hi all,

What is so different about the alignment on a Mercedes than on an ordinary car?

Here is what i'm trying to find out.. I have a C230 Sport 2007... I recently bought a set of all Yokohama S-Drive front and rears had everything aligned.. Within maybe a thousand miles the Fronts became feathered & noisy. Anyway the place who fitted the tires are buying back my fronts cos they done the alignment and and i'm selling the rears in the classified sections as they are perfect...

I've gone ahead and bought four new continental contisport 3's from Tirerack... BUT I'm a little worried about the alignment that i'm getting from the tire place that original fitted the yoko's... Mercedes said most garages don't know how to properly align a benz and that they should do it.. Basically i don't want to ruin my new ContiSport 3's... into the same feathering that occured on my Yoko's..

The tire place said they are ordering a special camber kit? to align my benz for when they install and align my new tires?????? Not really knowing much about alignment i'm a little puzzled.

If that's the case why didn't they do that in the first place... Don't want to name who they are cos it's a popular place that we all know, cos they are sorting me out by fitting my conti's for free and buying back my Front yoko's.. So i'm not about to run their name off in a bad way... But on the other hand i want to make sure they are going to do a proper job so i'd like a little more understanding on the subject.

Thanks

 

I have to ask ... it's a 2007 Mercedes why does it need an alignment?

secondly, why does it need a camber kit is it lowered?

it's a design issue from both sides Yokohama and Mercedes

Mercedes vehicles run extremely high caster angles to aid in high speed stability for use on the Autobahn.

lower cost tires tend to have less engineering devoted to ride quality. I think the theory is, that product segment is more cost sensitive and used mostly on cars which focus on being economical not on luxurious ride quality.

 

Thanks Luke, maybe that's what they want to change the caster? and not the camber, problem is i don't know what either are to be honest.. Will google after this post though ! I asked them when i took the car in for the new yoko's to do the alignment cos i bought the car used and you never know, and i didn't want to ruin my new yoko's..

 

Luke,

Do u have any camber kit available for CLK W209 or camber bolts ?? and yes the car will be lower soon w/Eibach Springs.

Thanks,

Andy

 

What exactly is a camber kit or camber bolts? And why did they not use these camber bolts on the first alingment? I need to be a little clearer on the subject. thx

 

newer cars do not need alignemnts nearly ar much as older designs but, many shops still want to do an alignment because that's what they have always done.

Caster is designed into the suspension geometry and thus is not adjustable .... if you want to see what it does turn your steering wheel all the way lock to lock and see the car rise on each side in turn. then look at how much your tire leans to the side whan turned all the way

 

no but, I do recommend the K-Mac products for Mercedes alignment kits

 

and where can I get that K-Mac kit? are they high dollar ??

Andy

 

Ok is your car lowered ??? or just stock??

Andy

 

Just stock, but the place who are going to fit my new tires said they need caster bolts (i think) I think i need to call the manager and get some clarification.

 

u should because your car is fairly new.

 

if they are going to attempt to change the caster .... get your car out of there as fast as you can

 

several places sell k-mac products .... I know many have purchased from Wheel Experts in Houston

 

u know any website ?

Andy

 

why can someone please explain in laymans terms? Manager is not in til tomorrow so i've got til tonight to get a better understanding... He mentioned either caster of camber bolts were needed ....

Took car in for new tires and alingment.. Front Tires became noisy after 1000miles, now feathered.

They are buying the tires from me and i'm having continentals fitted all round..

He mentioned that when they put the new tires on they'll need to get either the caster bolt kit or camber bolt kit.. and 'apparently' he spoke to Mercedes...

Oh and car is a C230 Sport 2007 20k on the clock and everything is stock..apart from the emblem and 3-fin grill

 

Hi,

I am really in need of some help.. You may of seen my other posts relating to my alignment woes.. It's a 2007 C230 Sport with only 17k at the first alignment and only done 1000 since. Took my car in to have some new tires fitted back in Sept 08 at the same time the tire place suggested that i have my alignment checked, so i agreed.. Attached is the scan for Sept 08.. I then took the car back in on Nov08 to have the rear tires fitted and i had the alignment checked again since it was free.. They said it was out so i had them re-adjust. Attached is the scan for Nov08

Then recently the front tires became very noisy so i took the car back and i am now getting FOUR new continentals, and want to know why does my alignement on the front keep gonig out? The car gets driven non agressively, doesn't ever hit pot holes or road bumps. Actually it always has two little ones in the back so it driven delicately if anything. So possibly could be going on?

