I'm going to have to do this steering adjustment on the wifes 300D VERY soon....so does anyone have any pictures?

It's really cold outside right now....wind is howling....would love to study from the warm side of the walls.

Steering GearBox Adjustment
 

Here Ya Go!
Some Kind Soul left these instructions on the Internet

57. Get a 19mm closed end wrench and an 8mm Allen wrench to
adjust the gear box. Mercedes adjustment procedure wants you to adjust the box so the torque peaks at the center of rotation. This peak should be roughly twice the torque at either end of movement. I use the “educated guesstimate” method. It works for me.

58. The teeth on the pinion gear are wedge shaped. As the shaft position is adjusted the mesh of the pinion to the rack is varied. You want to set the mesh so there is no play and just a bit of interference. The interference is what makes the friction increase at the center rotation.

59. Setting the friction level is accomplished by adjusting the screw in or out as needed. Rotating the screw CCW makes more friction and conversely CW makes less friction.

60. Here is an excerpt from the MB factory repair manual. This is another way to do it in the car. I prefer to do it on the bench.

61. Rotate and adjust screw until you get twice the torque in the center as compared to the torque at the end of rotation. Lock the nut and re-test. Locking the nut moves the adjustment a little bit. You will have to compensate.

Speaking of steering. At high speeds in my 83 sd, I get vibration in the steering column when I apply consistant turning pressure. Lets say I'm going 70 around a long gradual turn. I get noticable vibration in column. Any thoughts?

Sounds like a tire or wheel problem.

wheels, and such
 

Good, its got aftermarket "urban" rims, As soon as I burn through these tires then I'm getting the stock rims back on. Maybe that will fix it.

I am about to give this a shot on my 240d. Is the locknut normally threaded (righty tighty/lefty loosey)? I tried breaking it loose yesterday and it wouldn't budge.

Yes the locknut is normal threaded. It takes a good long extension and a length of pipe over your ratchet. Hit it with some PB blaster and maybe a little propane torch on the locknut itself and it should come loose no problem.

It's a lot easier, IMO, to have someone sitting in the drivers seat with the engine off that can tell you when it tightens up. Or just do it with the engine running and check tightness every quarter turn or so. Mine took a good turn and a half to tighten up, don't be all too frightened :cool:

Oh man! I got it done yesterday and the results are fantastic! This has been a problem ever since buying the 240. Ten minutes under the hood and the steering feels like new!

Its amazing. I have well over 300k on my 240/300d and the steering adjusted so that its dead nuts tight.

I know that this thread about 4 months old now but I have the same problem. All my front suspension have been replaced and had an alignment but the play is about 4 inches. When engine is idling at a standstill when I try moving my steering wheel to the left there's this "tok" sound each time. My mechanic have made adjustments to the steering box and was advised that I already needed to replace the steering box. This part is very expensive here in costs around $400. Any suggestions may help. Thanks in anticipation!

^^^ Make sure the adjustment looks like it is out with threads showing. Not in.

If indeed it is out, then you might be able to find a good salvaged unit. Not sure how good the wrecking yards in the Philippines are for w123s.

fines for tightening steering gearbox
 

My tire guy says that he could get a fine if he tightens the steering gearbox. I thought that sounded a little silly. Has anybody every heard of that?

sounds like he's afraid to work on a mercedes!

Never heard of that, im going to guess that if the box is on it's way out then you could possibly tighten it too much and the box might bind up in the future and cause some havoc.. just my 2 cents :)

Well, I have poured my heart into this car, saying nothing of the blood and dollars, so I'm gonna get the new gearbox. Lets see if I can get another 200k out of her :)