Where to go for alignment??
 

I'm getting new tires and I need an alignment. Any recommendations on the tire chains Goodyear, Firestone, Sears, Mavis...anyone do a decent job? All I hear is more about bad alignment jobs. I have a 97 E420, why are Mercedes more difficult to align?

The only decent alignment (decent not great) I have ever gotten was from MB of North Haven.

Other than that I have just about given up on getting a good alignment on any of my vehicles, my MB was never right and now they can't even get my truck right. Your almost better off doing it yourself, I'm about to take a tape measure to my trucks front end to get it right.

Maybe a high end speed shop where the guy running the machine actually knows what he is doing, cares, and gets paid more than $9 an hour?

What did MB charge, $100?

I don't know of any chains that are worth a damn, especially a Goodyear. Find a reputable specialist that does custom alignments or the dealership. Anywhere else and you are paying money to have them learn Mercedes.

Ever notice the chains all have kids working there? Cuz that's the only labor they can afford.

rp

If it has 4X alignment, go to the MB dealer.

There are DIY threads on alignment if you choose to go that route.

The MB dealer 4X alignments I've gotten have all been right on in accuracy.

4X ?

Yup, your count is accurate.

edge, a MB dealer is the only place I trust to do an alignment correctly, same for mounting/balancing tires. A MB tech uses a Hunter Road Force Balance Machine and genuine MB balance weights.

Why do you need an alignment? Is it a drivability or a tire wear issue?

About $100, they also do a good job balancing tires.

FYI the alignment on the newer models (W202, W210 and I'd guess all successive models) isn't really very adjustable at all in the conventional sense.

In the later models geometry is fixed for caster and camber, there are small adjustments that can be made for both parameters but the adjustment process is actually to remove the lower control arm bolts and reinstall them with specialized offset bushings. Determining the number of bushings and their orientation is a non-trivial process that would be way beyond the skill set of the average chain store tech.

Fortunately most of the time the caster and camber values that were 'preset' at the factory at build time will hold for the life of the vehicle (assuming things like control arm bushings, ball joints, tie rods ect, ect are in good repair) It's been my experience that when dealing with these later model cars issues that are attributed to 'bad alignments' are more often caused by worn and/or broken steering or suspension components.

The exception to this is toe-in, it is still fully adjustable in the later cars and it is a critical parameter for good front end performance.

I'm thinking about taking my 201 to the dealership to have it aligned. I used my tire place and it was all good and well then a few weeks later it got sloppy in the center and felt really light and sensitive. I had them fix this, now it feels really heavy and follows the road more than I'd like. Its also not very responsive to small adjustments from center but go anywhere past center and its quick to turn. Its quite annoying. My tires are also about done for so I'm sure thats playing into this as well.

My tires wear issue was all messed up on my fronts, uneven outer wear. Turns out I had suspension repairs done 4 months ago, now I'm buying new tires and don't want to screw them up so I assumed that I needed an alignment, maybe I don't after the suspension repairs. Maybe I should just see if they ride straight and balanced with the new tires before I pay $140 for an alignment specialist. The local dealer wants $250 for 4 wheel balancing.

I can get Michelin Primacy MXV4 for $149 + $11 Bal & Mount - $17.50 Michelin rebate card (today is the last day for the offer) = $142.50 plus 6% tax at my tire dealer or the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position for $132- $17.50 Costco instant rebate +$15 Bal & Mount = $129 plus 6% tax. Any thoughts which is a better deal. Costco has free lifetime rotation. Thanks.

You can get your tires at Costco, but I would have it aligned at MB. All dealers have a "Road Force Machine" but MB also uses clip on weights. My 140 is vibration prone so I use the Hunter machine. My 210 is oerfectly happy with Costco balancing.

The only way to know if a shop can do a proper alignment is to ask them if they use the Romess tool. If you get a puzzled look then keep on walking. The Romess tool is an inclinometer that reads the angle of the control arms and axles to determine individual ride height for each corner. With this information the correct specs are calculated for the alignment. Given that changes in ride height will affect camber, caster, and toe, there is no way to align that car properly without the Romess tool.

FYI, the likelyhood that a shop will have the Romess tool is virtually nil unless it is a dealer or a very specialized independent such as I work for.

