Mercedes GLC Clonking and juddering on near full steering lock

[rf065]

Sorry to have to say this, but I suspect that current owners won't see any form of engineering solution to this and that swapping out the tyres is as good as it's going to get.

Haleluhah, at last someone sees it as it is.

Russ

 

[hallra]

Haleluhah, at last someone sees it as it is.

Russ

I don't think anyone is under the illusion that Mercedes are trying to avoid a comprehensive solution and the odds are they will hope that this is the end of it.

Mercedes will have to wait and see what their customers, motor agencies and motor press reaction to this is. I suspect this isn't going away.

It is up to Mercedes what they do next, if anything and then deal with the consequences. There will have been a cost analysis of this and they will only solve it, if fixing it is cheaper than other options.

 

[dejongj]

Haleluhah, at last someone sees it as it is.

Russ

I see you continue to troll and refuse to eat humble pie...Shame. Lots more respect when you put your hand up and admit you have it wrong. But you aren't alone unfortunately. Rather silly and foolish though in my opinion to keep on going on like this.

 

[HumberMart]

I see you continue to troll and refuse to eat humble pie...Shame. Lots more respect when you put your hand up and admit you have it wrong. But you aren't alone unfortunately. Rather silly and foolish though in my opinion to keep on going on like this.

Don't worry,

His reference to the laws of physics was all it took me to realise he was a numpty troll.

 

[rf065]

I see you continue to troll and refuse to eat humble pie...Shame. Lots more respect when you put your hand up and admit you have it wrong. But you aren't alone unfortunately. Rather silly and foolish though in my opinion to keep on going on like this.

I'm a troll & have it wrong? Interesting, from day one I've only dealt with the facts.
The car has an issue that relates to the Ackerman Principle, Fact.
The car, once designed & built cannot have that issue fixed by different tyres, Fact.
Mercedes do not have a magic wand that will fix this, Fact.
Why should I eat humble pie, I've been proved right on every point?

Do you want an easy fix? Ask Mercedes to replace all the components involved with left hand drive equivalents, would that be acceptable to you, a LHD car?
If there was a cost effective way of adapting it to right hand drive without this issue, I suspect they would have done so when designing the car. I suspect the 4WD RHD version may now be taken off the option list in due course unless a new design can be found that will not break the bank for the next facelifted model.

Russ (the troll)

 

[Tony Mac]

Russ,

You might be a clever guy, we agree and understand the Ackerman Principle is probably causing the problem, as you keep pushing down our throats. Although not specifically stating, your posts continually imply it's a fact we should all just accept and live with - or have I misunderstood why you keep repeating yourself?

Fact - left hand drive GLC's don't suffer from this fault
Fact - virtually all competing cars do not suffer from the fault
Fact - MB have accepted it's not acceptable for their car to behave this way
Fact - if we all listen and accept your opinion nothing would change
Fact - if you accept that it's ok for your cars to drive with the fault, then it's never going to change of be fixed

Fact - it's the manufacturers responsibly to design out the Ackerman problems, 99% of car owners will never have heard of this although it potentially effects all 4 wheel vehicles. We pay a premium to have this problem taken care of.

Fact - constantly telling GLC owners about the Ackerman principle is very annoying and unnecessary - it doesn't add anything to the discussion.

Fact - MB UK are responding to customer pressure, time will tell how much they can change. If we had accepted your view, we would all be driving cars on square wheels and saying to ourselves this Ackerman stuff is crap, but hey nothing to be done.

Appreciate your input, but telling us 'told you so' doesn't help in any away shape or form

Tony

 

[rf065]

your posts continually imply it's a fact we should all just accept and live with - or have I misunderstood why you keep repeating yourself?

You have misunderstood, the only reason I repeat anything is because there are a lot of folk on here who still believe Mercedes will come up with a solution to fix this, it ain't gonna happen. (apart from being called a troll as well)

Russ

 

[hallra]

You have misunderstood, the only reason I repeat anything is because there are a lot of folk on here who still believe Mercedes will come up with a solution to fix this, it ain't gonna happen. (apart from being called a troll as well)

Russ

Russ, I don't think there is a need to repeat yourself, I think everyone is intelligent to understand what Mercedes might or might not do.

