Quote:
Originally Posted by 72junky
Zulfiqar,
I was told they were ok. I have not had time to check myself, but, on this weekend's "to do" list. The shop just updated to a Bosch system still using the Hunter drive on rack. They really like it, but, one interesting note I just thought of... they said they had to go into a Canadian database to get the alignment data for the car. Makes me now wonder if it was setup with the right info. Wonder if they used a sedan vs. cabrio. I have painfully found there were many changes made between the '93/'94/'95 models years. this one has the biggest brakes of the 3. maybe there were some geometry differences also. don't know...
Brian
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There is some difference in the sportline cars due to being lower and also some differences when the drag link design changed in the W124,
The caster had a little change too, it was 9 degrees 55 minutes compared to 10 degrees 10 minutes of the older W124s. The turn caster is also slightly different.
You can get the correct data from W124-zone.com and take it with you to the shop, the correct way to do alignment on this car easily is to follow three steps
1 set toe to zero
2 set caster and camber
3 set toe
when setting the camber and caster it is vital to set the toe to zero if it moves, The camber will be thrown off if the toe is not set to zero, the final toe in is done last.
caster being maxed at 8 degrees usually means that your wheels are pushed back - this can mean the car has some frame damage or the ball joints and the control arm bushings are shot. To test the ball joints you will need to jack up the car from the control arm and lever the ball joint, by design they are under a pull tension and always show up perfectly tight by eyeballing or wrestling (its held tight from the loco grade suspension spring you see)
OR
the person doing the alignment was not measuring it correct or the reflectors hanging off the wheels were knocked loose or were hanging. The original tool to align german cars is a 5 prong unit which fits into the 5 little holes you see on your rim, you will notice these same holes in BMW, VW and Audi cars too. The tool contacts the hub/rotor and is locked into place so vibration cannot upset it. (not many shops have that tool)