Wheel Alignment/Caster Adjustment
 

I have a 190E 2.3 with 138,000 miles. I've recently changed the tires, and now the front passenger side occasionally rubs on the fender at the front of the wheel well.
Upon inspection, I realized the passenger side wheel/tire sits about 17mm farther forward in the wheel well than the driver's side.
Is this a "caster/camber" issue? In any event, it seems that this could be corrected by adjusting the bolts that mount the control arm to the body of the car?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Jeff Pierce

not csater, nor camber. until some one else comes along to provide real insight i will ask a few questions. 17mm is close to 3/4". that is quite a bit. is the offending tire 'taller' than the other. as in one tire has an aspect ratio of 65 and the other 75? has the car been in an accident?

My opinion is that is indeed a caster/camber issue. The bolts you describe do make those adjustments but I wouldn't go messing around with them unless you are on some kind of alignment machine. Strange that this occurred after you changed tires, unless you did go to a bigger tire and it always had this problem but now it rubs because of the size of the tires. You are definately a candidate for a good alignment shop.

Caster moves the wheel forward and backward in the wheel well. If you are that far further back on one side you should distinctly pull to the direstion of the side with the tire to the rear.

Caster definitely should be checked but you should have a 4 wheel done by someone that can measure set-back, wheel base difference, and track width difference. Looking especially at the setback and wheel base issues. This will tell you if the car has been "diamonded" (sp?) or just punched if caster doesn't correct the situation.

Sorry that I didn't include all the info. Here goes:

I switched from my snow tires (185/65-15 on MB rims) to my summer tires (205/60-15 on MB rims). The hight difference between the tires is only 2.75 mm but of course the width difference is 25mm.

I just got the car back from an alignment shop last night (after I posted the message). They said everyting is in alignment, but the passenger side is sitting a little lower as a result of the ball-joint pulling out from the stud. And that this is making the wheel appear as if it's not centered in the wheel well. (I was measuring from the front of the tire to the front of the wheel well -- and since the passenger side is sitting lower, the wheel is farther into the wheel well. So it appears closer) (I hope I'm explaining this clearly.)

The shop I went to is a very good spring and alignment place, but admitted they have very little experience with MB cars. They said they couldn't figure out what was causing the ball joint to pull from the stud. Has anyone here had any experience with this problem.

Again, thanks in advance for any insight.

Jeff Pierce