W124 Sportline Pulling to left

[Mercky]

I've read all the various threads on this subject but I'm calling all Sportline owners to see if they are experienceing anything similar. My coupe will pull quite strongly to the left on the slightest of camber as a result I am continuously compensating as nearly all roads camber to the left for drainage. This makes for very tiresome driving. I think on a dead flat road (difficult to find) it drives fairly straight but it quickly veers off on camber. I have driven a standard coupe which drives fine so are the sportlines very prone to this because of their suspension setup? I would welcome comments from other sportline owners on this. Thanks in advance.

 

[Apial]

I have a Sportline coupe on 16" wheels. I don't recall the left pull on a camber.

Have you tried driving on the wrong side of the road? Does it then pull to the right?

You could try swopping your tyres around, turning them on the rim if neceesary. Some tyres have a tendency to pull in one direction. Of course check your tyre pressures if you haven't already. A decent tyre place will be able to advise you.

The next thing to check is your wheel alignments. once all the checks have been done you will have your answer. I don't think that there is a design fault with the W124 Coupe Sportline suspension, but I can't comment on other variants.

 

[Mercky]

W124 sportline pulling left

Thanks for the reply, no I havent trying driving on the wrong side of the road but it will pull to the right on a right camber but not as severely as the left. I will get the alignment checked, unfortunetly when I attempted to get this done before they discovered two of the track rod ends were seized and so were unable to complete the job, I'll need to get these replaced and see how it works out.

 

[television]

Thanks for the reply, no I havent trying driving on the wrong side of the road but it will pull to the right on a right camber but not as severely as the left. I will get the alignment checked, unfortunetly when I attempted to get this done before they discovered two of the track rod ends were seized and so were unable to complete the job, I'll need to get these replaced and see how it works out.

Your track rod ball joints can cause your problem, if you replace them your self, just undo the back nuts half a turn, then when you fit the new ones the tracking will not be disturbed.

Malcolm

 

[rayhennig]

Sportline Coupe

Hello,

My 300CE 24 Sportline did exactly that! Here in France it pulled to the right. When I visited UK, it pulled left.

It turned out to be the "relais de direction" - maybe the steering idler??? - a bush or something on the other side from the steering wheel. Genuine MB part fitted by local village garage, 70 Euro total. All fine now.

So, look for the cheap solution first - hope this works for you.

Bon courage.

RayH

 

[Bolide]

You can drive yourself (and your mechanic) mad trying to stop this. It is probably caused by a number of things but it is standard W124 practice and affected by geometry. So if you set the car according to the Mercedes spec for a Sportline Coupe I think you will find it will still follow the camber

A tip for siezed track rod ends is this: remove the whole track rod complete with ends. Put it in a vice, lube it up with penetrating oil, then apply persuasion. It may take time to free up

My advice is to do the obvious things first - check tyre wear, pressures, wheel bearings and alignment, then replace the ARB bushes, check the steering idler, steering box, track rods and ball joints and check the rear camber-setting tie rods. Wear or slop in any of these will make the static alignment less effective in curing the problem and most of these items will be worn in some way

You may well find that the tracking has been mis-set to try and dial out a problem elsewhere. You may also find the steering box isn't centred properly

Don't underestimate how much of this problem is caused by worn tyres

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[gnz2035]

My 1990 300E pulled to the left so much the missus refused to get in it! I spent £60 having the tracking checked and altered after I had replaced both track rod tie bars. Still no improvement. I was considering replacing the car as the constant demand to steer right became boring and frustrating. Pete from MERX in Stoke on Trent suggested swapping the front wheels around. I was not optomistic about this but it completely cured the problem! Worth a try?
Good Luck,
Andy

 

[wireman]

I have experienced similar pulling and it always disapears when new front tyres are fitted.
Usualy the tyres are still very legal with at least 3mm of tread left, but they go in the tyre man's skip since I loath the tirsome pulling.

 

[kby]

i have this exact problem plus the car likes to steer itself and i have a lot of play on the steering wheel but only sometimes.tracking is fine tyres are good and just replaced uni joints on both sides. if i dont resolve it soon i feel a hammer attack coming on

 

[WDB124066]

Try this,

Increase castor on left, decrease castor on right to obtain a difference of 1 degree max. More camber on left, less camber on right, maybe 30 mins to a degree max of difference.
Should give the car the tendency to go right.

But I am inclined to agree that this should not be necessary, and I can't help thinking it is what happens when the rear subframe bushes are going or gone. The rear is pushing the car left.

What do you think??

 

[jakecc]

Have you tried driving on the wrong side of the road? Does it then pull to the right?

Great tip, you might want to watch Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' for some ideas on how best to do this. You'll see lots of cars suddenly pulling to the left.

 

[Stedan 126]

Great tip, you might want to watch Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' for some ideas on how best to do this. You'll see lots of cars suddenly pulling to the left.

Very good! :grin:

 

[The German Flower Pot]

my w123 e320 coupe is on 18's and even when on 15 & 16 wheels both cars have pulled to the left a bit, i always though it was one of the things that made the cars so special, a quirk of sorts