Hi everybody, new to this forum. I have a 93 500SL with 69000 miles and full service history. Have owned many cars before but this car is fabulous (no I don't want to sell it!) I have one minor problem though - car has a tendancy to pull slightly left.If driven on the right side of the road it will creep to the right slowly depending on the camber but not as much as the left side. I have had the tracking checked by two Mercedes Specialists (not brave/wealthy enough to take it to Main dealer - yet!)who can find no fault and comment that "they all tend to do it with bigger wheels mate" (AMG 245/40ZR18 and 275/35ZR18) Tyre wear is even and general handling at all speeds is excellent. Not a major problem but it makes driving quite tiring on some roads. Anybody had similar problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
500SL steering pull
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....Not a major problem but it makes driving quite tiring on some roads...
Assuming your tracking is spot on, the brakes are not sticking and general geometry is good, and it is on 'some' roads, could your wheels be 'tramlining'?
When you pull the car back, does it feel reluctant to pull back?
Assuming your tracking is spot on, the brakes are not sticking and general geometry is good, and it is on 'some' roads, could your wheels be 'tramlining'?
When you pull the car back, does it feel reluctant to pull back?
Hal,I am advised tracking is spot on, no brake binding, previous repair or damage and the tyres are nearly new. There is no tendency to tramline - eg over white lines. Another way to describe this problem is that slight right hand pressure on the wheel is needed most of the time especially on B roads. Someone suggested that MB set up these cars to be driven on the right hand side of the road as most are LHD. Think this is unlikely although my car runs straight as an arrow when driven on the"wrong" side of the road!
BR
David.
BR
David.
Joined
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25 Posts
think i have the same thing but im not overly worried about it.
i think your right about the set up for right hand side of road.
would make sense
i think your right about the set up for right hand side of road.
would make sense
I have heard this before - that MBs are 'set up' for LHD. I do not subscribe to that; the RHD market is pretty big for them and I cannot believe they would go to all the trouble of setting a car up for a certain drive when it is easier to create a car that is balanced from the middle!
Here is something to look at. I had it on a 190E a long time ago: check your front (and rear) wheel camber. It will mean you forking some cash out on a proper geometry check I am afraid! It might be that one wheel is at a greater positive camber than the other - this will cause the car to try and lean into the greater camber...
Beyond this I have no more suggestions!
Here is something to look at. I had it on a 190E a long time ago: check your front (and rear) wheel camber. It will mean you forking some cash out on a proper geometry check I am afraid! It might be that one wheel is at a greater positive camber than the other - this will cause the car to try and lean into the greater camber...
Beyond this I have no more suggestions!
I also have/had this problem with mine 90 500SL, pulls right. Remove the frontwheels and look for more or less brakedust on the "backside" of the wheels. I found that on my car, but when I removed the caliper and pressed the brake pistons, they moved all 4. Haven't tried the car since this....
They're set up so that they gently veer to the nearside (left if you're driving on the left, right if you're driving on the right). This is a safety precaution intended to save you and other motorists if you fall asleep at the wheel. All of my MBs have done this (2 C-Classes and now a 129). For abaout two years I was always at the dealer, complaining about steering pull and they always told me it was spot on. You get used to it and come to like it (like the foot-operated parking brake and the dead ahead steering), but it takes a while.
Respectfully, I can't believe that this is true.
i now have this problem after i've upgraded to 18" rims 9"wide in the front. 10" wide the back. my car pulls all over the place on the slightest little line in the road.... tends to go right moreso than left. Mercedes is telling me is due to the super wide performance tires.
Hey,
back: 11x18 with 265/35
front: 9,5x18 with 235/40
First testride last night. The car was a little more sensitive to wheelstracks in the asphalt, but not much. Of course the ride is a little more smoother with the original tyres, but you must suffer for beauty [
]
Ps! I use the tyres i bought last year, thats why I use 265 in the rear. The rims are not Tüv approved with less than 275, so when they are worn out, thats what I will buy....
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back: 11x18 with 265/35
front: 9,5x18 with 235/40
First testride last night. The car was a little more sensitive to wheelstracks in the asphalt, but not much. Of course the ride is a little more smoother with the original tyres, but you must suffer for beauty [
]Ps! I use the tyres i bought last year, thats why I use 265 in the rear. The rims are not Tüv approved with less than 275, so when they are worn out, thats what I will buy....
The wider tires do make the car more susceptible to adverse road conditions. I find that on high crown roads my car tends to drift left from the left lane and right in right lane. Also noticed pulling in the middle lane of the expressway here, chasing the ruts in the road caused by the big tracks that frequent that lane. Wheel caster and Toe-in have a lot to do with how well you car behaves under these conditions. More + positive caster on both left and right makes the car track straighter as well as makes it harder to turn the wheels off center (straight ahead) more + caster on either the L or R makes the car drift in the opposite direction. More toe-in (pointing the front of the tires towards each other cuts down on wandering, but also increased tire wear. Hope this sheds some light on what’s going on.
Are you using the same tires? Alot of time with mag wheels they are static balanced (only weights on the inside) which gets rid of most vibrations (up and down), but you can be left with a slight pull to one side. Somtimes after doing a perfect alighnment a car would still pull to one side. I would switch the front tires from side to side to see if that was the cause. Since most of us run directional tires, there isn't much that can be done. Either way the tire will be spinning in the same direction, hence pulling the same way.
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