Wandering 560

[aharley1]

My 1988 560 SL wanders. It is so bad sometimes I stop to check to see if I have a flat tire. Other times it feels fine. Sometimes it pulls when I accelerate or decellerate, other times it doesn't. I've had it on a lift twice, nothing loose. All of the suspension looks/feels good. No evident broken mounts or anything. I've had the tires checked & rechecked. They are getting weather checked but have good tread, no broken belts that the tire guy can find. My MB mechanic was even surprised to hear this problem. It wasn't that way a few thousand miles ago. Any ideas?

[ericdee]

I'd double check all the bushings and sub frame mounts. It's really amazing on some of the stuff they miss. I mean you could have an A-arm tearing off and they'd tell you everything is A - Okay.

[mattcara]

enjoy your SL. drive it slow. it isnt a good handling car.. none of them are! my friend. the 107's are purely good to look at!

you can have your steering adjusted, it may be loose. i had my done and the car stayed much tighter and straight on the road.

dont spend too much money trying to get your SL to drive like a BMW. it isnt gonna happen.. learn to like it the way it is.

it truley is a motoring work of art!

[aharley1]

Nope, not a good answer. It handled very well up until a short time ago. Been there done that...Drove a Beemer for a weekend. I thought it sucked. The hard top leaked, brakes squealed and it rode like a truck.

[mattcara]

oh boy, i guess you didnt want to hear my opinion. sorry about that..

Dont get me wrong. i love my 560sl. but it doesnt drive nearly as well as my bwm 545i..

the bmw is new, and ugly looking. but it drives like a dream......

[NEAL560SL]

You may want to check the toe in adjustment. If the toe in is off it will make a car duck and dive badly when hitting patched pavement or even crackes in the pavement.

[Steve Gutman]

My SL wandered a bit too much as well. I have replaced almost all my suspension components, busings and joints, usually a few at a time.

When I changed my rear sub frame bushings and differential mount it made the biggest difference in handling. It's a three point mount so the rear tilts when the bushings get soft. No more wandering.

Big wide tires can cause tramlining. My 225/50/16s change the handling and cause severe tramlining.

The SLs are big, heavy cars and they don't really handle all that well. I slid mine sideways and had a heck of a time catching it. In 1972 when they designed the SL chassis it was good. Thirty years later technology is better.

[Tomit1]

From my experience, i would check
- Front subframe mounts: made a hell of an improvement in my case, they were shot
- back subframe mounts: did not make that much of a difference in my case.

In addition I would take a closer look at the streeing linkages: Specially the idle arm (which is very close to the exhaust pipe), grab it under the car and try to force it up and down, any movement felt, then you need to change those bushings, very cheap and easy fix. Also check the tie rod ends and the lower ball joints. Any work done in the steering requires wheel alignment afterwards. Also check the steering coupling from under the car where the steering axle enters the gearbox (have someone moving the steering wheel while you look from under).

I had before 245/45/16 wheels in the back and the trmalining was terrible. Now I have 225/55/16 all and its OK.

I do notice some strange sideways movement at high speeds when going over wavy motorways. It appears to come from the back, and I have thought this must be normal behaviour due to the change of camber of the rear wheels when bouncing (due to the supporting arm geometry) and to the wider tire profile.

[Steve Gutman]

I agree with Tomit, except my new front a-arm bushings, ball joints, motor and sub frame mounts on top of new tie rods, drag link, steering shock, sway bar bushings and wheel bearing repacking did not make as big a difference to the wandering issue as the rear mounts. The ride and motor were smoother but it still wandered until I did the rear.

I'm not done. I still need upper a-arms, steering gearbox adjust (or rebuild), idler arm kit, rear sway bar links and bushings and I think that is everything except the springs. Man, when am I going to stop?

BTW, the 86 on, 560SL had different front end geometry and the caster is much greater.

[aharley1]

Thank all of you. You gave me some things to check. I do know that it didn't handle like this a few months ago. My wife even noticed it, so it's nothing subtle. It REALLY wanders, almost as if it suddenly dives to one side of the roadway.

[mattcara]

there a 20 year old car. they drive great. but not as good as new cars. i just warn you guys not to spend too much money trying to get perfection. all you will get is an empty wallet and a car that drives the same..

enjoy the car with the top down , dont try to make it a porsche....

[Roncallo]

Very recently I dove a 2000 SL500. It was a far suprior handeling car. It kept the body roll to near zero and practically drove itself. It was an excellent demonstration of technology. But the only problem was that it was boaring. There was no challange or feel of you being in control. The 560 on the other hand is like a giant go-kart, where stearing for a large part is performed with your right foot. Very cool to drive, but you do have to pay attention.

John Roncallo

[mattcara]

560's are fun as hell to drive. but they can get alittle hairy at high speeds

drive them the way God intended it, slow , top down, at the beach, so people can look at you and admire you. LOL

[aharley1]

My problem is that it suddenly "dives" to the side of the road. It's not normal, it never used to do that. I know what it handled like last year. It handles nothing like it did a year ago. Something has changed.

[Steve Gutman]

Okay Harley, you have to find the loose connection. You must have a ball joint, tie rod end, drag link end or something that has gone bad.

How may miles on your car? What items in the front end have been replaced, and when?