I've got a '94 E320 with 120K.

I'm wondering if its possible that marginal strut wear can cause instability while drivig through crosswinds.

While the car rides striaght and true at at all speeds in calm air, in crosswinds and gusts it feels like a force is pushing down on the windward fender in a direction toward the front crossmember causing lateral instability.

Is it possible that my struts are tired and cannot react appropriatly enough to the crosswinds to the point that the camber is changing beyond spec?

(here's the rambling, whiney - what should I do part)

As far as the car's behavior over dips and bumps, I have no relative comparison to what a Benz ride should be. With dips and humps in the road, I suspect that the car could be firmer. But, It definitly is not bouncing down the road like a Chevy Citation on origional shocks. So, do the struts on these cars gradually wear to the point where crosswind instability becomes a factor? Or is it a situation where "if the struts were bad, you'd know it."

Also, Over the winter, an indy (great guy) performed an alignment that calmed the problem down a bit. He said all suspension components were fine. I'd go back, but he's just too far. I'm just trying to get as much of the R&R done myself before I have the alignment that will make the car drive the way it was designed.

Thanks all.

Geoff

If the struts are Bilstein they should never wear out check an see. Of the few E class I've ridden in, I'd say they are rather soft suspension wise. Soft struts, springs and sway bars. I'd say you're stuck with it unless you want to buy stiffer components.
I was even pulled over in one once for suspected drunk driving. All I was doin was getting my wallet out, but I was moving the wheel ever so slightly while doing so and the car was all over the lane. Too soft imo, but that's the way it is.

Change the rear thrust arms...common fault.

Arthur: Almost the same car (95), exactly the same problem. Is there any known way to inspect these things before just spending the problem away? I've twisted, pushed, pulled. Wheel under load, wheel not under load. I can't see any movement but when I side wind blows, I'd drive straighter drunk.

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1995 E320 -171k-km
1995 S420 -333k-km

Originals were too light , The replacements have been beefed up/larger rubber joints... This link is the most common weak one of the 5.
They are cheap and you do not have to re-align after the change as they are non-adjustable...
They are hard to detect faulty to untrained eye. One way is to have someone watch the rear tire as the driver torques the engine in R and D with foot on brake.


I would just change them out ...anything over 50K/5 years and they are on there way.
So nothing really lost. [ and I think that will more llikely fix your problem]

Sorry to redirect the thread but if you think that's bad try taking one of those cool looking Harley's with the solid stainless steel wheels out for a ride in a cross wind! Who ever invented those was a real winner... Make your steering wheel a sail... Anyway good luck with the car, your descriptions of the way the car behaved reminded me of the ONE time I rode a bike like that.

CDT

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2002suzukiGSF600S
1985 190e 2.3

Thanks Arthur

So far your suggestions have been 100% so I'll give it try.

Ron

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1995 E320 -171k-km
1995 S420 -333k-km

'94 E320 with 120K



I looked into the posts surrounding the Thrust Arm. It does seem very intuitive that this would be the culprit. However, Steve Brotherton refers to another arm, 210 350 33 06, in various posts and in a technical article titled “Alignment/Chassis Daignostics” as common cause of driveability issues. This arm is called the Torque Strut. It is the upper most attachment to the wheel carrier on the forward side of the axle above the Tie Rod which is above the Thrust arm (the lower most attachment on the forward side of the wheel carrier). There is some ambiguity in the collective posts with regard to the differentiation between the Thrust Arm and Torque Strut as they relate to driveabilty issues in that references name a single link at issue, but the link could be either the Thrust Arm or Torque Strut. Any thoughts Arthur or Steve?

By the way, the Torque Strut looks like a fairly difficult R&R; with its proximity to the subframe and wheel carrier backing plate. On the other hand, the Thrust Arm looks like a quick job.

Following up with my situation, I checked out the all the components of the front and rear suspension. No control arm bushings are fissured or torn from their contact surfaces and movement occurs only with a firm grasp and twist. They seem a bit dry though. I did find that one of my rear shocks was soft while the other was fine. Frankly, I did the bounce test and the damping action was suspect to me, so I went out on a limb and replaced the shocks with Bilstien Comforts after work today . It was only when I had the shocks out that I was able to confirm my suspicion; the right side shock was significantly easier to compress and had a noticeably slower return rate than the left. The rear of the car is now much more stable though doubt that this will be the fix for the crosswinds driveabilty issue. We'll see though.

