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rear upper camber arms

1K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Drew Westfall 
#1 ·
I've done some searching. I just wanted clarification.

1998 w210 4matic v6.
l am looking into the camber arms in the rear. I’m driving with both sides at 1.5 degrees. I’m eating through tires pretty fast for my liking on the inside tread. I’d like to get this taken care of before I buy my summer tires. It is my understanding that I need the following:


Is there anything else that I need? Is the width of the rod ends perfectly sized for the width of the tabs? Do I need an insert for the diameter of the rod end vs the tabs holes?
What does swedged mean?
 
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#2 ·
I doubt that 1 1/2 degrees of camber, either positive or negative, would eat tires. You most likely have a toe problem, although in my experience the Mercedes rear end does tend to wear on the inside, and I have been tempted to install adjustable camber bars myself. I have not yet done it. I have recently installed new shocks in the rear and a set of cheap tires. The shocks have eliminated some twitchyness that I have felt when the rear hits a bump or pot hole. I am hoping it helps with the inside wear. An indi that I use sometimes, says the rear suspension on our cars will normally wear out a set of tires in 35 thousand miles. So if your camber bars work let us know.
 
#4 · (Edited)
-1.5" negative for the rear is actually target for alignment on W210 ..... +/- .30 degrees.

You have other problems that the adjustment arms will not repair. Firstly, because camber does not cause accelerated wear. Secondly, very inside edge wear is a toe problem or a failure in another part.

Good luck.
 
#5 ·
Don't forget to check LCA / wheel carrier 'knucle bushing joint'...

-1.5" negative for the rear is actually target for alignment on W210 ..... +/- .30 degrees.

You have other problems that the adjustment arms will not repair. Firstly, because camber does not cause accelerated wear. Secondly, very inside edge wear is a toe problem or a failure in another part.

Good luck.
Drew:

You have my exact complaint, fast inner edge rear tire wear.

There is a wear prone joint that is a rubber / steel sleeve 'rear, lower outer, knuckle joint' where the LCA, lower control arm, meets the 'wheel carrier' - the huge casting to which all your rear suspension links attach, and brakes & wheel bolt to.

That little thing is hidden inside the arm & pressed into the wheel carrier. They are basically worn out / toast every 100k miles or at 15 years old, etc

I've had bad tire wear, it kills a set of new tires in 10k miles, and thats if you rotate them. Fail to rotate, and they're dead in 5k ! Plus you can't keep them balanced for a darn. Frustrating.

Anyhow I read for a year here, searching posts, before zeroing in on this.

I'm in the middle of doing the rear drivers side R & R now.

Here's a link with some great pics, it's for a w124 Chassis car, the earlier series e Class, but most of it applies & part & service tool is the same for our cars.

Here:

Notes on R&R of Outer LCA Bushings (W124 and others) - PeachParts Mercedes ShopForum

So, you may have this issue too. If you search my posts, you can see what I've learned more fully.

That hard part is that this joint is hidden from view & folks don't know exactly what to call it, different names are used.

This is our 6th Mercedes I've owned, most of them have this part & I was ignorant of it's existence & effect upon premature tire wear-out / alignment until 2 weeks ago !

On alignment, if one side of these rear knuckle joints fails faster than another, the car will tend to dart to one side either upon letting go of steering wheel or when braking.

On other cars, I'd check the front end for issues - I did so here, but front was perfect in every respect - baffling !

Until I realized this issue then the failure to track & stay straight made sense, plus fast tire wear & a 'mystery clunk' from rear that would come & go.

Anyhow, maybe this can be of help to you....

David in East Texas
 
#8 ·
I doubt your subframe bushings would be bad, but if they were it would likely cause problems. I'm not sure what you mean by walking, but in my case if I hit a bump or pot hole with my right rear, the rear would twitch to the right and then come back in line. This was wearing my left rear tire on the inside, like it was being dragged to the right. I put new shocks in the rear and the twitching stopped. The left rear wear seems more normal but it has not been long enough to be sure.
 
#9 ·
(at 60+mph) smooth roads, its' fine. easy enough to control.
bumps in the road. i'm chasing the car darting left/right. so much worse in wind.
shocks are oem , ball joints, upper CA and LCA bushings all are 1 year old replaced the steering rack last year but didn't fix the issue.

Any body know how to rebuild a rack?
 
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