Definative explination.... Pull left

[Max Shine]

Having re-read the thread again, whats the rough cost to get the castor mod done WIM?

 

[wheels-inmotion]

I can't be 100% without measuring the car but on average a full chassis image and front/ rear toe adjustment would cost £95+ vat. Most cars with pulling issues need two MB adjuster bolts which are £30 each+ vat. The bolts read expensive but to fit them the entire under tray needs removing/ replacing and the fitting on the MB adjusters is somewhat difficult.

 

[ilunn]

Interesting thread as back in 2002 we had brand new c180 which was pulling to left needing constant pressure holding the steering to the right, Car went back to supplying dealer 3 times first time with only 300 mile on clock) with just constant denial that there was a fault all they would say is "all Mercs do it" (I pointed out the 3 previous Mercedes we had did not pull or rip tyres off but they would not listen) by the time the car had 10,000 mile it had scrubbed the edges of both the front tires to the cords, dealer got Mercedes UK to fit 2 tyres under warranty then we traded car in for a year old SLK, remembering the comment "all Mercs do it" the SLK would drive in a perfect straight line, since then we have had 3 more mercs and couple of courtesy cars not one of them pulling left or right.

 

[AMGeed]

 

[Shogun]

Tyres type and tread pattern play a part too. Tyres with a ^^ pattern make MB's drift. They are even worse if only fitted to one axel or wheel.

We used to have a document at dealers outlining how to set cars up with a "pulling to left" complaint and it was a good document too and it used to work well. All it really was is that we increased the castor on the left front.

 

[Max Shine]

I have Pirelli P Zero's - will this make a difference? I think I only noticed it when i upgraded from 18" OEM to the 19" Black Edition OEM ones

 

[DT220]

Thanks for this excellent post! Get a few of my friends asking this question. Now I can just show them this. Cheers

 

[Blue30]

I used a castor bolt to increase front left castor on mine which helped a lot and made steering effort left and right much more even.

The second thing was tyre pressures, the manual always has rears higher than fronts but after playing around I’ve found that my car feels much better in every way with 35 front 32 rear. This is with 205/55/16’s. The pull is hardly there at all now and the turn in is much better.

It could maybe take another bolt on the right to drop the right castor but to be honest it’s at the level now where must people wouldn’t notice it so not sure if I’ll bother.

 

[wheels-inmotion]

Just so you know. To reduce the OSF castor to need to fit the bolt to reduce the camber? When the camber moves it will massively displace the toe, when this is corrected it will indirectly reduce the castor. If you directly reduce the castor the toe correction will move the camber more negative and generate a push left.

 

[Blue30]

Hay that’s really interesting thanks, I think I need to go and think about that in a dark room for a while before I understand it!

Have you ever thought about doing a few YouTube vids explaining things like this? I think a lot of people would be keen.

 

[wheels-inmotion]

One was done by a MB magazine on their car....Can't think what the title was?

 

[180cdi]

I don't know if somebody mentioned it, but what about the the road surface, tar roads are not all flat, they are constructed with an angle towards the outside edge to help rainwater run off the surface and not causing puddles on the driving surface.

 

[whitenemesis]

I don't know if somebody mentioned it, but what about the the road surface, tar roads are not all flat, they are constructed with an angle towards the outside edge to help rainwater run off the surface and not causing puddles on the driving surface.

Mentioned in the very first post ...

 

[Flackadder]

Had all wheel alignment thingy done at WiM and minimal adjustment made some while back and then rechecked since when I had new tyres fitted. Now I am sure their work was done perfectly, but for whatever reason my front Contis are not far from beyond a joke worn on extreme outer edges...mostly the nearside one. The tyres that were on fronts before (cannot recall the name as were fitted before I owned the car) were worn impressively even all across. My rear contis are perfectly even wear. The only explanation I can come up with is the previous tyres were of a hard compound. Yes, pressures are correct and I have NOT dived into some massive pot hole. And no, I do not drive it round corners or roundabouts at the limit. Stresses me out when this sort of thing happens.

 

[markjay]

If you go through the thread, I believe that Tony does say at some point that NS outer tyre wear is normal for UK roads.

Also, my car has the same size wheels at the front and at the rear, so I make a point of rotating the wheels front-to-rear at each annual service. This helps even-out the wear and maximise the tyres' service life (I prefer to replace all 4 tyres at the same time).

 

[markjay]

PS - I am going to WIM tomorrow. Just got new tyres so thought I'd get the alignment rechecked - it was last done over a year ago.

 

[Flackadder]

I will be going t down to WiM sooner then later to get new front tyres. I shall also have the alignments done again...maybe this time AFTER the new tyres are fitted. Though, I have no idea whether that makes any difference whatsoever.

 

[markjay]

I will be going t down to WiM sooner then later to get new front tyres. I shall also have the alignments done again...maybe this time AFTER the new tyres are fitted. Though, I have no idea whether that makes any difference whatsoever.

Yes it does.

And checking the alignment as soon as you get new tyres will ensure that the new tyres don't start their service life with an unhealthy dose of uneven wear....

 

[markjay]

At WIM now....

 

[markjay]

Photographic evidence:

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