W202 - Sport Suspension - Abnormal Tire Wear

[sicelo]

Hi
I have some very abnormal tyre wear on my W202 C230K Sport.
As you can hopefully see on the picture, the tread is getting worn on the outer edge only. In addition, there are pieces of the rubber that are coming off. Tires in question are Pirelli Cinturato P7s ..
In addition, this wear is only on the left side of the car, not on the right or rear.

So I probably have an alignment, suspension or steering problem.

The suspension is stock, and the ball joints and tie rod ends have been replaced in the last year. Nothing looks bent under the car.

As for control arm bushes .. I have not replaced these. Visually, they look fine, although I do not know how stiff they should be when pried.

I should add that when I turn the steering right, at around 1/2 to 3/4 full lock, it feels as if something skips, and you can almost feel the left tire being dragged along

any ideas will be appreciated. ultimately i need to take the car for wheel alignment, but i would like to know what the root cause is, so i can attend to it

 

[grober]

Ball joints -- upper and lower both replaced? Upper is integral with the arm I believe?
[YOUTUBE HD]TuKqvfAGpQg[/YOUTUBE HD]

 

[sicelo]

lower only. upper ball joints seem solid enough

 

[John Jones Jr]

Hi there Sicelo. If everything else is o.k., I'd inspect the lower arm bushes as there's a very good chance the rear bush is worn/split with only two out of four contact points not cracked. Removing the arms from the car will allow you to inspect the arm bushes properly.

 

[John Jones Jr]

BTW, if the lower arms look original I'd strongly advise you buy a new set or a new set of bushes before you strip out the old arms.

 

[sicelo]

Took it to an indy ... looks like i need to replace drag link, and idler arm bushing.
Control arms are in good condition. He also mentioned that I need to consider replacing the front springs - they had those rubber support things :-(

 

[sicelo]

i replaced the drag link, and did alignment. the car feels nicer now. I won't know right away the effect on the wear ...

however, the alignment shop mentioned that they couldn't get the camber within spec. this might seem to support the issue with springs?

in addition, and something that I have had for a long time, the front wheels have a 'skipping' movement when I do a tight turn at low speed. I think it's better explained in http://rennlist.com/forums/997-forum...g-problem.html

before the change of drag link, this would happen only when turning right, but now it happens in either direction (guessing the drag link was too worn to hold in both directions equally?) either way, most info seems to suggest this is relatively normal and nothing to worry about. if any of you have suggestions i'd be grateful however, as it is truly annoying

vehicle has 245,000km. I already did replace my rear ones which were sagged noticeably - car most likely did a lot of towing before I owned it

so - recommend anything in connection with springs? or just forget? and that 'skipping'? note that I have no interest/plan to lower the car in any way ... I am happy to keep stock suspension settings. one more thing, should I maybe get the camber adjustment kit for control arms?

 

[John Jones Jr]

I can't really advise other than to say, sort the camber first. Since you can't get the alignment to the correct spec I'd look at the lower wishbone bushes and I think a weak spring could cause it also.

As for fitting a camber adjustment kit it could help and if it does it may only mask the real problem?