211 pulls to the left

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mr. shr

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 22, 2004
Messages
1,879
Hi guys.
Just had four new tyres fitted and they did laser tracking afterwards, but car pulls to the left slightly. They re-tracked, but still doing it.

Took it to another garage that does four wheel alignment. They say that it's all straight on the computer, but still pulls a bit when on the road.
They've suggested replacing the mounts in the torque struts as they are slightly perished.

I'm not really convince this will sort it.

Anyone else come across similar?
 
Can't really explain why your 211 pulls to the left, but if it makes you feel any better, I had a brand new 204 C-Class 250, it always pulls to the left. Took it to dealer, dealer said it was spot on.
The current 212 I have now is always drives straight.
 
Hi mate. That doesn't make me feel better at all!! Quite worrying if a Dealer says it's spot on, when clearly it isn't. (Believe me, I've had a few of those "conversations" with them in the past).

Glad your latest machine is straight and as much as I'd like to upgrade, I can't see mrs. shr agreeing to changing the family car just yet.
 
Hi guys.
Just had four new tyres fitted and they did laser tracking afterwards, but car pulls to the left slightly. They re-tracked, but still doing it.

Took it to another garage that does four wheel alignment. They say that it's all straight on the computer, but still pulls a bit when on the road.
They've suggested replacing the mounts in the torque struts as they are slightly perished.

I'm not really convince this will sort it.

Anyone else come across similar?

This is very common - there is a sticky explaining it in this section. Where are you based? If you can it would be worth taking your car to 'wheels in motion', (author wrote the said sticky). They will be able to get your car set correctly.
 
Hi mate. That doesn't make me feel better at all!! Quite worrying if a Dealer says it's spot on, when clearly it isn't. (Believe me, I've had a few of those "conversations" with them in the past).

Glad your latest machine is straight and as much as I'd like to upgrade, I can't see mrs. shr agreeing to changing the family car just yet.

MB could never get my car to drive 100% either even if they do say everything is within spec. It's known these need setting up differently. My car is fine since WIM set it up for me. Tyre wear even and no pull to the left.
 
Just been doing a bit of a search and yes I see this is very common. I suppose I could go down to WIM but what is approx. cost for this kind of work?

And as soon as mrs. shr drives over a bump in the road, does it knock it all out again?
 
Hi mate. That doesn't make me feel better at all!! Quite worrying if a Dealer says it's spot on, when clearly it isn't. (Believe me, I've had a few of those "conversations" with them in the past).

Glad your latest machine is straight and as much as I'd like to upgrade, I can't see mrs. shr agreeing to changing the family car just yet.
Despite my C class was pulling to the left, after 2 years and 14000miles, all tyres still had 6 mm tread left, no uneven wear detected.
 
Did it pull to the left before the tyres etc?
 
Just been doing a bit of a search and yes I see this is very common. I suppose I could go down to WIM but what is approx. cost for this kind of work?

And as soon as mrs. shr drives over a bump in the road, does it knock it all out again?

The cost for my geometry check and adjustment was £40 plus vat. I think there are special adjusters that may be required but mine didn't need them. Obviously the adjusters would add to the cost.

Mine has remained fine since WIM did the initial adjustment (approx 15 months and 12K miles ago) and I drive in London all the time with potholes and speed bumps. I had new tyres fitted a couple of weeks ago and got WIM to fit for me and they did a check and minor adjustment at same time as my car is now slightly lowered.
 
No it didn't.
There was a bad wobble in the steering wheel on the old tyres, but I believe this was caused by a damaged front tyre.
Wooble has gone with new tyres.
 
The cost for my geometry check and adjustment was £40 plus vat. I think there are special adjusters that may be required but mine didn't need them. Obviously the adjusters would add to the cost.

Mine has remained fine since WIM did the initial adjustment (approx 15 months and 12K miles ago) and I drive in London all the time with potholes and speed bumps. I had new tyres fitted a couple of weeks ago and got WIM to fit for me and they did a check and minor adjustment at same time as my car is now slightly lowered.

Just been looking on their website and seeing figures in excess of 200 pounds. If that's what it costs to put right then I'd just live with as only intend to keep car for another year.
For 40 pounds, then yes that sounds like something I'd go for.

Anyone think it's worth getting the rubbers changed on the torque struts as my indy is suggesting?
I'm thinking guys like BlackC55 would have knowledge/experience of this sort of thing.
 
The price we display is worst case assuming it would need all the adjuster bolts fitted which is very, very rare. Normally the price is around £160 using two adjuster bolts for a MB with a geometric pulling problem.

Anyway i don't think your problem is geometric? I think it's a pneumatic drift.

A pneumatic drift is NOT a tyre defect, more a build issue born from the fact the radial construction and the radial tread don't always perfectly align. This area of miss-alignment on compression steers.... An easy cost free test is to move the front wheels side-to-side.
 
The price we display is worst case assuming it would need all the adjuster bolts fitted which is very, very rare. Normally the price is around £160 using two adjuster bolts for a MB with a geometric pulling problem.

Anyway i don't think your problem is geometric? I think it's a pneumatic drift.

A pneumatic drift is NOT a tyre defect, more a build issue born from the fact the radial construction and the radial tread don't always perfectly align. This area of miss-alignment on compression steers.... An easy cost free test is to move the front wheels side-to-side.

Hi thanks for this (but I don't really undersrand).
I need to move the steering wheel side to side? At what speeds and how much do I move it?
 
Hi thanks for this (but I don't really undersrand).
I need to move the steering wheel side to side? At what speeds and how much do I move it?

No - he means try swapping the actual front wheels over.
 
Yes, I actually rang WIM today and guy i spoke to explained I need to swap the front wheels over so clearly I'd got the wrong end of the stick!

Will give this a try. What am I expecting to find? If it still does it then it's an alignment issue but if it doesn't do it then it's a pneumatic issue, right?
 
Swap them over and report any changes here...:):)
 
Ok will get onto this later in the week.

My indy is on about changing the rubber mounts in the torque struts.
You reckon this won't make any difference to my problem?
 
Yes, I actually rang WIM today and guy i spoke to explained I need to swap the front wheels over so clearly I'd got the wrong end of the stick!

Will give this a try. What am I expecting to find? If it still does it then it's an alignment issue but if it doesn't do it then it's a pneumatic issue, right?

Yes exactly that. We know that historically the MB tends to pull/ drift left but the most common reason for a pull/ drift globally is the tyres. Please don't think it's a defect if proven, you won't/ don't need to replace the tyres, it's not a defect, it's a build issue that can happen to all radials.
 
Well I've swapped the two fronts over and I do think it's made a difference. It does still pull slightly to the left but I think I'm only noticing it because I'm 'looking' for it so to speak.
I'll probably not bother trying to get it any better to be honest.

The tyres are mitsis with mo fitment. Are these tyres more prone to the pneumatic thingie you mention?
I believe these cars leave the factory with contis but always assumed this was cos they are a Germany company and MB would favour German over French?
 

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