Back from the local (very rural) alignment shop my '85 300D has 1/8" of toe out, measured at 3:30 and 8:30 on the center tread.

I checked my girl friend's '85 300D and it also has 1/8" of toe out.

Could someone with a proper spreader bar set alignment please measure?

Thanks!
Bruce McCreary
Snowflake, AZ

It should NOT be toed out. It should be set on zero, even without the spreader bar in place. The spreader bar has very little if any effect on a 123, they are more necessary on the 124.

I've aligned front end and monitored tire wear on almost a million miles worth of 123's and I can promise you that if it is not set ACCURATELY on zero, you will get outer or inner edge front tire wear.

There are still a surprising number of alignment people who believe that the toe must be slightly in, but this is a holdover from bias ply tires. If you do this on these cars with radial tires, you will get edge wear.

Good luck,

Good luck,

Also perfrom a extensive check of your suspension components. It could be that toe was set to spec on the alignment rack, but after driving is off. This is why most dealers will not perform a alignment on a car that needs front-end work. Check everything from your guiderod mounts to your wheel bearings for play.

__________________
85 300CD
83 300TD
78 240D (daughter)

I just rebult the front end, thus the alignment.
jbaj007 sent me the specs and they call for 3mm of toe in.
I tried that and it's a bit squirrelly.

Tomorrow I'll do as Larry suggests and set it to zero and then see how the tires wear.

Thanks for the help!
Bruce