I imagine the fronts need replacing too? Who made the ones you removed from the rear? eshock.com has good prices and fast delivery.

I pulled the same out as I installed: Bilstein B36-1388. They could not have been more than a couple of years old. One bad egg...(I've owned the car for only a year)

Eshocks.com does have the best prices I've seen anywhere on the net. I've got my struts on order there.

<< but the link could be either the Thrust Arm or Torque Strut>>

..Could be..
but if you read my post. you will see that the original thrust links
were weak and have been modified..so that is why it is recommended they be replaced with the modifies part before
changing all/any of the other links..
plus the ease and $$$$ factor makes sense to start here...
A good look at all components is in order, but these [if original] should be change any which way..with a good chance of solving the problem/s.......

Mine is an '86 300E and I had the same floating/wandering problems in cross winds. I went ahead and replaced all the links of the rear suspension and the improvement was noticable.

But, I felt the car was still wandering a little bit in cross winds. So I ended up replacing all four sub frame mounts and that eliminated the problem completely.

Replacing all the struts is not too difficult. If you intend on replacing all the struts, talk to Phil at Fastlane and he has a kit that includes all the struts and bolt kits needed for the job.

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1986 300E (3/2002) Rear ended and totaled (10/2009)
2000 Xterra (5/2000)
1992 400E (11/2009) -Sold
1986 300E (12/2009) - Sold
2004 E500 Wagon (6/2013) - Sold

104.992:
Wow, strange... I think Bilstein might be interested in seeing that thing. I'm sure they would replace it for free as well. Heck, I'd like to know what happened myself. I've had them apart before, and all I can think of is it lost some gas pressure, but that shouldn't affect the ride, only the "by hand" test.

The naming of the struts (5 of them) can be difficult. By any name the strut I was talking about and the Arthur is noting are the same.

It is really pretty easy to explain which is which. Lets start by the easiest to ID: #1 would be the toe adjusting "tierod". Tis is one of three struts hooked to the top portion of the bearing carrier. Because it is the adjustment one can hardly confuse it. #2 would be the lower control arm, it has a rubber cover over it and goes from the bearing carrier to the center of the car. #3 is then easy because it is the only strut left on the bottom and goes toward the front of the car. That leaves us with two top struts which I would call the "camber" strut and the "thrust" strut. I'll make #4 the camber strut because with the wheel off it is easy to see running off the top of the bearing carrier to the center of the car. It is the strut that is made into a turnbuckle to adjust camber when folk lower their cars. That leaves #5 which is now easy because it is the only one left.

While this strut is not adjustable I do not agree that it can be changed without alignment. Whether worn or just weak the strut will deflect under loading and alter camber. Camber changes always make significant toe changes so even if the car has never been aligned since new it will now have a stiffer joint with less deflection and less camber change and thus some toe difference.

While all this is nice I really think if the thrust strut were the cause you would notice the problem more when getting in and out of the gas. The feeling of the car steering itself proves my point about toe change with varying stiffness struts.

The 124 chassis is one of few MBs that have the front shocks as a load bearing member of the suspension. As a result they fail way more often than most MB shocks and play a multiple part in drivability, since they are both involved with dampening and geometry.

One other thing I might mention is that one of the most disturbing driveability situations comes about when any of a number of pivoting members of the front suspension get bound up. Most cases involve a ball joint. I see these quite often and the only sure way to notice it is on the turntables of an alignment machine. On the turntables the wheels should have a uniform resistance to all movement. The condition occurs when there is a noticable difficulty getting the wheel to start its turn while being easier if the movement is continuous. If you again stop it will again be firm in resisting the start of movement. It sticks!

On the road it feels like one is constantly chasing the steering position. I also see tis when people adjust their steering box too tight.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

104.992 not to mess up your thread, but on August 1st at 11:30am their will be a Mercedes meet at the CT Post Mall. It will be in the back lot by the highway. I see you are in Fairfield that is why I post this.

btw stay away of the dealer in Fairfield. The parts counter guys are ok but the service department guys are idiots, the salesmen are also jerks. They screwed up my friends S600's egr by putting some crap in the tank. (MB says not to do in the manual).

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200