Tracking Recommendations

[MakaveliX]

Looking to get the tracking done on my project car ( W203 C240 from 2002 with approx 38K miles )
I have done a fair bit of suspension work on it including track rod end, one thrust arm and both struts.

Car drives perfectly and tyre wear seems fairly even at this stage when comparing driver/passenger ( Offside front seems to have more wear on the insides so perhaps it is sitting more negative camber ) - previous owner was elderly and would have neglected tyre pressures so that could be why.

I know a Mercedes independent specialist, would it be best taking the car to them ? They do 4 wheel John Bean at their place.
I can take it to a regular while you wait tyre place but would rather spend a bit extra and take it to people who specialise in Mercs.

Is it likely the camber will need to be adjusted ? I do not want to spend too much money and know that could be a costly and timely venture as opposed to doing the toe in/toe out.

Also. There is a scratching noise whilst driving, but no noise if I spin the wheel with the car in the air. - which leads me to believe it is tracking related ( as when the car is on the ground the geometry changes ) - this noise stops when I apply the brake, and is worse if someone is sat in the passenger seat.

Any advice would be great, thanks.

[SL222]

I'm no expert but I had mine done recently some issues and it cost £100 or so, if that saves a tyre then worth it. I think most places charge less if they check it and no adjustment needed.

[MustangGT]

I would look at a local tyre place with Hunter kit. Not heard of the other kit.

[trevalvole]

MakaveliX said:

I know a Mercedes independent specialist, would it be best taking the car to them ? They do 4 wheel John Bean at their place.
I can take it to a regular while you wait tyre place but would rather spend a bit extra and take it to people who specialise in Mercs.

Is it likely the camber will need to be adjusted ? I do not want to spend too much money and know that could be a costly and timely venture as opposed to doing the toe in/toe out.

I'm no expert on this, but the kind of things I've heard/experienced are as follows:

1. I'm not sure you need 4 wheel alignment for just toe in/toe out - I suspect tracking will sort that;

2. I've heard that Mercs are set up for the camber on German roads, which is different to British roads. I think if you want to adjust the camber you'd need to buy some camber bolts like these (may not be the ones for your car) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121347317646

3. I've had poor experiences at a place that had a Hunter machine, but the operators weren't up to using it correctly. There's an old thread in the Technical section that says the same thing i.e. it is the skills of the people who do the alignment which is most important;

4. In your case where you don't want to spend a lot of money, then I'd be inclined to go to a tyre place with a good reputation and just get them to do the tracking.

Edited by trevalvole on Monday 5th May 10:28

Edited by trevalvole on Monday 5th May 10:29

[MakaveliX]

trevalvole said:

I'm no expert on this, but the kind of things I've heard/experienced are as follows:

1. I'm not sure you need 4 wheel alignment for just toe in/toe out - I suspect tracking will sort that;

2. I've heard that Mercs are set up for the camber on German roads, which is different to British roads. I think if you want to adjust the camber you'd need to buy some camber bolts like these (may not be the ones for your car) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121347317646

3. I've had poor experiences at a place that had a Hunter machine, but the operators weren't up to using it correctly. There's an old thread in the Technical section that says the same thing i.e. it is the skills of the people who do the alignment which is most important;

4. In your case where you don't want to spend a lot of money, then I'd be inclined to go to a tyre place with a good reputation and just get them to do the tracking.

Edited by trevalvole on Monday 5th May 10:28

Edited by trevalvole on Monday 5th May 10:29

Thanks for all the info everyone.
Had the tracking done today, they did mention they cannot adjust camber/castor without the adjustment bolts but are happy to do it in the future.
Here are the results. As you see the camber is quite off from what it should be, I wonder if this is why the car makes a scratchy noise from the brakes ?

[trevalvole]

MakaveliX said:

As you see the camber is quite off from what it should be, I wonder if this is why the car makes a scratchy noise from the brakes ?

Again, not an expert, but it seems unlikely as none of the wheel alignment stuff will affect the position of the callipers relative to the discs.

[MakaveliX]

trevalvole said:

Again, not an expert, but it seems unlikely as none of the wheel alignment stuff will affect the position of the callipers relative to the discs.

Yeah that is what I thought, odd one.
Thanks for the info anyway appreciate it.

[MustangGT]

Scratchy sound could be a stone stuck in between the disc and the dust cover.

[MakaveliX]

Noise seems to have subsided significantly, perhaps was a stuck piston.

All I had done was the Front/Rear Toe. How come the camber changed too ? I know the car inside out and the only way to adjust camber is by installing adjustable bolts which I do not have fitted.
Thanks

[trevalvole]

MakaveliX said:

All I had done was the Front/Rear Toe. How come the camber changed too ? I know the car inside out and the only way to adjust camber is by installing adjustable bolts which I do not have fitted.
Thanks

Probably the short answer (not an expert) is something like that adjusting the track rod ends can affect characteristics other than toe, but if you want to set the camber independently of toe (and not have to trade-off toe and camber errors), then you need camber bolts.