2007 Merc B-Class pulling left, tracking fails to alleviate

eko

Our 2007 Mercedes B170 petrol has been pulling left for a while. Recently, I got a new set of front tyres and had the alignment and tracking done at the same time. The replaced tyres were indeed wearing non-uniformly, I was told.

Despite the alignment, it still pulls, but it seems to be sensitive to camber. On most roads, it continues to pull to the left, and on some not at all - and where I am on a dual carriageway and in the overtaking lane, it actually pulls to the right!

I did a little digging, and it seems to be a "characteristic" of some Mercs. Has anyone else witnessed this? On one of the UK Merc forums, they suggested this:
http://www.blackboots.co.uk/mercedes-pulling-problems.php

Anyone know of anyone in Ireland offering such a service?

Thanks.

listermint

eko wrote: »

Our 2007 Mercedes B170 petrol has been pulling left for a while. Recently, I got a new set of front tyres and had the alignment and tracking done at the same time. The replaced tyres were indeed wearing non-uniformly, I was told.

Despite the alignment, it still pulls, but it seems to be sensitive to camber. On most roads, it continues to pull to the left, and on some not at all - and where I am on a dual carriageway and in the overtaking lane, it actually pulls to the right!

I did a little digging, and it seems to be a "characteristic" of some Mercs. Has anyone else witnessed this? On one of the UK Merc forums, they suggested this:
http://www.blackboots.co.uk/mercedes-pulling-problems.php

Anyone know of anyone in Ireland offering such a service?

Thanks.

Who did the wheel allignment? These can be tricky and not always done correctly. The car needs to have all unnecessary (non factory) weight removed as in if you have the trunk full of crap that can throw off an allignment. And weights are needed to offset areas within the car. Ive found top end cars need top end wheel allignment. If it was amateur hour that may explain it.

garhjw

i would suggest going back to where you had the alignment done, tell them the problem persists and ask them to re-check the alignment. I've had to go back to places before as the aluignement didn't feel right the first time.

also, was it 4 wheel alignment?

eko

Thanks guys!

listermint wrote: »

Who did the wheel allignment? These can be tricky and not always done correctly. The car needs to have all unnecessary (non factory) weight removed as in if you have the trunk full of crap that can throw off an allignment. And weights are needed to offset areas within the car. Ive found top end cars need top end wheel allignment. If it was amateur hour that may explain it.

I got a new set of front tyres from Wicklow Tyre Services, Uniroyal Rainsport 2 17s. They are the same tyre as the ones I have on the rear. I'm really unsure how they aligned it, though. With bad alignment, wouldn't the car pull to one particular direction, rather than pulling to either side depending on camber? That's the weird thing about this. That Merc forum seemed to allude to a more inherent issue with Merc cars in particular, rather than it being associated purely with wheel alignment.

garhjw wrote: »

i would suggest going back to where you had the alignment done, tell them the problem persists and ask them to re-check the alignment. I've had to go back to places before as the aluignement didn't feel right the first time.

also, was it 4 wheel alignment?

Not too sure if it was 4 wheel alignment, I'll call them to check. My own stupidty; it's been a good few weeks since I had the new tyres put on, so I'm pretty sure they'll chalk it up to it being misaligned in the interim during normal driving.

BrensBenz

My E-Class is "road-camber-sensitive" but I only notice it after driving something else for a while!
Agree with above about good wheel alignment. First thing, I tell them I'm fussy and, usually, after the first attempt, I bring it back immediately and tell them it isn't right. Second attempt is usually better. On one occasion, it went to a third attempt when they got the alignment right but the steering wheel was at "10 past 4" when driving on a flat and straight road! Oh what fun we had discussing sudden attacks of play in the steering rack!
I have alignment done every year, at various places and so far, Nolans in Newtownforbes (Longford) did the best job.

L-M

I find with very good tyres the pull to the left, aided my the camber in the road, is alot more.

If, on a perfectly flat road, the car drives perfectly straight, I'd imagine one could only put it down to the road.

eko

Yep, I do think our B-Class is indeed camber-sensitive, then. Indeed, on a really level and flat road, it doesn't pull at all, but on most roads (as most, I find, have some sort of camber to aid drainage) it pulls quite a bit.

The weird thing is that I really don't notice it at all driving other cars. I've had an Audi TT, and before that an Audi A4 and neither have this characteristic, and neither does my father's Golf Mk 5.

I'll bring it along to one of the local Kwik-Fit-esque places that do four-wheel alignment, will explain my predicament, and will see what they say.

mickdw

Some cars are worse than others but I doubt there is alot wrong with your alignment if its good on a flat surface.
My current car is very sensitive to road surface and pulls all around the shop although the wide front tyres are most of the problem I think.
Perhaps the fact that you B class is that bit higher than normal might cause a increased pull when the car is leaning over to the side or at least a greater sensitively in the steering as to whether the car is sitting perfectly upright or leaning over

eko

mickdw wrote: »

Some cars are worse than others but I doubt there is alot wrong with your alignment if its good on a flat surface.
My current car is very sensitive to road surface and pulls all around the shop although the wide front tyres are most of the problem I think.
Perhaps the fact that you B class is that bit higher than normal might cause a increased pull when the car is leaning over to the side or at least a greater sensitively in the steering as to whether the car is sitting perfectly upright or leaning over

Thanks, good to know. If this is as expected, then perhaps there is little to be done. Sometimes it just feels weird, as I'm literally fighting to pull the wheel right driving on normal N roads.

