Camber and castor

[Benz270cdi]

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on which arms mercedes call the camber arms and which are the castor arms??? On a w209 clk 270 cdi avantgarde ? Any advice appreciated thanx

 

[jefrs]

They're on the same part, the lower arm. I think the one at the rear controls camber and the front one does the castor. If you look at it, the rear bush pushes the wheel in and out from the body, and the front one angles it back and forth. This is in addition to track (toe-in). The rear wheel also have adjustment like the front.

 

[wheels-inmotion]

The arm that meets the centre of the wheel is the camber arm and the arm that connects fore of the wheel is the castor arm.

 

[wheels-inmotion]

Edit..... seemingly it's a wishbone.... Same positions apply without the arms.

 

[Benz270cdi]

I haven't had a chance to look at the suspension setup yet as I have only just bought the car main stealer said it needs camber arms, and bushes and castor arm bushes how much do these parts cost?

 

[grober]

Here is a picture first.
Then read this Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tyre Bible Page 4 of 4
and then this
Car Bibles : The Car Suspension Bible page 1 of 4

the arms/bushes referred to by the dealer are are probably the rear suspension arms see the picture here [ignore the parts no listing its wrong]
çàï÷àñòè Mercedes: êîäû çàï÷àñòåé ìåðñåäåñ

 

[wheels-inmotion]

I haven't had a chance to look at the suspension setup yet as I have only just bought the car main stealer said it needs camber arms, and bushes and castor arm bushes how much do these parts cost?

I'm struggling to believe that.... Please get another opinion.

 

[Benz270cdi]

Does anyone know the torque for the bolts which hold the arms on?? Thanx

 

[jefrs]

Does anyone know the torque for the bolts which hold the arms on?? Thanx

Haynes joke book for C-Class from memory says something like 50-ft.lb plus 120° turn i.e. fairly tight. Loose bush bolts can make the car feel loose.

The 210 has wishbones, the lower wishbone arm is "y"-shaped. Its rear bush is in-line with the wheel axis (the "/" of the "y"), it controls camber by pulling in or out from the centre line with adjuster bolt. The forward bush (the "\" of the "y"), does same but alters the castor angle by pushing the angle of the arm fore/aft about the pivot of the rear bush. The amount of adjustment is not great.

I'm not sure how much adjustment is available at the top. There's a simple single arm there, and the position shock absorber strut top itself may be adjustable

 

[jefrs]

I haven't had a chance to look at the suspension setup yet as I have only just bought the car main stealer said it needs camber arms, and bushes and castor arm bushes how much do these parts cost?

I can understand bushes but not the entire arm. Why? - are they bent or damaged? - what immense force managed to damage them?

Bushes do wear out and are generally cheap parts although fitting not easy.

 

[Benz270cdi]

I think the lower ball joints are worn the bushes are definitely shot it's wearing the outside edges of the tyres so I'm going to replace the lot to make sure the front end is as tight as it can be

 

[jefrs]

By camber arm, do you mean the upper arm, or the lower wishbone?

The ball joint comes out separately.

 

[Benz270cdi]

The lower arm with the large bush inboard running across the car

 

[jefrs]

The lower arm with the large bush inboard running across the car

The lower arm is a piece of engineering worthy of the Forth Bridge, all the bits that wear out, come off it. Why would you replace that unless crash-damaged?