Steering weird & Steering wheel out of line after small prang

[skunkiphunki]

Hi Guys,

I've literally just had a prang in my beloved 08 CLK 220 - this after one of the worst weeks of my life with personal and work stuff all seemingly against me :0( (I won't bore you with the detail on those things. All I will say it seems whatever will go wrong has gone wrong.

Anyhow I was just driving along, and I was positioned on the right hand side of the lane as I was nearing a junction where I was going to turn right, a motorcyclist came flying past, and I think misjudged the gap, and he clipped the drivers side front wing area of the car.

It didn't feel like a bad prang, I was more concerned about his welfare, than my car - he pulled up a bit further up the road, and I got out and asked him if he was ok - he said he was, although he was rubbing his leg, so I asked him, again, and he said he was sure.

Glad that he was ok, the road was really busy, so I had a brief glance at my car, and it looked ok, jumped in the car and joined the traffic jam again which was slow moving.

I know... I am really stupid, not to have looked at the damage and swapped insurance details - I guess its's all the other stuff I have going on kind of made it seem less significant at the time.

Anyway driving along I noticed first the car was indicating the ESP indicator was out of action, and also the run-flat indicator... then I noticed that the steering wheel is out of alignment, if you imagine the 'true north' of the steering wheel would have been 12 o'clock, to go straight it was now aimed at about 1 or 2 o'clock. Then when I hit the first corner that the steering is feeling a bit off i.e.: when I turned the steering wheel enough to go round the corner it started pulling, not uncontrollably, but noticeably.

So, I get to a petrol station (this was all low speed driving by the way as I was in town close to my home), and I do a proper survey for damage. There's a bit of bodywork damage - small dent and some scratching on the wing, and I can see that the wheel has evidence of an impact. I'm not concerned about the bodywork, as the damage is pretty limited, and I know a good bodyshop who will be able to sort it out pretty cheaply. What I am worried about is the cost of sorting the steering / wheel alignment issue out. The ESP and runflat indicators are working fine again - I guess they were temporarily disconnected by the impact.

Now I know that many of you will just advise me to get it checked out, and I will do tomorrow. But, you know the low-feeling you get after having a car prang, and the uncertainty of the cost implications, I thought I would just come on this friendly forum for speculative suggestion of what damage has been done. I'm pretty sure there will be someone out there who will be able to tell from the description of the issue what I might be looking at, and likely cost.

I need to decide wether to claim on insurance and lose loads of no claims, or wether to get it all sorted without claiming on insurance.

At the very worst any suggestions might make me slightly more educated when dealing with the garages tomorrow.

I appreciate any advice in advance!

Cheers

Simon

 

[John]

Sorry to hear of your situation.

Life wouldn't be life without these sh*t stints now and then!

Picture of the damage might be useful for the trained eyes here...

What region are you based in as well - you can probably get some recommends for good body shops.

 

[Tim203]

Hi, it sounds like it could have been far worse, amazing the guy on the bike didn't come off. It could be you had a bit of right lock on at the time and he caught the rim of the wheel on his foot peg. The speeding bullet factor just shows the damage that can occur from a seemingly light impact. I think getting the tracking checked would be my first action.I expect a control arm is slightly bent thus upsetting the track of the vehicle. Unless it's miles out it is often very difficult to see if body mounts are damaged unless you see mud chipped off or sealer cracked etc. In my experience steering racks only get badly damaged when you get a knock on full lock ( loosing it on full opposite lock in a skid and clipping a kerb for example). Did you feel a tug through the steering wheel on impact? Either way a very small amount of movement in the suspension can knock the tracking out. Don't forget to check out the steering arm. I don't know if it's a bolt on item on the hub carrier or part of the forging on these cars. Of course you'll need to check the wheel for damage and you might find the wheel bearing will start getting noisy in due course.What's always frustrating is that very few people have the measuring equipment to find exactly what has moved and where so providing it all checks out visually a tracking adjustment normally is enough to sort it out.Good luck with it.

 

[skunkiphunki]

Tim203 and JonEBoy,

Thanks so much for the replies - it gives me some comfort to have at least some knowledge before getting it looked at. I will get the tracking checked first and go from there as suggested.

In terms of right lock- I think I would have had a bit of right lock, and I think I did feel a bit of a tug on the steering wheel on impact.

I am in Bournemouth, Dorset - so if anyone knows of a good shop round here - any suggestions would me much appreciated.

Thanks for your answers - the people on this forum are so helpful.

Cheers :0)

 

[John]

Was the biker cutting through traffic like this (not the crash bit obviously):

https://uk.screen.yahoo.com/world-s...yclist-crashes-while-lane-204308038.html?vp=1

 

[skunkiphunki]

Yeah exactly like that... I was stationary though with my steering wheel turned to the right - at least the biker wasn't harmed in my example!

Feel so stupid that I didn't swap details - I'm normally a logical person, but not in his case...

Ok I have some photos - the cars been on the ramp at the local garage, and here are some photos... There are 2 photos one of the damaged side, and one which is the passenger undamaged side for comparison.

From looking at the photos it looks like the steering rack is bent as well as the control arm...

Can someone give me an idea of man hours / how big the job is to change the steering rack etc...

I know the steering rack is going to be expensiv, but irrespective of that I guess I'm trying to ascertain how long it might take etc...

Again thankyou for all of your help!

 

[John]

Yeah exactly like that... I was stationary though with my steering wheel turned to the right - at least the biker wasn't harmed in my example!

No but he was lucky. Whilst it makes sense to look out for bikes doing this if you are going to manoeuvre - a biker takes on the risk when doing this.

If they are moving quickly, you may not always have time to see them.

I think they are stupid doing this as people might have to swerve to avoid something and they could end up a statistic.

If you need a steering rack - it wont be cheap but it's not worth beating yourself up about. You might find a reconditioned / second hand one is viable.

I only know of a body shop in the south east so can't help with one in the south west.

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
Sorry to hear your problems, hope you get things sorted,
I am in the process of buying a car and the dealer happens to be in Poole, and not wanting to buy it without being checked over I have made contact with a MB indy to do the check for me, though I have never used them before there was been mention of them on the other forum and they do seem to be well regarded and seem to have good write ups. Looking at their web site they seem to be able to do body work as well, and they are local to you in Poole.
Link below to their web site,
Home | Star Tech Mercedes Repairs, Servicing, Poole, Dorset

 

[skunkiphunki]

Thanks Johnny, andy, and all - you've all been brilliant... Will keep you all updated!

 

[grober]

There is an inner axial joint that can be replaced if that is all the damage?
W209 CLK 55 Steering Rack - Mercedes-Benz Forum

Part is Tie rod right/left inside A2303380015 price around £15 but check against your chassis no with the MB dealer.

 

[skunkiphunki]

Thanks for all the replies - much appreciated - sorry about the delayed reply - had to attend a funeral in Spain :0( - I'll let you know how I get on - the mechanic thinks I need a new rack arm and track rod end, and tracking of course - then I just need to sort the body work out...

Thanks Again! :0)

 

[skunkiphunki]

Ok - been away a while (recovering from an operation!) - I got the rack arm, and control rod end replaced with new, and tracked - drives perfectly now! Sensors are all reset - so really happy with that - one of my gf's business contacts has a garage close to me (found this out after my last post), and he did the whole lot all in for £100! just need to sort the bodywork out now. Thanks for all of your help - just wanted you guys to know the outcome :0) Have a happy Christmas!!