C220 pulls to the right
 

Got new tires (Falken) on the ’96 C220 this past summer. Dealer balanced/installed and they ran smooth and true. Early this winter I got bashed on the passenger side, right behind the front tire. Low speed crash in a parking lot, some guy just backed into me as I was passing his space. Just pushed in the panel, no damage seen to the tire or rim, although they could have been hit.

Got it back from the body shop and it pulls noticeably to the right. It’s a steady pull and remains the same at most any speed. No vibration at any speed. Took it back, they fiddled with it, but no progress. Got tired of them and took it to my indy’s recommended alignment shop. They said they did all they could but it still pulls to the right.

Everybody (body shop, indy, a-shop) is saying it’s the tires and that if I had Michelins it would not pull.

Sounds like the computer guys at work: Software guys blame it on the hardware and vice versa.

Any thoughts on how to proceed? I’m having a hard time believing it’s the tires, because they ran perfect before the accident. I probably had about a thousand miles on them before the crash, and maybe 500 since.

Thanks,

Clay

Have them check the alignment specifications and post them. Sounds like something on the right side is still a little bent, perhaps.

Could it be the tires
 

Anyone think that just the tire could cause this?

Thanks,

Clay

pulling to the right
 

On my 1977 450 sl, this same condition (pulling right) had me check the left disc and calipers. Slight hydraulic leak dripped on roter and caused pull to right. When car warmed up (roters hot) pull went away. Worth checking rke system. good luck,Abe G

You could rotate the tires front to back and see if it goes away. You should answer your question from that. I am guessing if they would have left the alignment alone it would have been fine and they actually have aligned it wrong. One simple alignment test is put the steering wheel straight and then from in front of the car site down the side of the front tires and see if they are nearly parallell to the sides of the car. If one seems out of whack then that is a clue the toe-in is adjusted wrong. From their explanation I am guessing they have some Michelins for sale??

It absolutely could be tires, most of the pulling conditions I run into are tire related and often they are brand new.

For diagnostic purposes I would swap the tires side to side, even if they are directional. If its a tire problem the pull will distinctly change, if not then you need to re evaluate the alignment. The problem is that your car has no correction available for caster and camber as would previous MBs. A small correction can be had by using "bolt kits" strategically but they are way more of a job than a normal alignment. Because there is no alignment changes possible, anything basically in spec is accepted. On previous cars a good alignment taylored the driveability to the conditions that existed by moving caster and camber within the specs. This IS NOT possible on your car so you either have a tire problem or something different and unalignable through normal alignment procedures since the accident.

Thanks!
 

Thanks for all of the responses.

I will try moving the tires to see if that changes anything. Thanks for the suggestion on moving, even if they are directional (they are!) to check for differences.

The thing that bothers me is that it was perfect when the tires were first installed, before the accident. I hope it is the tire, as this may be easier to change than finding some tiny gremlin in the rest of the set up.

Best,

Clay