Wheel Alignment - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Junkman · #16 08-08-2016, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbach36

It might not be the best alignment, but I get an alignment whenever I want, and I can only go to the places who have someone who know how to align a Mercedes.

I bought it maybe 5 years ago and it was a great purchase. I get the car aligned maybe twice a year. It beats paying $50 at a specialty alignment shop each time.

I also have one on the cars that I keep 2 SDs & my 00 Dodge Ram. The tech's are frequently horrible with little understanding of what they are doing. One tech gave me a SD back with the camber on one side adjusted all the way to one side (ie both wheels tilted completely to passenger side). Heincluded a note that the car "couldn't be adjusted". Perhaps he ment that "He couldn't adjust it."

The good news is that future trips onto the machine are free. The bad news is that I may have to take it there 2 or 3 times before it drives straight.

A competing tech showed me how they can fudge the alignment specs. Instead of actually doing the final fine adjustment, all they have to do is tap on the head of the machine and the laser will move and the machine will record the correct number. This is more common than we would like.

charmalu · #17 08-08-2016, 10:48 AM

There is only three things to adjust on these 126 and 123`s.
Tie Rods.
Track Rod, Mount.
Eccentric Bolt.

Wonder why these idiot Grease Monkeys or the proper term, "Technicians" have such of a problem?
When they have the instructions on how to set up each type of car out there.

A good share of them are Generalists, know a little bit about a lot, but not a
lot about any one thing.

Not many old MB`s here in the Carson Valley, I may have to trailer the 240 to Santa Cruz (250 miles) to get it aligned.
Only guy I know that knows these old MB`s. Works out of his house.

Charlie

Junkman · #18 08-08-2016, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charmalu

There is only three things to adjust on these 126 and 123`s.
Tie Rods.
Track Rod, Mount.
Eccentric Bolt.

Wonder why these idiot Grease Monkeys or the proper term, "Technicians" have such of a problem?
Charlie

I think the problem is that changing caster or camber setting affects the other ie set caster to specs>set camber to specs>now caster is out>set caster>now camber is out.

The FSM says that the relationship one way is 1 to 1. The other is 1.5 to 1. I don't remember which is which. Also, none of the shops have a spreader bar. Some articles by qualified techs say that it is not needed. One said that he could push on the front of the wheels and do the same thing.

Persistence with the lifetime alignment gets me close enough. The dealer is 3 hrs round trip. I don't have access to any other competent alignment shops.

redoubthill · #19 08-09-2016, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ffgb

I just rebuilt the front end on my 1983 300d. I replaced the front shocks, ball joints, control arm bushings, upper control arms, tie rods, drag link, steering damper, and guide mounts. When I replaced the tie rods and guide mounts, I measured the old ones and adjusted the new ones as close to length to the original ones. I then went to get an alignment. After the alignment, the tech said that very little adjustment was needed and now everything is within spec. He did say the car pulled a little to the right, so he swapped the front tires to see if that corrected it, but it didn't. I don't know why it pulls slightly to the right.
Also, the entire braking system, front and rear is brand new, along with new front bearings. The tire are michelin brand and only have about 5k miles on them.

I don't think the tech adjusted the guide mounts because he didn't know how. I don't know if the guide mounts make that much of a difference when an alignment is performed???

I am in the SF Bay Area, if there are any recommendations on an alignment shop that actually know's how to do a front end alignment on older mercedes and know's how to correctly adjust the guide mounts, please feel free to respond.

Thanks!!!

I took my 300TD to Commercial Tire on Bayshore and was very pleased with what they did. Although I was not completely satisfied with the original alignment, they were extremely accommodating in making sure that I was satisfied and doing the job right.

I might have been a test platform since they had not done a W123 in quite some time. Now, there is some recent experience.

Good luck.

BillGrissom · #20 08-09-2016, 03:50 PM

Hard to believe any competent tech couldn't deal with the adjustments. They are pretty obvious. The only reason they should say, "couldn't align" is if some rubber bushings or ball joints have too much play, like the LCA pivot, sway bar connection to UCA, or guide rod mount. Most critical is to get the toe-in correct, and you can verify that w/ a tape measure. Any toe-out and car will wander. Too much toe-in and your front tires will quickly wear on the inner edges.

optimusprime · #21 08-11-2016, 11:14 AM

Just check that the turn indicators cancel wnen they should after centralising the stering wheel ,after you turn.

erickson13455 · #22 08-12-2016, 09:52 AM

Just replaced my front brakes/calipers/and one tie rod end. First drive out had the car pulled to the right. Hmmm.... checked tire pressure was way down to 15psi on right side. Also checked toe out, it was 3/4" off, measuring tire to tire front and back, it was right on before I set it down. Fixed those 2 and drives pretty straight now.

I do notice a squeal when I turn to the right. Sounds like it is from the front left tire. Any ideas why that would be?

Junkman · #23 08-12-2016, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillGrissom

Hard to believe any competent tech couldn't deal with the adjustments. They are pretty obvious. The only reason they should say, "couldn't align" is if some rubber bushings or ball joints have too much play, like the LCA pivot, sway bar connection to UCA, or guide rod mount. Most critical is to get the toe-in correct, and you can verify that w/ a tape measure. Any toe-out and car will wander. Too much toe-in and your front tires will quickly wear on the inner edges.

Who says that the techs at the $69 alignment shops are competent? They hook up the equipment, rurn the wheel, crank a few turns and call it a day. A competent person would take advantage of the range of adjustment to make it handle correctly. My indy who knows these cars let his alignment rack go back to the supplier. He was only renting and didn't do enough to make it worth his time.

BillGrissom · #24 08-12-2016, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erickson13455

... measuring tire to tire front and back, it was right on before I set it down. ... I do notice a squeal when I turn to the right.

I assume you knew to adjust so the front-side track is ~1/8" less than the aft-side. You could set to 1/16" if everything is new and tight in the suspension and steering. The reason is that in a RWD, the front tires slightly rotate out as you drive due to slight play, so you want them exactly parallel when driving. For FWD, you adjust to slight toe-out because they pull to rotate to parallel. M-B spec's a special tool to push the tires outward to take most of the play out, before measuring. You probably get similar by parking upward on a slight hill so the wheel weight loads them backwards.

Squeal most likely is just the rotors touching the pads. But, could be the wheel bearings. Either way, check the bearings. If fine, the left may have enough play to let the wheel move inward slightly on turns.

erickson13455 · #25 08-16-2016, 10:22 AM

The squeal is a "tire Squeal" sound, like when turn to sharp on a hot day. May banging on the tie-rod fitting, to replace bad tie-rod end, threw it out of alignment.