Yes, they are not likely to do anything, but people are upset and angry enough to spend their time to try to force Mercedes hand.

This may or may not work, but I think its up to the people involved to do what they believe is their right to do.

 

[rf065]

Don't worry,

His reference to the laws of physics was all it took me to realise he was a numpty troll.

All I can say is Sir Isaac Newton and his Three Laws Of Motion must have been a numpty too.

Russ

 

[DRIVER200]

This item just hit the Honest John site not sure if it's someone from this forum but here it is:

''Bryan Knight 6 minutes ago I am being offered a free set of all weather tyres by MBUK to trial which are being sent from Germany and fitted at my dealership free of charge I am not sure this will solve the crabbing issue but I am prepared to trial these tyres and give Mercedes my feedback good or bad but especially with honesty which I think we really haven’t been getting from Mercedes UK watch this space. ''

Not sure how this will fit in with the MB statement for all other GLC owners?

 

[John Jones Jr]

And on that thread the answer is provided but totally ignored by everyone.
My CLK even does it, it's the Ackerman Principle and relates to steering geometry & how toe-in makes the inside wheel turn tighter than the outside wheel.
Both wheels are following a different track & with low profile tyres there is not enough sidewall flex to stop the tyre eventually being dragged across the tarmac.

http://lowellkinetic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Steering-2.pdf

Russ

You see you posted this at the start of the thread (post #9) implying the issue is the same as per your CLK and plenty of others did also. PistonHeads thread is awash with the same comments - it seemed like everybody was jumping up and down with smugness to inform these GLC owners that there's nothing wrong, it's just the Ackerman and their cars do it also. Of course that is incorrect, the MBUK update to dealers verifies there is an actual fault/design fault/ mechanical fault call it what you will in the steering setup.

Now your mantra is that the issue can't or won't be fixed but nowhere do you mention that MB could have avoided this problem if they had designed the R/H/D GLC properly in the first place. And how do you know for example that a set of modified steering/suspension bushes won't cure the issue. I'm not for minute suggesting it will or it's possible but why throw in the towel and lose all hope of a cure when you can't support that's the best course of action for these affected GLC owners to take. After all, MBUK originally stated it was a tyre issue combined with low ambient temperatures and now it transpires it's not, it's a design fault. So, that could be viewed as progress or progress of a kind.

Regardless of all the above what really was unnecessary from a minority of posters on here and the other threads on the subject was the dismissal of these GLC and C43 owners issues and concerns, just like your initial post which in my eyes discredits your agenda in subsequence posts.

 

[Deleted128943]

This item just hit the Honest John site not sure if it's someone from this forum but here it is:

''Bryan Knight 6 minutes ago I am being offered a free set of all weather tyres by MBUK to trial which are being sent from Germany and fitted at my dealership free of charge I am not sure this will solve the crabbing issue but I am prepared to trial these tyres and give Mercedes my feedback good or bad but especially with honesty which I think we really haven’t been getting from Mercedes UK watch this space. ''

Not sure how this will fit in with the MB statement for all other GLC owners?

It will be interesting to see if the all weather tyres are Mercedes MO, the statement refers to after market tyres which I assume are standard none MO tyres. That's an interesting one given Mercedes advise the use of MO tyres on Mercedes Benz Vehicles and all new vehicles come with them fitted.

 

[whitenemesis]

Do all new Mercedes come from the factory with MO tyres fitted?

 

[Deleted128943]

Do all new Mercedes come from the factory with MO tyres fitted?

As far as I'm aware they do, certainly mine did, otherwise MB would be contradicting their own advice than MO tyres be fitted to a Mercedes Benz,

 

[Flackadder]

After reading all the way through this thread - at different times, I now realise why the left hand drive cars do not have the issue.

It's all down to the earth's rotation. A bit like how water spins down a plug hole one way here in UK and the other way down under.

Surprised all you brainy types never sorted that before

 

[design4p]

New tyres + New parts

I was the original post on this site (design4p).

I am pleased with all the comments and inputs from everyone.

My view now is MB should redesign and change the parts which are causing the problem.

John

 

[Alfie]

Without trying to reignite this, I've avoided replying to this till now as I wanted it to calm down a little.

