Crooked steering wheel, wonky steering - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

djustin973 · #1 12-20-2009, 08:21 PM

A few days ago I get in the Benz and notice when going straight the wheel is sitting about 20 degrees to the right. It was not like this before. The car is also now having trouble tracking, it tends to wander around center, the steering just feels sloppy in general and this is a sudden and drastic change to it's old behavior. I lifted up the front and tried shoving everything around, the tierods/centerlink are tight, the ball joints were recently replaced. Thinking it may be my steering box? Any way to tell?

t walgamuth · #2 12-20-2009, 10:02 PM

I doubt it is the steering box. I would look at a failed ball joint or tie rod end. This is not a good thing so don't procrastinate on it.

djustin973 · #3 12-20-2009, 10:12 PM

The ball joints are new about 5000 miles ago and I don't see anything weird about them and the tierod ends all appear to be tight. I had the whole front up and couldn't wiggle anything. Should I remove the tie rods for further inspection?

SD Blue · #4 12-20-2009, 10:15 PM

This may sound a little in left field but don't overlook the rear suspension, especially the trailing arm bushings. I noticed when mine failed that there were some strange tracking problems. Are you noticing any strange wear patterns on the rear tires? When it starts tracking strangely, does it feel like loose sloppy steering or does the whole car tend to shift, especially in a curve?

Palangi · #5 12-20-2009, 10:17 PM

Could the steering box have broken loose from the frame? Never heard of it happening on a 123 or 126, but it used to happen on the 115 cars.

400k on a rust belt car, strange things sometimes happen.

Carpenterman · #6 12-20-2009, 10:58 PM

I'm only familiar with 123s, but does this model have a flex disc on the steering box? On the 123s it's located in the engine compartment just before the steering box on the steering column. It's possible that it has failed.

djustin973 · #7 12-20-2009, 11:06 PM

So in the order I read them

I will check the rear suspension imediatley as it makes sense. Since the wheel is tracking towards the right I would assume that is in response to the rear "steering" toward the left. In order for the rear to "steer" left the left side would have to be compressed which is possible because that corner of the suspension is the one not rebuilt.
The box is still secure, I checked that, despite the 400k, and NJ's love of salt, Serenity has very little rust, luckily
Next on list to check : Steering box flex disc.

layback40 · #8 12-21-2009, 02:15 AM

Is your steering idler bush good? If water gets into the idler bush it can fail reasonably quick.

t walgamuth · #9 12-21-2009, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djustin973

So in the order I read them

I will check the rear suspension imediatley as it makes sense. Since the wheel is tracking towards the right I would assume that is in response to the rear "steering" toward the left. In order for the rear to "steer" left the left side would have to be compressed which is possible because that corner of the suspension is the one not rebuilt.
The box is still secure, I checked that, despite the 400k, and NJ's love of salt, Serenity has very little rust, luckily
Next on list to check : Steering box flex disc.

I think if you have to correct by steering right the rear is making the car steer right too. I did not follow the rest of your analysis though.

djustin973 · #10 12-21-2009, 11:02 PM

So I jacked up the car again and turned the wheel to what should be dead straight. The passenger wheel looks dead on but the driver's side is atleast 5-10 degrees toed out. This does explain everything, the fact that I have to turn a little right to track straight, and the toe out explains the wandering steering. I have no problem fixing it, lengthen the driver's tie rod a little till it comes into line and I'll be laughing. What worries me is how did this happen? How does a wheel become toed out overnight? I don't recall any large potholes and I only jumped the one 50ft gap in a freeway to keep up with a bus

. Any ideas what might have happened? Could this be a sign the tierod is going bad? Are there any other suspension components that can effect toe?

t walgamuth · #11 12-22-2009, 05:54 AM

If you cannot find any obvious faults I would suggest taking it to an anlignment shop. These things don't just spontaniously adjust themselves for no reason. Either you have a bad ball joint, or tie rod or tie rod end or a bent suspension member or bent subframe or top mount.

If I have to guess I would say a ball joint being bad without being obvious is the most likely choice.

Unless you have a teenager who snuck the car out and hit a big curb with it and didn't fess up.

Diesel911 · #12 12-22-2009, 11:42 AM

Question for everyone. Is it possible for a lower Control Arm Bushing to go bad and cause what he is seaking of?

SD Blue · #13 12-22-2009, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel911

Question for everyone. Is it possible for a lower Control Arm Bushing to go bad and cause what he is seaking of?

In speculation, I could see where, and experienced, the wandering symptom mentioned but for a lower control arm bushing to cause enough toe out to be able to see the difference is difficult to imagine. I'm thinking the bushing would have to be almost entirely gone to physically see toe out and then I would believe the most obvious trait would be odd camber.

From what I've experienced, the most likely failure is a tie rod joint, which may be hard to find, in some cases, until stress is applied. Another suspect is the Idler arm bushing, mentioned before, but I noticed problems with the right side when it was worn.

Biodiesel300TD · #14 12-22-2009, 12:46 PM

I'd inspect the tires too. My 240 was pulling pretty badly and I thought it was brakes dragging or something like that but one of my tires was derned near blowing out. Has a big bulge in one spot, a big dimple next to it, and tread missing in one spot. I'd definitely keep the car off the road until you figure it out.

djustin973 · #15 12-22-2009, 12:54 PM

Sadly all repairs on Serenity are done in-flight

I do not have any option but to keep driving while I figure it out. I adjusted the tie rod last night to bring the wheel into line. The car drives great again as would be expected.
I did notice something else though. After the adjustment put both wheels back to parallel it became obvious that the drivers wheel is sitting further out from the car. The camber appears good, the wheel is simply further out then the passenger wheel. This would explain the toe. If the wheel moved out while the length of the tierod remained constant the wheel would have to toe out slightly. What could cause a wheel to be to far out from the car?