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Originally Posted by jeff (moose)
Did he give you a printout? It should show what machine he used. and what the toe was set at. if no printou there is no proof that he set the alignment properly.
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No printout. He's an indy, operates out of a local tire shop, but he has done work for me before and is thought highly of locally. He uses a high end machine, and when I asked about the use of a spreader bar, he replied that he compensates by adding a small increment to the specified values (we didn't get into detail here, as I'm no guru on this anyway). Others on this forum have stated that the difference with and without the bar is negligible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeff (moose)
Did you ever consider the fact that he didn't like spending 2 hours aligning your Benz for a lousy $70 and therefore he just got ity close and went on with his day?
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Well, I don't consider $70.00 a cheap alignment, at least not here. Most shops charge $50.00 or so. His getting it close was, as I/he said, related to the slop in the steering box, which I'll have to take his word on. His position is that he had to set-up the car to adjust the centering, and doing a road test, then re-setting it up again, adjusting, then re-aligning, simply isn't offered or included in the standard alignment price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeff (moose)
May I ask where you took your car?
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We don't have a Mercedes dealer here, so most locals who own a Benz go to this guy.
I appreciate your comments though. I didn't consider adjusting the steering box play part of an alignment, unless the dealer or someone who works on Mercedes was also doing the work. I checked my service manual and it looks like there is a screw on the box that can be turned to take up play. Wish I'd done that first.
Oh, and after another road test today, the off-center amount is really small, maybe tolerable.....but if it's not, then 1 spline should do it, ....or a bit of a turn on each tie rod, which would be easier I guess considering the air-bag has to be removed to remove the steering wheel.