Camber bolt help please

[blackcab]

Guys

Had my 2008 Cls in to MB wakefield today for its MOT and a service - the front tyres had worn to the thread and they say its down to a camber bolt and ride height issue not the tracking as the rest of tyre with 5mm left are fine.

Has anyone else had this problem, it looks like I have to shell out for 2 new tyres and this camber bolt upgrade to allow adjustment thing to resolve that is not a warranty item they tell me.

Has anyone else done the same ?

[mbtech01]

The lower control arms on your car are held in place by a large bolt passing through a central groove in the large bush which is part of each control arm. Modified camber bolts come from Mercedes in a bag which consists of two modified bolts. The bolts have an offset groove cut in them down the entire length of the bolt, The idea being when the original bolt is replaced with a modified camber/caster bolt which locates into the bush will move the control arm left or right depending on how the bolt is fitted & thus increase or decrease the amount of camber/caster. Its quite a time consuming operation on a 4 wheel alignment & generally dealers will charge anything up to 3 - 4 hours. Just make sure if its carried out on your car that the vehicle drives straight & doesn't pull to one side. Ask to see all printouts of before & after readings & keep them for reference in case you suffer from increased tyre wear & need to return back to your dealer.

[blackcab]

Thanks mate, they have said 4 hours inc laser alignment etc and quoted £290 inc vat

[zone1london]

A little late for it to be useful to the person asking, but I got the same thing done by Blackboots, based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire for £40 something for the Hunter alignment, and the Mercedes camber bolts were £30+ VAT. I also had 4x tyres changed and they did it all in less than 3 hours.

So far, so good. It feels like a different car, a better one. According to their technicians, all Mercedes of a particular generation (mine is a S203 - 2004 model) suffer from steering drift over time. These bolts do the appropriate correct. But I was advised that steering return could be faster or slower on one side compared to the other as a result of the adjustment. This is solely based on the level of adjustment my car required. All cars will be different.

[Dog Star]

Had them done on my SL500 by Merc in Leeds - it was about £250 inc the alignment etc, however it drove like a new car.