PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - How do I tell which steering links are bad?

mpolli · #14 01-14-2014, 04:06 PM

OK.. Now here is the part where I will be called the most insane lunatic ever known to history: You can definitely adjust the toe in yourself. There I said it. Now there are many people who believe anything to do with alignment is a holy sacrament that should only be performed by a high priest trained in the very secret rituals of this ancient practice. However, if you are changing your own tie rod ends you will at least have to get the toe in good enough to drive it to the shop, and if you can get it that good then you can take it the rest of the way. There are different ways to do it, but the first thing I will tell you is before you start the repair, put the steering wheel centered and "sight" down the side of the car on one side then the other, looking for how the edges of the front tires line up with the edges of the rear tires (on each side). This will give you an idea how they should be when you are done. Obviously with the wear you have it will be off a bit. The best bet is when you are done get them lined up straight (assuming same track dimension front and back and same tires.) Then if you really want to get picky and set the toe then we can go from there. Yes there is the holy pusher bar etc etc. I made one out of 2x4's but I didn't notice much difference using it or not. And yes I have put over 100K miles on tires and they wear perfectly even. There is no magic to alignment and you can do just as well, working slowly with simple equipment, as a shop can do working quickly with expensive equipment. It does help if you know trig however.