Mercedes DIY Wheel Alignment
Why?? I purchased one of those life time alignments from Firestone back in 2007. The first time, the alignment is perfect. Car was running straight, nice print out of specs, no problems. Then, I replaced my ball joints and lower control arm. I brought the car back to the local Firestone. 2 hours later, no print out, car was pulling to the right. Worst then when I first installed the lower control arm without an alignment. A week later, I brought my car to a second Firestone. The guy aligned it again, told me it was way off. Another 2 hours, he was done. He drove it around the block, told me it was still pulling, then proceeded to adjust my tie rods WITHOUT the machine. WTF!?!?!?!!? He told me his eyeballs were more accurate then the machine. I drove home, car was still pulling. I decided if I wanted this to be done right, I need to do it myself.
Of all my alignments, I don’t think they have ever adjusted the camber or caster, only toe.
This method, is a combination of all the different DIY articles I’ve seen on the web. I believe, is the least expensive, most accurate and easiest method out there. I spent less than $10.
Tools needed:
Straight wood Stick 8 feet long ($1.89)
Two 2x4 wood blocks (Already have)
Metallic Sharpie ($2.89 – packet of 2)
13 MM Open end and an adjustable wrench (Already have)
4 vinyl Floor Tiles ($.89 each)
Bearing Grease (Already have)
Jack (Already have)
1) Put the 8 foot stick in front of the tires and select a spot on the tire that has the best contact.
2) Jack up the car, and using a metallic Sharpie, draw a line around the tire while it is rotating. I used a drill vice to hold the Sharpie to make a perfect line.
3) Loosened the tie rod ends’ lock nuts
4) I have a long drive way, so I drove it back and forth twice, then rolled into my garage
5) Just before stopping, I placed homemade turn plates in front of the tires, proceeded to drive on to them. (Homemade turn plates –Bearing Grease sandwich using 12x12 vinyl non-adhesive floor tiles. I was able to turn the wheels with my hand. Be sure to leave the keys in the ignition to prevent the steering lock from engaging)
6) Make sure your steering wheel is straight
7) I placed the 8 feet 1x2 stick in BACK of the front tires. Using two 2x4 blocks, I placed the stick as high as I can without touching the car.
8) I made exact matching marks on both sides of the stick as the two sharp lines on the tires
9) Now, I moved the stick to the front of the front tires using the same blocks. Be sure to match one of the marks to the tire line. I chose to match the driver side tire because I have more space in my garage on that side. (you will only need to make one additional mark)
10) On the passenger side tire, you see the difference between the measurements of the marks and the lines on the tires (my car had a toe out condition, almost ½ inch).
11) If your car is out of alignment, you will see the difference between the two marks.
12) Your perfect alignment will be the mid-point between the two marks.
13) Proceed to adjust your tie rod ends – I recommend moving both rod ends in small increments until the tire lines match with the correct alignment marks on the stick. (Remember, you only need to adjust half that distance since the rear of the wheel will also move as you adjust the tie rod end)
14) Tighten your rod ends, turn your steering a few times, and re-measure front and back. Make sure the alignment is perfect.
15) Now you have perfect alignment.
I truly believe this toe alignment is more accurate than any machine can achieve.
Note: This method is usually better then string methods since the string method is not accurate if every one of your measurements are not perfectly squared with what you are measuring. With this technique, measurement errors are not introduced into the alignment process.
Note: Also, you can put a slight toe in (front of the wheels are slightly pointed in) on your alignment, which helps with high speed stability.
“Toe is always adjustable in production automobiles, even though caster angle and camber angle are often not adjustable. Maintenance of front end alignment, which used to involve all three adjustments, currently involves only setting the toe; in most cases, even for a car in which caster or camber are adjustable, only the toe will need adjustment.”
Check out my DIY Lower Control Arm and Ball Joint Change:
http://diyw211balljointchange.blogspot.com/
"draw a line around the tire while it is rotating"
ReplyDeleteWill this deviate from the tire marks? One should think the tire marks were aligned.
Thanks for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting for your further write ups thanks once again.
