W123 Front End Alignment ?
 

Finished the front end rebuild on my 280TE wagon. NOT a fun task. Borrowed a ball joint press from AutoZone, did not really fit, but got the job done. Luckily I have a 1 inch drive socket set, I had to use my 3 foot breaker bar and stand on it to pop those old lower ball joints out. :eek: Here is a list of items replaced:
Both upper control arms and of course ball joints and bushings
Both lower ball joints
Both tie rod assemblies
I did not replace center drag link or steering dampner.
Now, the question is. For front end alignment, it appears the only adjustment is the toe in, is this correct? I am from the old school, mid sixties US cars through mid seventies with some imports. I see no way to shim the upper control arms for camber, or any eccentric bolt. As far as caster goes, again I see no adjustment. I am taking her in for the alignment on Wednesday.

Thank you for this forum and all members support.

:D

Make sure any alignment shop that does your car is aware of the dead weight that needs to be placed into it to be able to adjust it to factory specs.....few shops have this....and few are even aware of it.....I had an Indy inform me of this saying he couldn't do it becasue he didn't have the weight....and didn't want to do it wrong...now there was an honest guy.

There are eccentrics on the lower control arms as I remember.

Good luck,

eccentrics on LCA on my 126 too. As for the dead weight, only thing I've heard of is putting a weight in driver's seat, which is recommended in many shop manuals, but I don't remember about MB.

Camber is adjusted via the lower control arm bolt. The bolt itself is not eccentric, but is has two eccentric washers that position the bolt (and the LCA) as necessary. Caster is adjusted via the guide rods (aka brake mount support rods.) Shims are not utilized.
http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=1EH0TL2AI1HS0MO6ZO&year=1982&make=MB&model=300-DT-001&category=L&part=Eccentric+Pin+Kit
http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=1EH0TL2AI1HS0MR3G2&year=1982&make=MB&model=300-DT-001&category=L&part=Guide+Rod+Mount

We have our cars adjusted at Firestone. $139 for a life time alignment. Go by any time and they will do it. But make sure the shop in your area has someone who is good. Go talk to them and get a feel for them. This shop actually has Only one tech do the Mercedes. Fernando, who does it here, is very good. He does all our cars. Including a 65 Mustang that a lot of shops cannot do. I am very happy with this particular shops work.
And at $139 its a great deal. The kids and I, have their cars done 2-3 times a year.

Dave

The 3 areas that allow adjustment on the front suspension are the brake mount support rods, the lower control arm mount bolt ( via eccentric washers) and the tie rod arms. All the other pieces are fixed or related to the adjustment of the 3 mentioned above.

Alignment done
 

Found a local indy to do the wagon's front end align. He new about the weights, Bonehead Doctor was right on with that one!!!!! The mechanic told me it is just sand bags he uses and that anyone could really do it if they took the time to create the weights. Cost, $75.00, advice from this forum, priceless. Again thanks to all who offered advice, as usual only the BEST !!!! :D :D