Can SLS problems cause tire wear on the front? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

byronnash · #1 03-12-2010, 11:22 AM

My SLS system isn't really working at all. She sags all the time. Both of my front tires are worn on the outside edge from too much camber(sp?) I think. Can the droopy tail cause the front to ride too high or is that something that can be fixed with a simple alignment? The front of the car seems to be high, but I'm new to these cars so I don't know what normal looks like.

rrgrassi · #2 03-12-2010, 11:25 AM

I suppose that could happen. You need to get the suspension in good working order before having an alignment done. Outer edge tire wear is caused by too much positive camber.

byronnash · #3 03-12-2010, 11:26 AM

Is that adjustable? How do I approach that?

babymog · #4 03-12-2010, 11:35 AM

If you have excessive toe-in, the front will ride high and tires will wear on the outside edge. Running your hand across the tread you will feel a "sawtooth" pattern where each tread row is ramped high toward the inside edge.

Try backing the car a few car lengths and see if the front is lower (measure first unless it's obvious), this is a classic symptom of excessive toe-in.

vstech · #5 03-12-2010, 12:12 PM

ok, great thread.
I have inside wear, and no sawtooth pattern, or uneven tread wear. down through the cord on the passenger side, bald on the drivers side, both inner wear, and still good tread on the rest of the tire.

rrgrassi · #6 03-12-2010, 12:17 PM

Check UCA bushings. Worn bushings will give negative camber.

byronnash · #7 03-12-2010, 03:45 PM

Here's a photo of the car, I just measured the ride height from the center of the wheel to the fender. It's about 16.5" on the front and 11.5" on the rear. Seems pretty far off from what I read it should be on here. 12.75"

leathermang · #8 03-12-2010, 05:50 PM

Ok.... first you should consult the factory shop manual because it shows and talks about the wear patterns which are common on our cars... and which are not the same as the old American cars you have dealt with in the past..
Then you can examine whether your low rear end is causing something unusual...
There is a proper height for both the front and rear to keep the suspension and tires in proper shape.
You need to be researching how to fix the SLS system...
You need to put your location into the system so it shows in the upper right hand corner of your posts... this can be very helpful.

byronnash · #9 03-12-2010, 06:52 PM

leathermang, I'm looking into the SLS work now. Hopefully that will correct some of my issues. I was just wondering if I should be tackling anything else first. I added my location to the profile like you suggested.

jkubica · #10 03-12-2010, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by byronnash

leathermang, I'm looking into the SLS work now. Hopefully that will correct some of my issues. I was just wondering if I should be tackling anything else first. I added my location to the profile like you suggested.

Hi
Quite a few of us with wagons have had to rebuild our SLS valves by replacing the o-rings. Andrew has been supplying forum members with rebuild kits at a very fair price. There are a lot of helpful threads on the forum on getting SLS back up & running. These SLS problems can - but don't have to break the bank. I doubt your front tire wear in connected with the SLS.
Joseph

byronnash · #11 03-12-2010, 09:06 PM

So, assuming that the SLS is not affecting the front camber, can someone point me to some solutions to fixing that issue? Is it a simple adjustment, or am I looking at replacing some parts in the front suspension?

Thanks for the help.

Biodiesel300TD · #12 03-12-2010, 09:18 PM

For measuring your rear end sag, you can't go off the fender lips when you compare to the front. If you look at your picture you'll see that they fender lip on the rear is a few inches below the trim, where as the front fender lip goes right up to the trim. The best place to measure is to the jack hole plugs.

These three should make you well informed about your SLS system. Have a read through them.
SLS-How it works and troubleshooting - http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=271570
Adjusting your SLS ride height - http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=272868
Resealing the SLS Valve - http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=271457

vstech · #13 03-12-2010, 10:30 PM

jack up the front, support it on stands, and pull off the tires. look everything over well. I bet you find worn upper control arm bushings, shot ball joints, and worn out guide rod bushings...

byronnash · #14 03-17-2010, 02:21 PM

I took the wheels off last night and rotated the front to the rear. I took some photos of the suspension because I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Nothing looked totally broken or bent to me. One bushing looked a little dry rotted (see photo). I also pointed out an item that I am wondering if you can adjust to reduce the camber I have. It's the photo with the "?".

DieselPaul · #15 03-17-2010, 02:29 PM

Did you check for play in the ball joints?

The second to last photo is your track rod end, and the last photo looks the bushing is pulling away from the metal, maybe it is perished, I can't really tell from the picture.