Sears alignment sucks

[MVK]

Went for a tire change and was talked into having an aligment done. I knew I did not need that badly but agreed. Next they tell me they classify MB as difficult alignment and will cost 90/- US $.
(normal is $50-60). I went ahead and did it.
Now my car is worst than before. pulls to corners R or L when the roads have even slightly tapered edges.

My Q is when car is parkedon a level flat surface which way are the front wheels turned. Shouldn't they be turned slightly inwards.
Mine are slightly outwards. could this be a problem. So much for a 90/- bucks job. I am going to give them an earful even if I have to call Chicago HQ and have me refund my $.
Please help on alignment issue guys.
Thanks

[CHAPP]

I too needed an aligment after replacing some front end parts. I called around and got most prices around $50-60...but some Import auto clinic told me that it was like a Corvette and would cost me $180....I told him he was crazy...I had NTW do it 2 years ago and cost me $59.95...40,000 miles later my tires wore good...no problems. Some of these people see a Benz and think they should charge BIG money, even a '84 with 296K. Jerks.

Chapp

[thebern]

Finding a good honest alignment shop is tougher than finding an honest politician. True they charge according to your car. A benz , vette, volvo or acura gets charged two or three times the normal rate, regaurdless of age. It is still just an alignment!
Use the 'search' feature to read other posts and ideas about alignments. One of them said something about a speciality shop that had a certian device to measure and adjust a particular setting on Benzes. Try to avoid the common shops for these cars ( pep boys, sears,goodyear, merchants etc.) Find an independant shop that specializes in high perfomance euros. The price may be a little high, comparable, to the others but it will be done right the first time!

chapps, where in VA do you live?

[autozen]

Chapp,

You are correct. Youre car only calls for a two wheel alignment. A mercedes is no different than any other car.

MKV,
You didn't state which model you have. You may need a 4 wheel alignment which costs more. In your defense, a client of mine was recently told by Sears that he needed replacement of some steering components before they could do an alignment when, in fact, the components did not need replacing.

Peter























































a

[leathermang]

Well, I will probably stir up some dust with what I am about to say... but will say it anyway....

Most old cars, unless they have just had all new parts put on them are wasting money getting them aligned. And that includes the springs....
About all you can hope to do is set the toe-in. The Toe-in is very important. But the rest of the stuff, baring new parts right at the time of the alignment, is just waddling down the road in one general state of non conformance. Very few cars 20 years old have the springs replaced.. and if that car is sitting too low the alignment shop just tries to get stuff ' as close as they can' ... but that does not mean it is anywhere near where it would be by the specs in the books....If you find an honest alingnment guy he will tell you this... I used to work at a Brake and Front End shop... when I put my center link on my car last year all I did was set the toe-in myself... it was not easy... but it has done fine for 10,000... Greg

[CHAPP]

I was looking at the mechanics aligment computer when it listed only 2 wheel drive for my car 300SD. I have been under my car with my mechanic that says the front end is like most other cars only made better. He says any GOOD front aligment shop can do the job...he has many years of aligment experience. Bottom line is the car drives and handles great even at 80-90 mph. Before my aligment I was told I needed $200-$300 of front end work done. My mechanic did the work for less than $50 including parts...would have been double if he wasn't a friend. I live in Warrenton VA.

I agree with thebern. There ARE, however, good alignment shops out there, it's just difficult to find them.

Places like Sears usually have the alignment equipment in their facility for one reason, that is so they can charge you for an alignment whether you need it or not. Most cars, when rolled on the machine need little or nothing, but they can still nail you for $60.

Most commonly, the toe adjustment is the culprit in tire wear situations. It does not take the fancy alignment equipment to set the toe, but they charge you the same regardless. If you really do need real alignment work, you probably won't find it at Sears. You will need to find a front end specialist. If he is really good, he will want to drive the car before he puts it on the machine.

My $0.02,

[benchracer]

Had mine done at Sears a couple of years ago. Most suspension components were worn, they told me that they would get it as close as possible. Cost me about $80. I replaced almost all the front end pieces recently and found a local independent to do the alignment. He charged about $50. She tracks really straight now.

[unkl300d]

Many variables inolved here and stories that go with them.

Here's mine.

I had my W126 and W123 front ends aligned at a local shop that uses a Hunter machine.
One year later the front tires (Outides) were wearing bad and I took it back for
tire rotation and alignment.
I know that I did not hit any curbs , but who know what road hazards may have affected this.Again a year later, same problem.
(one year= less than 10K miles each, alot less)
I bought new tires in San Diego and had a local gas station (Mobil) do the front alignment. Not only was it less expensive by $20 ($45- but san fran is expensive city) but the w126 drives far better than it has in a long time.
No idea what equipment was used.
My w123 has new tires and front alignment by a shop in san fran (Larkin bros. tires) - fancy machine-$65.
Now it drives real well- but I also replaced the steering box 2 months ago (Prior to new tires and alignment) . The old one was not real bad, but I found a good used one so it was swapped.

I've read many threads claiming that owner's had trouble getting their w126 aligned correctly.anyway I'm just adding my anecdotes.

There are a few things that happen with a car capable of being driven to high mileage that you never discover with other brands that only go 100 or 150 K miles.