Being personally attacked on this forum is not what I'm here for, i'm here to discuss issues I have experienced with my GLC and I'm looking to discuss this with others that have similar issues, I'm not here to be told i'm an idiot, a fool, i'm mistaken, i'm having a medical episode or anything similar.

* Note an accounts posting signatures is not visable when accessing this forum via TapTalk, plus Business and personal posts on the same forum account is something that should be frowned upon, because not mater what the attention is, it can be misleading and across many industries, this sort of thing is against the law, I know because I work in the finance industry and many people have end up in jail.

I had a go at Alfie because he was attacking another user on this forum and he had very strong personal opinions on what is all the fuss about, as he has said in his opinion, nothing unique here, he has seen it on many many cars and it's normal. However, Alfie works in the motor industry and is also according to his account an MB enthusiast, and as such, people who work in a particular industry and/or an enthusiast in something will always have a different views and different tolerance levels to that of a lay person. So you have to be mindful of what you say and how you say it. As an example, I work in the IT industry, I see lots of people struggle with their home computers, they see things totally diferent to me as an expert, even though I don't specialse in Home computers I am far more informed than they are, so I know and I understand my views and what I may consider nonesense, is not the way they will see it, so I refrain from attacking them and belittling them.


As we know many people have experienced this issue, it's across many forums, websites, newspaper articles, Mercedes half admit it's a problem.

We know the problem is intermittent, we know the problem affects some more than others, we know people have different tolerence levels, we know some people don't see an issue.

Some people are talking here about this issue as it is affecting them in some form, they have gone to Mercedes and feel they haven't got the resolution they seek. These people are exchanging experiences and discussing the differing stories that Mercedes have told. They are here to support each other and look for support from others. They are not here to be attacked, insulted, belittled, told they have nothing to worry about, etc.

I hope eveyone can pull together and support each other, that's all i'm looking for.

Oh, apart from the dig at me, nice thought out post Richard!

I wasnt attacking another user, merely offering a different viewpoint based on my experiences. The person in question was having significant difficulty in understanding that viewpoint. Just because a viewpoint may contradict the underlying cause in question does not make it any less valid nor worthy of being told to leave the discussion. Similarly, my views as a forum sponsor are just as valid as someones views who is not. Your implication that anyone with relevant industry experience should be disqualified from contribution and can end up in gaol is absurd.

I never said it was normal either. I said it was seen on many many cars from other manufacturers too. I further said that I had experienced it myself and I didnt 'from my experience' see what the fuss was about.

People would do well to clearly read and understand posts before firing off knee jerk accusations and reactions to others. As you rightly now say; ' So you have to be mindful of what you say and how you say it.'

 

[John Jones Jr]

I was the original post on this site (design4p).

I am pleased with all the comments and inputs from everyone.

My view now is MB should redesign and change the parts which are causing the problem.

John

If it means a major redesign say for example the front crossmember, steering rack etc being candid I'd be very doubtful also too it wouldn't be practical either if it involved structural changes. The best you and fellow owners can hope for is modified steering and/or suspension components - arms and bushes, maybe eccentric bushes or some such components.

It's a real wait and see game and I think it hinges on how well the all season tyres MBUK are offering perform/mask the issue. If the majority of owners are content with the new tyres that will be the end of any further assistance from MBUK I'd reckon.

It's all numbers game for MBUK, they are probably working basis that any further complaints will come from owners who purchased their cars outright and the PCP'ers will be easy to fob off if they bother to raise complaints.

I'd take the overall view the glass is half full simply going by the fact that MBUK have admitted there is a fault.

 

[whitenemesis]

I'd take the overall view the glass is half full simply going by the fact that MBUK have admitted there is a fault.

Nowhere have I read MB have admitted there is a fault.

 

[DRIVER200]

Nowhere have I read MB have admitted there is a fault.

I guess you are right as the actual word ''Fault'' has not been used but the implication is that due to the RHD design characteristics being slightly different to those on a LHD vehicles then you could argue that it's a design fault which no doubt many people will be thinking.

''Due to the positioning of the front axle differential on right hand drive cars, the steering position differs very slightly compared to left hand drive models''

As an aside I have sent a copy of the recent MB statement to Auto Express in the hope they will continue to monitor progress.