As i said i am having four new tires fitted on Saturday and the Auto manager said that he needs to order caster or camber bolts???? Sorry i don't know.. All i want is my alignment back to stock and my new tires to not become noisy after one thousand miles.

 

Threads merged: same subject - same OP

 

Looks like i'm not the only one who doesn't know how to read these readings then

 

ok ... I have seen all three alignment printouts and there are two things that clearly look out of place ...

#1.) When comparing all three printouts the one from March 17th shows a significant decrease in left front caster which means the car experienced a significant impact on that corner. Most likely a pot hole

#2.) they are using the specs of an AMG car which is different than the C230 Sport Sedan. Their software probably does not differentiate between the two.

I would have a shop, which specializes in Mercedes and / or highend European products look at the car instead of Sears. I would also put a portion of the blame on the low cost budget minded tire decision. In our customer reviews we have seen reports of noise issues with the Yokohama ES100.

 

I have been through this WHO Ha on our E500.

The origional tires wore even and true. The second set (NILO = name intentionally left out) cupped out. I called the tire mfg. Their answer , "car problem". I took the car to the MB dealer, "tire problem". I took it to independant and had alignment. Yes I know there is a difference in the preload for alignment dependant on high speed or US driving. This was taken into consideration on alignment. Yes the adjustment bolsts were put on my E500. I took off the NILO and put a different brand. I also noted that one well known set had "made in Japan" on the tire sidewall. I though they were made in Europe. The second set were from a US company so I thought I was getting a tire made in USA. Wrong. It also became NILO2 "made in japan". These tires had a new alignment and cupped out and made noise as bad as NILO.

So in mass frustration I went back to the dealer and looked at a new S500 to see what tires were on it!. Michelin Pilot sport. So,, Tire set #3 was the Michelin Pilot sport. (for the record this was the 4th set of tires in 55,000 )

1 - Origional conti's
2 - NILO
3 - NIlO2
4 - Michelins

Doing nothing to the car I drove the new Michelins. There are quiet, no cupping and very even wear. Amazing the E500 drives like a new car with treat tire wear and low noise. So lets consider the tires. UMMMM

Tire mfg says not my problem. NILO and NILO2 were both made in Japan eventhough the brand name might indicate otherwise.

Is it possible 1 company made both tires but molded different tread pattern and brand name?

I also investigated how the tire belts are made.

Michelin (from what I understand) uses a spiral type method with no splice
NILO and NILO2 use a belt with splice.

Could the splice be setting up a harmonic in the tire as it is rolling? Don't really know.

What I do know is that the michelins drive smooth, wear even and now at 20,000 miles still look new compared to NILO and NILO2 that were taken off around 10,000 miles.

Don't worry though I gave them to the corvette club to put on a corvette that runs the road track so they will wear out quickly.

Now you decide. Given my car had no mechanical change then the tires wore uneven. Was it a car issue. Given after the michelins were put on the tires work well with no car change. What changed? Car ? Tires?

I will only run Michelins now on my car and save money. Consider throwing away 2 sets of tires at 12,000 or so miles on each set for noise and wear.

The decision is yours you have the same information I do. Just look at what is on the new Mercedes in the showroom and make your decision.

 

I would take it to MB for an alignment. If they can't get the alignment right, they'll let you know.

I've had to replace loud tires on other cars because usually the tires were old. Last car we had tires replaced was a car with tires from 02. The issue was not the brand. I've went with yoko, falken, Dunlop, bridgestone...all quiet when new.

 

Correct but quickly all began to cup out and make noise except the Michelin Pilots.

 

if any one wants first hand info....the k-mac kits are great had one on every one of my cars my last car 07 e-class with 19s 235/265 i got over 20k + milage out of them which is great for a 19... the factory alignment kits/bolt only offer slight adjustment and the k-mac kits are about half the price as the rentech versions

hope the info helps

 

K mac was not available in 04 when I was playing with solutions. They do look like a better solution than the adjustable bolts. How do they fit up with the airamatic suspension?

 

with the air suspensions its a balancing act.. on the ones with air i have set up i would set the caster/camber with the car at normal ride hieght in comfort mode which is the setting most people cruize in so the alignment is in spec for the majority of the driving............ then the crazy few who want the car slamed what i do is set the proper alignment in the raise mode so they can cruize around in that mode with good tire wear but you can just press the button and drop it for around town or parked