Huge thanks for all of your advice. I will definitely let you know how this goes.

 

Well I took the Crossfire in to the tire shop today. They put it up on the alignment rack and showed me all of the specs, everything was perfectly aligned. The owner of the shop was there and he looked at it himself. He said that this is pretty typical of these cars, and that the feathering really wasn't bad at all, nothing "out of the ordinary for cars like this."

He showed me how to check the tire for "knife-edging" by placing my palm flat on the tire and pushing in across the tire, then pulling back out. He said if the alignment was way out of adjustment that you'd feel sharp edges on the tread when you pulled your hand backward across the tire, from the inside of the wheel well out - my tire was perfectly smooth.

All of that said, I'm still completely unsure what to think. Part of me whats to say that it's a cop out, and the other part wants to believe what this guy is saying considering how long he's been doing this and the fact he looks at tires everyday. Either way, I once again appreciate all of the input from this forum, and I suppose I'll keep driving it the way it is for the time being, knowing that this issue is just going to get progressively worse, as I don't really want to pay another shop that I've never been to for another alignment when I have no guarantee they can do it any better than the previous three who haven't been able to rectify this problem.

In other news, my passenger side low beam died on me at some point overnight, so it looks like I have another project for the weekend! (I've already found the thread on how to replace that, doesn't look too difficult, but man.. when it rains, it pours!)

 

Did they give you the print-out? Most shops do. Compare that to the service manual. Did they show you something that had green, yellow and red ranges? There are ranges of acceptable but are they AT the spec?

I ask because my first Crossfire felt a little "flighty" at times depending on road surface but after the shop set the toe alignment ON spec not just within a range of acceptable did the problem go away. I also liked about 2 lbs more air than the door sticker for a better feel.

When they say typical they make it sound like they work on Crossfires regularly. Ask them how many per year they see. I bet not more than 2.

 

I have read thru a number of threads like this and having had a problem with front tire wear and abnormal handling I did not feel confident with general tire shops working on my Crossfire. Yes, I buy tires at a local store and have them balance and mount new tires when I need them, but I went to the Mercedes dealer for an alignment. I'm lucky that the nearest Mercedes dealer is happy to work on my car. I thought they would have the equipment, properly calibrated and maintained, the knowledge and expertise to do the job. I was not disappointed; The car drove much better right out of the shop. That was three years ago. I have had no problems since then of excessive or abnormal tire wear. Maybe it was just luck. I am certainly happy with the results and will go back to the Mercedes dealer for any future alignment or suspension work that I can't preform by myself.

 

Hi, I did have to put in a camber adjustment part to correct the problem, but it was great since.
I also have only 57k miles and both front springs are broken and am putting in a lowering spring kit as Chrysler does not have any OEM springs available.
Now as I do not race it, I am running MB 16 inch wheels with 225/55 rear and 215/55 front and it is a wonderful smooth ride and handles much better.
I do get 26 MPG and love that too as long as I keep my foot out of it. haha

 

Ordering parts from Chrysler is almost always an expensive or fruitless endevour.
I believe that stock SLK320 springs would fit and provide OEM or near OEM performance.
Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

Coming from a performance offroad background I tend to pay attention to weight in my vehicles. I didn't see any comments about having the car "loaded" while doing an alignment. Our new-to-us SRT 6 has inside wear on the driver's rear. On ours the P.O. was the only weight in the vehicle and considering the weight capacity on these cars is 415# having 50% of its capacity on one side of the car do you think that could have effect on wear and handling??

 

I drive my Crossfires (Im on car 3, over 90000 miles so far) without a passenger and I've never noticed uneven wear.