1981 300SD

Drive straight, but I am always wearing out the front drivers tire just on the outside of the tred. I put on a basically 90% new tire less than 4000 miles ago and the outside tred is almost flat.

My ex mechanic told me this is normal for these csars because of their tight turning radius....or the way the wheel angles when it turns.

Does anyone have any further knowledge of this? PLease advise.



...

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'87 924S
'81 280SEL

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81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

That does not sound correct.

Unless you are taking a right hand turn very aggressively every day and twice on Sunday you should be getting very even wear on all four tires. Are your ball joints tight? If the car has too much positive camber (top riding further out than the bottom) that would wear the tire on the outside. If it has too much toe in that would wear both front tires on the outside.

I am betting you have either a loose ball joint letting the tire tip on curves or it has too much positive camber.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I'm glad he's your ex-mechanic.

Not normal, at least on my cars. After about 40K miles my front tire wear is still pretty even.

Think about it!!! What percentage of your driving involves tight turns?

Backwards NASCAR?

For me its quite a bit....but my tires are not worn that way.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

You may want to get a front end inspection.

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83 SD

84 CD

And never be squeemish about getting dealership allignment. Here they charged $120 all 4 wheels, camber & caster, not just front toe-in like tire shops do "free" when buying tires.

If fact i got my 300SD dealership alligned recently after buying full set of Les Schwab tires, partly on account of tire shop admittedly being incompetent to properly allign the wheels.

Dealer alignment is the only way to go for an alignment. I take mine in every couple years.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I was in Rhonda Tire today, heard the guy on the phone, telling (apparently an alignment customer): "that's normal, the automakers design them to pull slightly to the right so that if you let go of the wheel, you won't veer into traffic". Sad, but I'm pretty sure he's not the only one around making excuses for bad alignment.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Certainly not normal to have the rapid wear you are experiencing. Also since one tends generally to make about as many left turns as right ones his logic is impaired as well.
In a severe case like yours even a bubble level might show the problem if the car is on a level surface. Just by a simple side to side comparison.
Of course needless to say the front end needs checked and aligned. I seem to have had pretty good results on an older fmc computor alignment machine at a local tire place.
Most modern machines will not self load a program for 123 mercedes models unless they have a spreader bar hooked up. Of course most just do not have it. The total mercedes alignment no doubt is slightly better but far too often their charge is excessive in my mind.

I've also heard cars are supposed to veeeery slightly pull to the right. Is this actually true? My car does, but its so slight you'd only know it if you let go of the wheel for a long time. I have no abnormal wear of my tires....all are wearing perfectly.

Our 300D on the other hand, IS wearing the outer edge of the front drivers side tire. However the wear is slow....many thousands of miles. Eventually we'll get it aligned.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

If the road has a crown, and they pretty much all do, it should pull to the right because of the crown. ON a four lane it probably has some crown to the left but usually not as much, so it should pull slightly to the left if in the left lane.

Tom W

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I prefer 16 lane highways for that kind of determination.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

The dealer would not touch the front end without replacing EVERYTHING, and having new tires on.
Sears did a four wheel alignment, a laser unit.
6 months, or 6,000 miles, $90.
Here's the print out:

Attached Thumbnails

 

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83 SD

84 CD