I buy my Michelins from Discount Tires, but get the balancing done at MB dealers.

I do the same, except not at MB dealers, although I might switch to that.

I'm going to have the next car I need aligned..done at a MB dealer.

Once I put new tires/wheels on my 201, if its still crappy, I'll have MB do it

I'm ashamed to admit this, but I took my car to Sears for an alignment after having 4 new Michelins installed. It was 70 bucks and not worth 5. I told the manager I wanted my money back and he told me they should be given the opportunity to fix it. I said I didn't want his clowns touching my car again. He then told me he'd give me my money back if I showed him a receipt from another shop that corrected the alignment. So, I took the car to my local Mercedes dealer and paid $170 out the door for the alignment. The car rides straight now and I got my money back from Sears.

Edge,

If I understand you correctly, you have wear on the outer edge of both front tires. This is means it is toed in. This is the most common cause that requires alignment. For toe, most any shop can do it properly, but make SURE that you tell them to set it on ZERO! Many books will offer a wide tolerance for this spec. Toe can be set to some specifications that are published for some cars and be WAY away from zero. This will cause wear on the inner or outer edges.

$250 for balancing is HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A reputable shop should not charge more than $10 or $12 per wheel at the most. $140 for alignment is a high price, but not as RIDICULOUS as the quoted balance price.

If you are one to do such work yourself, toe can be very successfully set in the driveway. If you are interested in the home procedure for accurate toe setting, speak up and I will go through it for you. As far as balancing goes, you just need to find a reasonably priced source and MAKE SURE that they do a DYNAMIC balance with weights in both inner and outer planes. These cars will vibrate with a static balance which consists of weights on the inner plane only.

Hope this helps.

Sears said they couldn't do my 300SD a few years back, they claimed something about seat weights? Idk.

Seems this alignment business might be one of those gotta take it to the dealer jobs..unless of course the indy/chain knows what they're doing...I don't exactly want to play roulette with my alignment though.

I was very happy running Sears Roadhandlers on my 83 SD. Also very pleased with NTW's 2X alignment the W126 took. I was told that NTW is owned by Sears. Don't know if that was true.

some German cars need driver's weight and sometimes additional weight to properly set the alignment.

rjp

BMWs are aligned with weights in the car, MBs are not.

The MB dealer is DEFINITELY not the only source for alignment!

In well over a million miles of driving all sorts of MB's I have had ONE dealer alignment. ALL other alignment adjustments were done by me personally. There's no secret hand shake or anything just because it's an MB.

I've never heard ANYTHING about seat weights.

I don't agree - sorry!

I think you can do it yourself if you have the time and patience. Here's my effort:-

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/284337-how-i-adjusted-toe-out-camber-caster-my-w123-300d.html

(for those of you who have seen it before - sorry I do plan to update it in the near future with more photographs)

Starting with the 202 chassis there are no longer eccentric adjusters for camber and caster. They have offset washers and some also have special bolts. Not only do you have to know something about how they are installed to get them in right but if you do not assemble or disassemble them properly you WILL DAMAGE THE SUBFRAME. I've seen it plenty of times b/c the tech that did the previous alignment didn't know what they were doing.

The original posters 210 chassis has adjustment bolts and washers. To get the proper specifications for it's alignment, it will need to have ride height measured with the Romess tool. It will also need to have the toe set with a spreader bar installed. Any less than this will not align the car properly.

140Ch, 129ch, 124ch, and cars older than the 202ch do not require this. In fact I do not even use the MB specific alignment program for them as it tends to be too precise for cars of that age and you end up chasing the adjustments back and forth.

Yes, I am interested. I did have an outer wear problem but my suspension problems probably caused a lot of it. The front end has been fixed in August by my indy who told me I should get new tires and an alignment. Well I got the MXV4 on her today and it rides pretty well. Now I want to align it so I don't ruin the new tires. No way will I pay $250 to my dealer which is aptly described as highway robbery. If I can do it myself that would be great. Thanks.

Whoa- I was thinking about installing the factory eccentric bolts in my lower control arms when I do my bushings and ball joints since my car is an earlier production and does NOT have any adjustment points presently (I'm significantly lowered and need to match the camber L + R) and it appears to be nothing more than an in and out procedure.


