Front end alignment question: centering steering wheel

[donbryce]

After doing a lot of work on my front end ('85 380SE), bushings mainly, I had the wife take it in for an alignment, as I was out of town and couldn't make the appointment.
When I got home, I took it for a highway drive and noticed the steering wheel was slightly off to the left, when it should have been pointing straight ahead. So I called the guy who did the work, and he says the steering box has too much play in it and he couldn't center the wheel accurately on the alignment apparatus. He more or less said that it was the best he could do and if I wanted to pay for it, by the hour, he would work to center it for me.
I guess it has to be set up on the alignment machine all over again to tweak the centering. The alignment cost me $70.00 and I can't see paying that again just for this adjustment. Grrrrrrr.....
My question is, if I turn the tie rod ends the same amount to change the position of the wheel, would this affect toe-in/out only? Or should I reposition the steering wheel on the splines?

[Pete Geither]

That is how you center a steering wheel,,,, just make sure you turn one end to take that wheel out or in and turn the other one to do the same. A quarter to a half turn should do the trick.

[gmercoleza]

Just do each tie rod equally and you should be good to go.

[jeff (moose)]

Hmm I am not an expert but, after 20 years ii the automotive service industry, I believe that centering the steering wheel is I REPEAT "IS" a part of the alignment.

After test drivin g the car he should have noticed the steering wheel and either made the adjustments you are considering or rehung the heads, measured the gearbox play and called you and offered to adjust the box and then center the steering wheel. I would ask him once again to correct the car or contact your credit card and stop payment on the repair.

Did he give you a printout? It should show what machine he used. and what the toe was set at. if no printou there is no proof that he set the alignment properly.

Did you ever consider the fact that he didn't like spending 2 hours aligning your Benz for a lousy $70 and therefore he just got ity close and went on with his day?

I sublet an alignment on a 126 body. A 2001 500S, after replacing the lower control arm bushings and the sway bar links, to three shops. 2 of them to start on the job and then stop and the other set the toe so it was well over the specified spec because they didn't have a toe rod and were compensating for it. When comparing the printouts one shop set the camer caster and quit and the other set the toe and drove the car and then rehung the heads to find that the toe was out of spec agan. The thrird shop just setr t the toe and did a poor job of it. May I ask where you took your car?

[Arthur Dalton]

Your steerig box has a lock center pin that gets installed before alignment. He did not do this ..
As others advise , turn the tierods equally 1/4 turn at a time until you have the SW centered..that will change the SW center w/o changing the toe spec.

[donbryce]

Originally Posted by Arthur Dalton

Your steerig box has a lock center pin that gets installed before alignment. He did not do this ..
As others advise , turn the tierods equally 1/4 turn at a time until you have the SW centered..that will change the SW center w/o changing the toe spec.

OK, that explains part of the problem: he isn't the MB alignment pro that his local reputation gives him I guess. I'm gonna do the tie rod turning....now, the wheel is leaning a bit to the left of center, or in other words, going straight, it's as if I'm making a small left turn. Can anyone advise how to turn the tie rods to center the wheel, as I'm afraid to mess up my toe settings?

[gmercoleza]

Originally Posted by donbryce

OK, that explains part of the problem: he isn't the MB alignment pro that his local reputation gives him I guess. I'm gonna do the tie rod turning....now, the wheel is leaning a bit to the left of center, or in other words, going straight, it's as if I'm making a small left turn. Can anyone advise how to turn the tie rods to center the wheel, as I'm afraid to mess up my toe settings?

Depends on the tie rods and the way they are threaded, left or right-hand. Best thing to do is just observe the movement as they are turned, carefully noting the amount of turns so that you can easily undo what you have done.

[Arthur Dalton]

Originally Posted by donbryce

OK, that explains part of the problem: he isn't the MB alignment pro that his local reputation gives him I guess. I'm gonna do the tie rod turning....now, the wheel is leaning a bit to the left of center, or in other words, going straight, it's as if I'm making a small left turn. Can anyone advise how to turn the tie rods to center the wheel, as I'm afraid to mess up my toe settings?

You do not want to change the spline position on the SW b/c that also effects the directional cancel alignment. That is why the steering box has the lock feature.

Anyway....

The problem you have is the car will steer right if you hold the SW in central position ...correct??

so...you want the right tie rod to be lengthened and the left one to be shortened.
So..., simply turn them both the EXACT same amout [ start with 1/4 turn].
You will turn them both the same direction b/c one side has rh threads and the other has lh threads..so when you lengthen the right, you will shorten the left...the toe is not effected..see ??
I use a white chalk mark on each link, facing straight down , so you know when a 1/4, 1/2 .3/4 , etc. turn is made to each.
The reason for them to be turned the same amount is b/c that will not change the toe, but it will change the sw position in reference to the staright ahead tire alignment. That is what the box lock tool does automatically.
As far as the bar goes . if the front end is tight , it is not needed..the bar takes any slop out before alignment adjustments are made...

[donbryce]

Originally Posted by jeff (moose)

Did he give you a printout? It should show what machine he used. and what the toe was set at. if no printou there is no proof that he set the alignment properly.

No printout. He's an indy, operates out of a local tire shop, but he has done work for me before and is thought highly of locally. He uses a high end machine, and when I asked about the use of a spreader bar, he replied that he compensates by adding a small increment to the specified values (we didn't get into detail here, as I'm no guru on this anyway). Others on this forum have stated that the difference with and without the bar is negligible.

Originally Posted by jeff (moose)

Did you ever consider the fact that he didn't like spending 2 hours aligning your Benz for a lousy $70 and therefore he just got ity close and went on with his day?

Well, I don't consider $70.00 a cheap alignment, at least not here. Most shops charge $50.00 or so. His getting it close was, as I/he said, related to the slop in the steering box, which I'll have to take his word on. His position is that he had to set-up the car to adjust the centering, and doing a road test, then re-setting it up again, adjusting, then re-aligning, simply isn't offered or included in the standard alignment price.

Originally Posted by jeff (moose)

May I ask where you took your car?

We don't have a Mercedes dealer here, so most locals who own a Benz go to this guy.

I appreciate your comments though. I didn't consider adjusting the steering box play part of an alignment, unless the dealer or someone who works on Mercedes was also doing the work. I checked my service manual and it looks like there is a screw on the box that can be turned to take up play. Wish I'd done that first.

Oh, and after another road test today, the off-center amount is really small, maybe tolerable.....but if it's not, then 1 spline should do it, ....or a bit of a turn on each tie rod, which would be easier I guess considering the air-bag has to be removed to remove the steering wheel.

[gmercoleza]

I too was going to suggest what jeff (moose) did, but I feared the flames. Not all mechanics cut corners, but in this instance that appears to have been the case.