CAMBER ISSUE
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Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 174
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From: LONDON, UK
mercedes CLK55 AMG
CAMBER ISSUE
HI GUYS
I had a rear passenger side excessive inner tyre wear problem took the car for the wheel alignment and here the readings before and after
can anyone who knows what these readings means translate them into words please
your help will be very much appreciated and a big thank in advance
I had a rear passenger side excessive inner tyre wear problem took the car for the wheel alignment and here the readings before and after
can anyone who knows what these readings means translate them into words please
your help will be very much appreciated and a big thank in advance
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 3,967
Likes: 1,315
From: Republic of Texas
'99 and '05 E55 AMG
First, I’m not an expert on Mercedes but I’m learning as fast as I can. Second, suspension systems only come in so many different designs so the similarities are striking. Third, I perform my own suspension alignments in my garage so I know exactly what I’m getting. Amazing what one can do with a camber gauge (or smartphone app) and a set of strings. It’s tedious but not as difficult as one would think. Look up info on do-it-yourself alignments; even if you never perform an alignment, you’ll have a better understanding of the interrelationships between caster, camber, toe, and thrust angle.
Observation: your car appears to be lowered as the camber angles are far greater than the maximum values listed on the printout. Large negative values tend to come at the expense of reduced tire life. Personally, I’d look into getting camber adjustment kits to extend the life of the tires. Having said that, most camber angles are listed according to ride height; the lower the car, the more negative the camber (as would happen as the suspension compresses).
Following observations are based on the time stamps and assuming 3:08 is pre-alignment and 3:15 is post-alignment.
Front:
--No change to camber or caster. Unless the bolts are eccentric, no adjustment available. Wheel camber difference is about 0.5 degrees between each other which is acceptable. Caster (change in camber as the wheels are turned) looks about right from what I’ve been able to find on the internet (5.5 to 6.5 degrees) for the turn-of-the-century model years.
--Technician equalized the toe-in on each side; should give you more consistent turn-in in either direction plus improved straight-line stability.
Rear
--Lots of negative camber on the left rear; I’m guessing that tire wears quite a bit on the inside. Non-adjustable unless you install a camber adjustable kit (or raise the car) to reduce the negative camber. This also assumes the bushings on the camber bar are not collapsed.
--Technician equalized the toe-in on each side and thrust angle reduced to zero; now the tail of your car won’t hang out to one side while driving down the road. The early printout showed the right rear with proper toe-in and the left rear with toe-out; I would think that, prior to the alignment, the car exhibited more oversteer when turning to the right.
Again, these are just general observations on my part.
Observation: your car appears to be lowered as the camber angles are far greater than the maximum values listed on the printout. Large negative values tend to come at the expense of reduced tire life. Personally, I’d look into getting camber adjustment kits to extend the life of the tires. Having said that, most camber angles are listed according to ride height; the lower the car, the more negative the camber (as would happen as the suspension compresses).
Following observations are based on the time stamps and assuming 3:08 is pre-alignment and 3:15 is post-alignment.
Front:
--No change to camber or caster. Unless the bolts are eccentric, no adjustment available. Wheel camber difference is about 0.5 degrees between each other which is acceptable. Caster (change in camber as the wheels are turned) looks about right from what I’ve been able to find on the internet (5.5 to 6.5 degrees) for the turn-of-the-century model years.
--Technician equalized the toe-in on each side; should give you more consistent turn-in in either direction plus improved straight-line stability.
Rear
--Lots of negative camber on the left rear; I’m guessing that tire wears quite a bit on the inside. Non-adjustable unless you install a camber adjustable kit (or raise the car) to reduce the negative camber. This also assumes the bushings on the camber bar are not collapsed.
--Technician equalized the toe-in on each side and thrust angle reduced to zero; now the tail of your car won’t hang out to one side while driving down the road. The early printout showed the right rear with proper toe-in and the left rear with toe-out; I would think that, prior to the alignment, the car exhibited more oversteer when turning to the right.
Again, these are just general observations on my part.