What's the catch? I don't want to mess up the subframe?

rjp

The 202 doesn't have the susceptability to subframe damage that the 210 chassis does. I was referring to the OP's 210, though not clearly, leading to the confusion.

There are several good home methods, but I'll go over the one that I've used the most with great success:

On a relatively flat and level concrete floor raise each front wheel one at a time and suspend it safely off the ground far enough so that it can be rotated. Clamp a nail to a jack stand such that it can be held in solid position along the tire tread. Vise grips work nicely to clamp the nail.

With the point of the nail against the tire, rotate the tire one full turn to scribe a line around the circumference of the tire. You do this as opposed to measuring against the tread because the bead does not always seat uniformly.

Once both front tires are scribed, lower the car to the floor and push it forward or backward a distance of one tire revolution. This is to allow the camber to settle after the car has been raised.

Now with a reliable assistant holding the one inch mark accurately on the line at the front of a front tire get a careful measurement on the other side. Now do the same on the rear of the tires. The distance should be EXACTLY the same between the lines front and rear. Make the measurements at the same height front and rear as high up as you can go without obstruction.

Some old timers (I'm an old timer, but I've learned better) will tell you that you need to toe it in a 1/16" or so instead of equal distances (zero toe.) This is a hold over from the bias ply days and should not be done with radials.

To make the adjustments, loosen the locking nut(s) at the tie rod ends and turn the link to make the adjustment. Look at the threads and visualize what an adjustment in a particular direction will do to your setting. If the steering wheel is not straight after your adjustment, you can turn the links on each side equal amounts in the same direction to center the steering wheel without changing toe adjustment, but if you do, recheck toe after centering the steering wheel.

Hope this helps.

Firestone has a lifetime deal for $179. Even less with the coupon from their website.

The guy I purchased my 560SEC from absolutely loved the indie nearby for MB alignments and had him do the SEC. The car drove just fine. I put a new set of 245/40/18 tires on the car and the fronts were worn down to the cord on the inside edge within six months. The indie had WAY too much toe out.

This one is going to the MB dealer. I have never had any problems with an MB alignment in 28 years.

Thanks LarryBible. Unfortunately I don't have a level concrete surface, my garage is filled with all kinds of crap. A call around my dealer area yielded various pricing: Greenwich $250 (soak the rich), White Plains $150, Larchmont & Fairfield $130. I going to drive the car on the highway and if it's straight, I'll skip the procedure. If it's pulling, I'll take it to Larchmont or Fairfield.

another weird fact- cars are aligned from the factory to drift right so if you fall asleep at the wheel you crash into pedestrians and telephone poles instead of oncoming traffic.

rjp

I hope that's not the case for RHD vehicles!

The car is handling well with the new Michelins, no pulling, very stable. I am going to forgo the 4 wheel alignment.

Sounds good. I WOULD, however, urge you to keep VERY close watch on the front tires inside and outside edges. If the toe is not on zero, both will wear on the inside or outside edges. If you catch it early, you can simply set the toe on zero and correct it before your nice new tires are ruined.

Hope this helps.

E420 inside wear
 

So Larry, I had a bad inside tie rod on driver's side of the 94 E420 in which I replace. I counted the threads and made sure it was the same as the one I took off. Since the replacement of the tie rod, my steering wheel has a slight tilt to the right and the car has a very light pull to the right. If I straighten or align the steering wheel to the left to make it center while driving, the car goes to the left. I have inside wear on the front and rear tires.

The last alignment I had done was not that great of a job anyway. I took it to a local alignment shop. I personally think they just took my money. :(

Are you saying that I can correct my own alignment problem without going to the MB shop. FYI, I got a set of 18" wheels on the car.

If you look at MB wheels you will notice holes around the perimiter of the lug nuts, that is where MB locates the laser tool, not on the rim lip. MB also centers the steering wheel with a fixture and work foreward from that. The tech at MB Palm Beach spent almost one half hour freeing up the the tie rod sleeve, I doubt any of the quickee shops would take the time. I was charged $134 for a four whell alignment out the door, and gave me a evaluation of the suspension.
I would rather pay extra from someone who works only on MBs, they also balance tires using a Hunter road force balancer.

hi
anyone recommend a home use alignment tool for toe -in/ tracking and for checking camber, caster
mak