Hmm... It's been ages since I've looked, and my memory isn't so good, but I could swear the 123 steering wheel was placed on a six sided hex shaft rather than a splined shaft. Hence the granularity of adjustment would be 60 degrees - hardly fine enough for this kind of detail work.

As well, the car will drive better with the steering box on center in the straight ahead position. The box has reduced play at straight ahead, presumably for better control. Off center it has more play, for reduced friction, I think. If the steering wheel has been changed, driving straight down the road means having the steering box off center - in the area where it has increased play. Check out the manual section on adjusting the steering gearbox freeplay - it has a graph showing the torque required to move the wheel at each point from lock to lock. The required effort is lower on the ends and highest in the middle.

Mark,
Saw your thread about your alignment problems. By all means take the car back to the shop. I have five of these 123s and the last one that a purchased, I had to take it back four times before I left that particular chain's shop and went to another of their shops where they had a technician who could think beyond what the computer indicated. Once you find one of these guys, find out his name and demand he do the work in the future.

Any slack that you have in your steering box can be adjusted by loosening the lock nut holding the set screw on the top of the steering box. Mercedes tightens the adjustment by running the set screw "OUT", not in. Give the set screw about one-half turn "OUT" lock it down and try that for awhile, adjust it more as needed, a little at a time. Be very careful not to get it too tight, it won't return to center when you round a corner, if it's too tight. Panic city!!!!

Hopes this helps,
Ben

Greetings All,

Just curious as I need an aligment on my 300SD an I'd like to know the skippy before going to an alignment shop concerning the steering lock pin and where it's located etc. Can someone elaborate on what needs to be set before the technician gets their hands on the adjustment so my steering wheel stays straight? Any input would be great.

Charles

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"Tell me and I will listen, Teach me and I will learn, Show me and I will accomplish, Involve me and I will succeed."
'84 300SD 256,000 Gold on Brown (Mileage Award)
'86 300E 246,000 Blue on Tan