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We are Specializing in above ground or inground automotive hoist equipment and Automotive Alignment Machine . We provide tire machines, balancers, brake lathes, 2 post hoists, 4 post hoists, fluid changers, A/C machines and much more, as well as a valuable service.
ReplyDeleteWheel alignment is one of the most important things to keep up on with your car. If your car's tires are not aligned then it is not going to drive straight and it is going to cause your tires to wear differently and then you are going to have even more problems in the future. You definitely need to make sure that you take car of your car problems when they first happen. It can and will help you out and save you more money in the future. Keep your eye out for things that go wrong with your car and make sure you take care of them.
ReplyDeleteJak Manson | http://www.dwellsgoodyear.com/?PageData=service&serviceid=28256
Oh thats a great info provides by you about a wheel alignments warwick qld i would like to thanks to share such type of great info.I want to continue with your blogs.
ReplyDeleteThis was great. I didn't even know you could do wheel alignment yourself. I will have to try this out. It's sounds super interesting. I need to get my wheels aligned as well.
ReplyDeleteAaron | http://www.dwellsgoodyear.com/?PageData=service&serviceid=28256
My car has been acting way weird lately and I'm thinking that it has to do with my tires. I've been doing some research on it and from what I've seen, it sounds like my car needs a wheel alignment. I wasn't sure where to go from here, but this gave me some insights on where I can start with everything.
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That seems like a lot of work for a wheel alignment. I know that it is important to take care of the alignment. I have heard that it can affect the gas mileage if you aren't careful. I had a friend that had a really bad alignment. The wheel was almost at a 90 degree angle from where it should have been. http://www.bobnolansautorepair.com/Auto-Repair-Bensalem-PA.html
ReplyDeleteMy car has been acting really weird lately and I don't really know what's going on. A friend of mind suggested that it could be an alignment problem, but isn't for sure. I'll have to find a service like this that can take a better look at it for me.
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I've been aligning my own cars for the last 10 years using a similar method. I use two identical 6ft aluminum levels with laser printed marks, similar to your method in marking the stick. This saves a little time by not having to measure the distance behind the front tires and in front of the front tires separately. As Zach T. above indicated, this home method is time consuming but well worth it. The prove is that your initial measurements came from car recently aligned on a machine. I started to do this type of alignment myself after lowering my own vehicles. A wrong toe-setting really accelerates tire wear.
ReplyDeleteNice Post.
ReplyDeleteInformative and important information is here.
Thanks for sharing !
Wheel Alignment
There are very few people who truly understand suspension geometry. If you take your car to get it aligned and the tech does NOT #1 test drive the vehicle BEFORE and after and #2 check tire pressure first OR appears to be someone under 30 yrs old I personally would NOT have them take my hard earned money for a what they call an 'alignment'. The W211 E500 was notorious for front tire wear and wjen i worked at the dealer since i was NOT on commision i experimented with toe settings if i noticed tire noise from the front (similar to wheel bearing) and in every case of those it took toe IN to quiet them up (of course if tires were worn i didnt play with it just noted on the R.O...im talking about near NEW cars with 20k ,i or less
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Wheel Alignment
Alignment is type of repair service which is required by the tyres time to time for its good performance, thanks for sharing these types of blogs
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Tyres are the strength of car and other vehicle. One can also get the details of wheel balancing in pune only at Shree Tyres.
ReplyDeleteI would be REALLy suprised if any amount of toe adjustment will stop your car pulling to one side. You need to adjust the camber. The camber is not adjustable on your Mercedes and it probably changed when you replaced the lower control arm.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the information provided! I have gained some useful information.It is nice to go through the process at a high level.
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ReplyDeleteYoyr diy aligment is great but not completly. First u need to find perfect car center point lets say on front engine frame and back of engine frame then mark center on your stick. When measuring how much off your tire or tires actually are you have to match ceneter merk on stick with the line between center on front and back of engine frame . That gives you exact idea how much off center left/right is each wheel . Without center marks you are NOT able and not possible to check your left/right wheel toe and total toe!!
ReplyDeleteDoing this as you posted you only able to find out how far wheels are in or out !
Nice Post. Thanks for Sharing
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