SD pulling to the left...help? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pawoSD · #1 11-15-2005, 02:04 AM

My dad says that his 83SD is pulling to the left now when he drives and slows down, (he just drove it to chicago and back over the weekend) he said it began when driving around in chicago. Also sometimes when turning he'll hear a "clack/click" sound in the steering that he can feel. It only happens sometimes though. the pull to the left is noticeable enough that he has to counter steer it, and when braking he says its slightly stronger yet.

Any ideas on the likely culprit here? I thought maybe a tie rod problem, or a dragging caliper, but they seemed to be in good shape the last time we worked on them, and it has hyper strong brakes. Flex lines are also quite young (maybe a few years old) and brake flush was done less than a year ago with a power bleeder and about 3 liters of fluid.....

Suspension issue?

My car drifts to the right now, my alignment is probably off, I need to have that done sometime. its not very bad but if I let go of the wheel it definatlety heads to the right (but very gradually) and moreso than it did after its alignment about 2 years ago.... When slowing down it tracks perfectly straight though. Probably all the stupid michigan roads destroying my alignment.

billrok · #2 11-15-2005, 07:44 AM

Remove the brake pads from the left front caliper and try pushing the pistons back into the caliper. (Remove a little brake fluid with your wifes favorite turkey baster first.) I'll bet you have a bad left front caliper. Been there recently.

WANT '71 280SEL · #3 11-15-2005, 11:01 AM

You won't want to hear this, but Brian Carlton had the same problem on his, it's a broken sway bar bracket. Brian's right side broke and my left one broke. It's a pain to replace it. They can easily rust out and break. The sway bar keeps the upper control arm from shifting. Look at the front suspension and follow the swawy bar into the engine compartment and check the bracket. I'll bet it's broken. It was the last thing I noticed and Brian didn't believe it either till he saw it.

If you just want to replace the bracket, your hands will hate you. If you want to address the surrounding rust you'll really get into the car because you'll need to remove the booster. Also, unbolt the fusebox so you can shift it a little out of the way.

Keep us posted.

Thanks
David

pawoSD · #4 11-15-2005, 11:27 AM

His right side mount was in very good shape when we had the battery out last year repairing that, it only had some surface rust, and we treated it. I don't know about the left one....we'll have to look into it, hopefully thats not the problem!

pawoSD · #5 11-15-2005, 12:33 PM

HORROR. We did a simple inspection and this is what we saw!

It appears it has broken apart at the upper control arm?!

Here is a picture from my service library of how the sway bar works....it appears that by design it is inherently weak, and they thread a bolt INTO the end of the sway bar, rather than having a solid end with threads on it from the bar with a nut on the end. Wouldn't that be stronger?? So now I presume the entire bar needs to be replaced....?

pawoSD · #6 11-15-2005, 02:16 PM

Bump.