trip to the mech, now car pulls while braking
 

allright, so i figured it's time to get the differential mounts done on the 87 260e by the independent mech as the rear was getting very loose and i could also hear rattles / clunks.
the shop called back and said the diff mounts were replaced but they also had to replace one of the rear control arms.
they also mentioned that the rear brake pads are very low and should be replaced. so i had all that done.
now, the rear wheels are sitting closer to the front of the vehicle and are no longer in the center of the wells. that's not what is bothering me so much. it's the fact that every time i brake, the car seems to be taking a left curve, the rear of the car wants to go outside from the right and the front of the car seems to be moving left. the car literally shifts half a lane to the left.
the steering doesnt move left, which is why i'm assuming that it might not be a defective front calliper.
i've already been to the shop after the repairs but the mech. says everything looks ok. any ideas....
thnx.

Tires balanced
 

Are your tires rotated and balance. The car should vibrate a little. If your tech says everything is goof with alignment etc is might just be that.

?just a thought?

why don't you let your mechanic fix your off center tires, may well be the answer to your problem.

Maybe your indy has replaced the control arm and depending on which control arm, he may have had to first remove other control arms or suspension links and then all the bolts were tensioned with the wheels hanging??

When the car is then lowered back to earth, all the bushes are under tension and not in their natural centre position, this will effect the rear steering geometry.

So under braking the rear of most cars tend to rise and the front will dip, if you have differing rates of control arm torsions on either side, it will cause excessive toe on one side and cause the rear to steer one way.

Have your indie back off all rear control arms, with the car over a pit or on a four post and then bounce the car a few times (I usually open the boot and get a few guys to sit in and bounce) and then tension all bolts.

You also need to have the rear wheel alignment checked. :)

The 124 chassis requires a 4 wheel align to set rear toe and thrust angle especially after suspension work.

Peter

update.
had the alignment done. went back to the indy and spoke to him regarding the replacement of the control arms and how the car shouldnt have the wheels hanging. well he said that the control arm that was replaced has exact bolt spacing inside and that having the wheels on the ground while tightening the suspension back shouldnt matter.
so back to square one.
any ideas ? :confused:

Not true. Unbolt the bolts, put the car back on its wheels with a full tank of fuel and retighten the bolts. Then do a full four wheel alignment.

Haasman

Based on this, the way the car behaves, and the issues you noted originally, you have an incompetent tech. Take the car to someone else, then take the original tech to small claims court to recover your costs.

Steve

allright,
given the fact that I'll have to take the car back and I will get minimal co-operation from the shop,which bolts in specifc should I have them loosen up and re-tighten ? keeping in mind that the differential bushings and one control arm at both sides were changed.
more over with the car on the ground would it be possible to have enough space to get undeneath to re-tighten the bolts ?
more over, when I had the alignment checked it came out to be under specs after the work was done. If the bolts were tightened the way they are (improper) would that have not effected the alignment specs ? Also I am under the impression that the w124 only required front wheel alignment as there was really no adjustment in the rear ?

I don't believe retightening your bolts properly has anything to do with your problem. The bushings in those arms are too wimpy to do anything but wear out too soon, if tightened under the wrong conditions.

The 124, and all multilink rear suspension MBs, absolutely must be 4 wheel aligned. The toe IS ADJUSTABLE and if real wrong, might affect your car the way you describe. From your description I would think something is lose, but toe could cause it.

This is an issue for the DIYer, but a shop should have a drive-on lift or a pit underneath. For my suspension/steering issues, I drive the affected end onto ramps, block with appropriately positioned jack stands for safety, then slide underneath for final tightening. While adjusting camber up front the other day, I was able to operate the torque wrench w/o needing to raise the car. Also, many years back when a squirrelly handling situation was caused by a loose rear track strut, the ramps did the job.

I have also found that while a good 4-wheel alignment is the best approach to alignment, that doesn't mean I'll trust the job a shop does just because the alignment readout shows all is in spec. Last alignment I had done printed out fine, but I noticed 15k miles later excessive wear on the outside of the RF tire. This jibed with the oversensitivity to road camber I suspected ever since; and,... the reason for my camber tweaking. Note too, if your rear tires were badly worn to to your previous condition, 'spec' values might not correspond to correct tracking.

Bottom line, if the car does not drive correctly, ask the shop why. If they cannot tell you, and can't find out why without charging you for all the shotgun 'friendly kill' they take out in the process, you need to take business elsewhere.

Steve

Arghh !
I brought the car back to the shop today and they asked me to drop it off so that they can retighten the suspension parts with the weight of the car on the suspension.
I went back to pick it up only to find out that they didnt do what the shop promised. The tech tells me that the differential body mounts are broken and therefore I could be experiencing what I am experiencing at the moment.
My only question is, if the mounts were broken, they were broken even before I had the differential bushings and control arm replaced. and the car was tracking perfectly straight.
Should I go back and have them loosen and re-tighten the suspension anyways even if what they claim is true about the broken body mounts for the diff ?
thnx for any suggestions.

I suppose it's possible that one or more subframe bushings were broken before the original repair, and if pieces came out after jacking up the car for the repair, that might explain the symptoms you have been experiencing. Still, I'm not impressed with the observational and technical skills of the shop if this is something they did not catch early on, and considering their attitude about normal, consciencious repair procedures.

Let's assume the submounts were bad originally, then it is reasonable that this contributed to the deteriorated differential mounts. Additionally, if a rear strut bushing was in bad shape, it would be reasonable to do a full rear rubber and maintenance diagnostic before commiting to the job. I do not see the likelihood that any perfectly usable subframe mounts suddenly failed as a result of any properly conducted suspension repair. I.e., I don't recommend that you have this shop continue to do your repair work, and you decide - based on another shop's diagnosis and successful repair - whether to pursue the issue in court.

Steve

update:
took the car back to the mech. to have him loosen the suspension, load the car with the wight and re-tighten.
I saw the tech work on the car. They used a jack under the suspension to lift it up which I guess is the same as having the car load on it and then re-tightened the suspension.
The car still pulls to the left, however now the rear of the car seems like a boat because it's basically wandering all over when I make a quick turn or try to change lanes. Seems like everything is just loose in the rear suspension part.
Any particular reason why this would be happening now ? I know it has to do with the retightening of the suspension as it was driving fine before I drove in the garage and now it's wandering when I drove out.
any ideas / input would be greatly appreciated as it seems like I have to be the technical person to "tell" the shop what to do at every point. :mad:

Reread this complete thread, and I can only come to one conclusion. you got all the work done that you paid for so you are not out of pocket any extra money except fo the price of a second alignment. I suggest you take the car to a different shop and choose carefully. Talk to other MB owners and check things out. You don't say how big your town is. You didn't say how you chose this place. Was it price, convenience, recomendation or what? Do they work on everything including farm tractors or do they specialize?

Peter