At high mileage, the front wheel bearings will get a little loose, when this happens, your toe cannot be set properly. If your front tires are both wearing on the inside or outside, make sure you check your front wheel bearings before checking/setting the toe. A good front end man always does this first, but remember, we are finding out here that not all front end men are really front end men. In many cases they're just someone who knows enough to drive the car over the front end pit, check the toe so they can charge the customer $$$$

Check your front wheel bearings yourself before you go to the front end shop unless you KNOW that you have a competent and conscientious front end man.

Good luck,

[Holson Adi]

I need to get that done next week, just by seeing the wheels, I could see some camber misalignments (can the cambers on these cars be adjusted anyway? - or am I seeing things? )

I'm just going to take it to the MB dealer + an ATF change. Those guys charge a reasonable money ($79 for alignment). But, they do wash the car nicely before they give it back to you..

Later
-Holson-

[Mercedes Man]

Originally posted by TXBill
Greg I have an old friend that used to work at Montgomery Ward Auto Express and that is basically the same thing he told me, they 'set the toe and let em go'.

Sounds good to me.

Has anyone tried the measuring tape technic to set toe? JC Whitney has alignment gauges and you can set your own toe. Has anyone tried them? Since we are all do-it-yourselfers, I think we can save money by buying one of these tools and avoid the alignment shop.

[johngray]

I have set toein before with just a measuring tape. Just find a suitable reference point somewhere on the front and back tread portions of the front tires. The front tires should toein just slightly about 1/16/to 1/8 of an inch. I think that is how NASCAR mechanics do it.

[autozen]

Holson,

You probably had the wheels turned, and what you observed was the odd cant the wheels take due to MBs high degree of caster. It's virtually impossible to spot an alignment out of specs with the old eyeballs unless you have a real serious problem. Yes, all 3 measurements(caster,camber, and toe) can be adjusted. I personnally wouldn't screw around with tape measures and such for two reasons. First of all an alignment averages about $25 a year considering the time between alignments. For that kind of money I have better things to occupy my time than roll around in the dirt only to come up with a half-assed job. The main reason to leave it to a professional, is because he or she can spot possibly dangerous front end problems that could cost you your life. A good example is the old 450SL series which had a design flaw in the subframe that would allow a front wheel to fold under at road speed. Most of those were caught by front end inspections. You could have a dangerously worn lower ball joint and not know it.

Peter

I agree with autozen IF you are not a serious DIY kind of person.

If you are a serious DIY guy with a floor jack and jack stands, you can inspect the front end yourself AND set your toe.

A NASCAR race car operates under a TOTALLY different set of parameters than your street car. Also, they MAY still use bias ply tires. In the old days of bias ply tires, you did indeed set the toe in slightly by about 1/32 to 1/16 inch. With radial tires on a street car, if you don't set your toe on zero, you will be sorry. You will soon have the opportunity to again talk to your tire salesperson.

If you are a serious DIY person, you need to raise the car safely with both front wheels suspended. Start using a pry bar or whatever to pry, shake, push, pull, etc to see that everything is tight including ball joints, steering linkage, idler arm, pitman arm, etc.

Assuming that everything is tight, the next thing to do is to check the wheel bearings for tightness. This is best done with a dial indicator following the MB manual, but at any rate, see that the wheel bearings are free of play BEFORE setting the toe.

Next DO NOT RELY ON TREAD PATTERN FOR TOE ADJUSTMENT! The tire almost always seats on the bead of the wheel inconsistently. This means that the tread may be in at one position, but offset from that wheel location 180 degrees from there. To make a reference point for properly setting toe by measuring on the tire you need to scribe a line all the way around the tire.

To scribe the line, you can use a pair of vise grips to attach a nail to a jackstand. With the wheel raised so that it can be spun, hold the nail in firm position at the tire and turn the tire one full turn to scribe completely around the tire. Repeat on the other front wheel and lower the car to concrete(hopefully you're working on concrete for this job.)

Once the tire is scribed roll the car forward or backward for one full rotation of the tire. This will allow the camber to come to its natural position. Now use a tape measure and a reliable helper to measure front and rear between the scribed line on each tire. The measurement should be the same front and back.

If it is not the same, you need to adjust by doing half of the adjustment on each tie rod. By splitting the adjustment, you will keep the steering wheel in its original position. If the steering wheel needs to be straightened, turn both tie rods the same direction the same amount to move the steering wheel position, then recheck the toe. Don't forget to tighten all your lockbolts and nuts after adjusting tie rods.

I often don't have a helper, so I took about a six foot section from an old ruined 25' tape measure and drilled a hole at the 3" mark with the smallest drill bit I could find. I then put a thumb tack in the hole, then press the thumbtack precisely on the scribe line and then measure the other side. If you're careful and precise this is adequate.

If you live near a RELIABLE front end shop that you TRUST, AND you have the money, it will be better, as a previous poster said, to pay them. The problem for me is finding someone who will do it right rather than merely drive the car on the machine so they can take my money.

If you are limited on funds and want to do this yourself, my method works. Remember to check all components, and tighten the wheel bearings BEFORE doing your poor boy toe setting. Also be safe when you have the car raised. We don't want any of our mshop brotherhood to hurt themselves trying to save a few bucks.

Best of luck,