Tramlining and handling issues.

[BenzComander]

Have a bit of a problem with the W210. Thought it may be damper related but now not so sure.

Symptoms are:

Car turns into corners very aggresively, even when applying quite small steering movements, and there is a reluctance for the steering to return to straight ahead.

Car seems to tramline a lot, both on the original 16" Avantgarde wheels and an aftermarket set of 17" to the point where on country lanes it is quite hard to keep it in the correct lane.

Car had new front wishbones fitted before I bought it and I am wondering if the geometry has been set incorrectly. Tyre wear is OK though!

Any ideas?

 

[Mr E]

Deffo sounds geometry-related.

Turn-in can be affected by a number of things; return to neutral / straight ahead makes me think of castor angle.....

Previous motor (Omega V6) turned in like a dream and was really precise out of the box, but when the dealer reset the geometry (prefered the ditch to the tractor) to the correct spec, steering was vague and woolly.

Get a full check done......

 

[jgevers]

Hi,

Like Mr. E., I would recommend a full geometry check. Camber, Castor and toe will all affect turn-in. The self centering problem is more likely to be castor related.

Make sure that the car gets checked with proper 3d alignment gear that will provide you with a print-out with before and after figures. The old laser aligners are not quite good enough nowadays. Look for a machine with the name John Bean, Beisbarth or Hunter/Proalign. Otherwise you might be wasting your money.

regards,

Job

 

[spnracing]

Self centering problem may also be too much toe out. I doubt the castor is adjustable on a W210 so unless they've fitted something wrong....?

Very sharp turn in and vague staright steering sounds like negative camber and lots of toe out. Good for a track day!

 

[nickmann]

I had my alignment done at the dealers. I had them check and adjust the whole shooting match.

The inital settingas were within MB tolerances, but they centred all the settings - toe, camber etc on all 4 corners.

The verdict - exbensive but worth it.

 

[BenzComander]

Many thanks everybody,

Will investigate local specialists that may be able to do the checks.

Anybody got any suggestions as to geometry specialists in the Aylesbury area? Prefer not to take it to the stealers