the stupidly cheap Powerstop pads front and rear with Mercedes rotors. Super happy with this setup and I can clean the wheels with Sonax and a pressure washer.
Do point out todays models no longer have Front Camber or Caster and no rear Camber to adjust tire contact angles to spread load more evenly to resolve costly premature edge tire wear.
All to do with cost cutting and ever increasing speed of new car assembly lines.
Often quoted re-assuring “Full Front & Rear ‘4’ Wheel Alignment” - is now only basic TOE (directional) adjustment !
To reinstate we therefore manufacture “bolt-on” Front and Rear Camber adjustment kits that require no special tools or the need for time consuming arm removal to install !
UPGRADING AND REPLACING THE EXISTING LOWER ARM INNER BUSHINGS AT SAME TIME.
ALL MODELS W222S:
FRONT #503016-1i $345 (Includes bush extraction and insertion tool).
(Less cost then one hi-performance tire).
FRONT #503016K $480 also includes additional Caster adjustment (Including bush extraction and insertion tool).
REAR #502626K $480 Camber (and Extra TOE adjustment to compensate).
Bush extraction tool included. Like front kits - K-MAC designed to fit without special tools or time consuming need to remove arms.
NOTE: We manufacture Front and Rear kits to suit virtually every model Mercedes Benz 1968 to 2024.
Earlier models with factory adjustment K-MAC kits feature upgraded bushings and doubling existing Camber and Caster adjustment range.
DHL DELIVERY WORLDWIDE $40 ($60 Front & Rear)
AUDI to VOLVO - K-MAC Experience Of Resolving OEM Suspension Shortcomings Since 1964 !
In addition to "cost cutting and ever increasing speed of new car assembly lines", the other factor in modern cars is that suspension parts and mounting points on the car body are now made to such a high levels of precision that adjustability is not required in the manufacturing process.
While alignment systems do measure all the angles, for regular production cars the only reasons to change camber and caster now are wear or damage. Or if an owner wanted to customize alignment for tracking their car, or other individual preferences. As mentioned above, wheel alignment now is just "toe and go" for most cars ...
03-19-2024, 06:06 PM
