[W126 Coupe] Rear Wheel Alignment

[Jonathan Hodgman]

Katmac is a viable option, however I'm still curious/concerned as to what
caused the rear to be so far out of alignment to begin with.

Is your car lowered?  I don't remember you mentioning as much..

To be honest, the last set of Katmac's were disappointing
quality/craftsmanship wise.  I'm surprised the MB bushings cost so much
there..they aren't nearly that expensive here.

Were I in your shoes I'd still have the car to a frame straightening shop
just to make sure everything is kosher.

Jonathan

On 9/19/06, Robert Karl Stonjek <rstonjek at bigpond.net.au> wrote:
>
>  I think what you need is the K-MAC kit. K-MAC is an Australian outfit
> that supplies rear (and front) camber and toe adjustment kits.
>
> You can install them (they are adjustable eccentric bushings) yourself,
> but you really need someone who REALLY knows what they are doing to get a
> baseline and then adjust them. I am told you need a factory tool to properly
> measure the 'ride height' on the rear end before you can calculate the
> correct camber for the rear. It can not just be adjusted to some chart.
>
> This is the best way to clear up the eventual sag that our rear ends take
> - by sag I mean the pronounced negative camber at the rear that tends to
> wear the inside of your expensive wide tires.
>
> I think the W124 Sportline suspension rear camber amplifies the problem
> because while the springs are shorter than stock W124s, the rear camber
> links are the same part number. That's my theory anyway.
>
> My suspension was really wearing the insides of my tires. So I had the
> K-Mac installed on my 300CE Sportline. Then my Master suspension man was
> able to do the 4 wheel alignment properly, and he got everything nearly dead
> nuts in the middle of the spec range, front and rear, side to side -
> something that no one else was able to do. He took a day and a half to
> carefully do this.
>
> If you google K-MAC you'll find their website. An outfit here in the
> states sells the kits (www.shox.com) for less than 2/3s of the retail
> cost.
>
> Regards,
> Steve
>
> Well, I live in Australia and so these are our local suppliers :)  My
> suspension people said that the trap was with the non-adjustable concentric
> bushes, and that Mercedes were likely to supply those.  The adjustable
> versions are far better.
>
> The reason is that the adjustment on the non adjustable ones can only be
> done by removing the entire trailing arm assembly and then rotating the
> metal core of the bush.  This costs a fortune in labour, but theoretically
> you could get the adjustment done eventually.  The adjustable types can be
> adjusted after assembly, which makes the whole process quicker and cheaper.
>
> The K-mac kit costs $317AUD including overnight freight to my door.  The
> MB concentric bushes cost 55.85ea or $223.40AUD for all four.  But it
> costs around $200 in labour to pull out and put in each of the trailing
> arms, so if you are using the non-adjustable types and your mechanic doesn't
> get it right the first time then you are up for big dollars very quickly
> (prices are quoted in Australian dollars).
>
> K-mac was a good piece of advice - you've hit a winner there!!  Thanks
> Steve :)
>
> Robert
>
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>
>


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