BrensBenz

Regarding sensitivity with new tyres, usually, when I get new tyres, they are pumped well beyond Mercedes recommendations. On my E-Class, MB recommends mid to high 20’s psi (depending on load) but Mr. TyreFitter pumps them to high 30’s. This, I think, reduces the rubber on the road, certainly lightens the steering and gives me the “who’s in charge? me or the car?” feeling. Very basic and I’m sure you’ve done it already but it might be worth while re-checking that the pressures are correct.

apoeiguq3094y

If you're having this much trouble getting the car aligned, it could be that some component of the suspension is worn. If all 4 wheels have been properly balanced, and the alignment properly set, then it shouldn't be that hard to get right. I notice that my e-class tends to pull to the left a small bit, but tis not wearing tyres unevenly, i think its just very sensitive to and road camber.

eko

BrensBenz wrote: »

Regarding sensitivity with new tyres, usually, when I get new tyres, they are pumped well beyond Mercedes recommendations. On my E-Class, MB recommends mid to high 20’s psi (depending on load) but Mr. TyreFitter pumps them to high 30’s. This, I think, reduces the rubber on the road, certainly lightens the steering and gives me the “who’s in charge? me or the car?” feeling. Very basic and I’m sure you’ve done it already but it might be worth while re-checking that the pressures are correct.

I'll need to go recheck the pressures - kind of sheepish about it, but I didn't really check them myself after they put the tyres on. I asked if the pressures were right, and the dude said "yep", so left it at that. Worth a look, thanks.

eko

apoeiguq3094y wrote: »

If you're having this much trouble getting the car aligned, it could be that some component of the suspension is worn. If all 4 wheels have been properly balanced, and the alignment properly set, then it shouldn't be that hard to get right. I notice that my e-class tends to pull to the left a small bit, but tis not wearing tyres unevenly, i think its just very sensitive to and road camber.

My original thought was exactly this, that a component has failed in that area. You can tell I'm no mechanic, so I have to rely on the garage. They point to alignment usually, but I wondered if it was a fault somewhere, or that Mercs in general are camber-sensitive, as you and the other guys have mentioned.

I mentioned a crowd in the UK in my original post that seem to allude to specialising in fixing such camber-sensitivity traits, but not too sure if it's something a simple "proper" 4 wheel alignment won't fix.

BrensBenz

Naughty, naughty! Driving without checking tyre pressures is a right reserved for presidential candidates. You’re not Da.....? No.
I’m sure that more knowledgeable people will add detail but I think that absolute accuracy with the car makers recommended pressures is not vital but tyre pressures on the same axle should be as close to equal as possible to each other. The accuracy of pressure gauges on petrol station forecourts can be suspect so invest a few bob on a cheap and simple pressure gauge and use it regularly, when the tyres are cold. Any error in your gauge should be constant so, if the actual error is +1 psi (lb/sq.in) and it reads 28 psi, the actual pressure will always be 27 (I think).
If, after a good alignment and pressures check, you’re still concerned, I would take the advice of apoeiguq3094y and have the suspension components / ball-joints, etc. checked.

eko

I may actually have as much knowledge about cars as Dana..

Good advice, will swing into Halfords during the weekend to see what they have. If all is uniform, will possibly get another 4-wheel alignment done. If all else fails, will head to the garage to see what else is amiss.

Cheers guys!

apoeiguq3094y

eko wrote: »

My original thought was exactly this, that a component has failed in that area. You can tell I'm no mechanic, so I have to rely on the garage. They point to alignment usually, but I wondered if it was a fault somewhere, or that Mercs in general are camber-sensitive, as you and the other guys have mentioned.

I mentioned a crowd in the UK in my original post that seem to allude to specialising in fixing such camber-sensitivity traits, but not too sure if it's something a simple "proper" 4 wheel alignment won't fix.

If you're still having problems after this I can recommend a very good merc mechanic. He deals almost entirely with mercs, and I've found him to be very honest and reasonable price-wise - he's set up far from civilisation, so no dealership style prices.

He's in the Abbeyleix-Castlecomer area. I travel back down to him from Galway, and I know of many taxi men who come from dublin to him. I've found it worth the 2 hour drive. Shouldn't be too far for you if your based in wicklow.

PM for details.

johnf2020

Back in 2006 my Mrs. had a 2005 C180 that I got for her. Great car and she loved it,the only problem being that it was a bit small as a family car, so I bought a 2005 E200 instead. Beautiful car EXCEPT , your never felt completely comfortable with the steering. It had new Goodyears all around, got 4-wheel alignment done, said it was spot on but it always felt as if it wanted to go which ever way the camber in the road was. Now the roads where I live are quite rural though fast, so the last thing you need when meeting an oncoming car at 80kms is not to feel in control----We dont have it any more!

johnf2020

apoeiguq3094y wrote: »

If you're still having problems after this I can recommend a very good merc mechanic. He deals almost entirely with mercs, and I've found him to be very honest and reasonable price-wise - he's set up far from civilisation, so no dealership style prices.

He's in the Abbeyleix-Castlecomer area. I travel back down to him from Galway, and I know of many taxi men who come from dublin to him. I've found it worth the 2 hour drive. Shouldn't be too far for you if your based in wicklow.

PM for details.

Everybody knows Ned;)