W203 C220 Cdi 2002 coupe - Tracking Settings

[kooli9]

Hello,

Does anyone know the optimum alignment for a 2002 sports coupe?

Mine pulls to the left and I want to get it aligned and compare its to what the mechanics say.

 

[grpar]

They pretty much all pull to the left, but you knew that already, right ?

I posted some stats from the recent 4-wheel alignment that MB did on mine. Not sure they would apply to the C-coupe though.

Whatever you do, don't be persuaded to opt for the MB corrective steering bolts. They force the track to the right, but the car ends up cornering like a bouncy castle. Best avoided unless desperate.

 

[kooli9]

grpar,

thanks for your input, do you have the stats still?
Also what are these correctivesteering bolts? never heard of them

 

[seabadger]

Corrective steering bolts (Camber adjustment bolts)

Hi Coolie 9,

I fitted these to my E class W211 after months of trial and error adjusting the tracking and consultation with the dealer, who wouldn't do anything to the suspension on the warranty. I Eventually I was told about corrective camber adjustment bolts in a friendly spares dept and it solved my problem.

When I first aquired my Merc with 45,000 miles on the clock it felt stuck to the road but had terrible road noise and no feel to the heavy steering. I found that it was toed in 6mm. You could hear the rubber stripping off the tyres.

When I corrected the tracking - front should be set nearly parallel (between 0.5mm to 1.5mm toed in) I found it pulled to the left violently. I then spent a long time checking and adjusting the back end - this should also toe in (1mm to 2mm) to no avail. When you get the wheel alignment right its quieter and it shows on your mpg trip computer if you do the same journey every day...... less drag obviously.

Pronounced slopes were worn on the front tyres one side more than the other and I switched the front wheels left to right to extend the tyre life. Remarkably this sorted out the pulling left.....until I bought new front tyres and the pull to the left reappeared. I then started to consider why my wheels were 'leaning in' when other Mercs weren't. This is when I found out about the camber correction bolts. They are a genuine Merc kit and you need two bolts for each front wheel. About 6 quid each.

You take out the original bolts through the bushings at the end of the wishbone and fit the correction bolts. The holes in the bushings are in fact slots and the correction bolts fit into either end of the slot whereas the original bolt only goes through the centre. The tracking needs adjustment to suit the new camber angle (obviously).

The effect was dramatic. With both front wheels straightened up it felt like a different car. Steering light and riding over potholes instead of digging in. Much quieter and that sloping tyre wear is cured. So is the pulling to the left.

Of course all cars will gently steer down the camber if you let go the wheel but they shouldn't veer left violently.

And it's a simple DIY job .. so is the tracking if you can read a tape measure.

 

[grpar]

grpar,

thanks for your input, do you have the stats still?
Also what are these correctivesteering bolts? never heard of them

Kooli9, below is the data from the 4-wheel alignment on my C-class saloon. Not sure if this applies to the coupe (probably not in fact), but these are the measurements MB adjusted to:

Front Axle:
Left castor adjusted to 10 deg 12 secs.
Right castor adjusted to 9 deg 53 secs.
Left camber adjusted to minus 0 deg 27 secs.
Right camber adjusted to minus 0 deg 37 secs.
Cross camber adjusted to 0 deg 10 secs.
Left toe adjusted to 0 deg 12 secs.
Right toe adjusted to 0 deg 11 secs.
Left toe out on turns adjusted to minus 1 deg 27 secs.
Right toe out on turns adjusted to minus 1 deg 54 secs.

Rear Axle:
Left camber adjusted to minus 1 deg 00 secs.
Right camber adjusted to minus 1 deg 13 secs.
Cross camber adjusted to 0 deg 13 secs.
Left toe adjusted to 0 deg 15 secs.
Right toe adjusted to 0 deg 15 secs.

There were a few other measurements such as vehicle level, setback, total toe, etc, etc on the MB printout. Hope you can make sense of the above.

Re the corrective steering bolts, these were to force the tracking to the right (as I remember), to prevent the leftward drift. They are a known MB fix, so your local dealer should be aware of them. The fix was free under warranty, but the resulting handling was so poor I asked the dealer to reverse it. Understandably, MB weren't prepared to do this for nothing, so we ended up splitting the bill (around £270 was my "half" .... yes, ouch).