I took my SRT into the dealer because something seemed off with the front end.

Just got a call from them, and the alignment was off & camber kits are needed.

The previous owner had lowered the car.

~$275 out the door. Does this sound correct?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

 

How many miles have you driven it before the problem? what is tire wear like. How much lower is the car then stock, did you check the web to see if a camber kit is avaialable for the crossfire. Also for alignment issues the dealer is the last place I would go.

 

What about the rear end if lowered doesn't it too need camber adjustment?
Mike

 

Big Brand Tires did my alignment. (after I installed the rear camber kit from KMAC - not to difficult)

I purchased the front camber bolts from MB (In stock) for arount $20 ea. and Big Brand charged me $65 to install (1 hr shop labor) + $79 for a four wheel alignment.

About $185..

Perfect....

 

The dealer said it could be two or four camber kits; they'd know tomorrow.
My guess is four since all four were lowered. Since this was done by a previous owner, I'm not sure how much lower than stock I am, perhaps an inch. I didn't know my car was lowered until it was noticed by Jay (Neverenough) at a GTG.

 

They can only use one bolt (on each side) for additional camber adjustment, and one bolt (on each side) for additional caster adjustment.

I would think that unless you've hit something real hard with your front tire(s) - you should only need two....

Once your Crossfire is up on the rack and hooked up; they can tell you within 10 minutes. There is only so much camber adjustment (+ or -) with the factory setup and the camber bolts only give something like another +/- .5 deg of additional adjustment range.

 

Thanks.

They quoted me $50 more for four.
Pricy bolts, but I suppose for a dealer using the Merc side of their svc dept I'm not getting stung too badly.

Sucks to drive the Ranger for a day, though.

 

I finally got my car back; I can't beieve it took them a week to get in parts and do the work. Final bill $257 for steering stabilizer, 4 camber kits, installation and alignment.
Made a big difference in handling and feel.

I might have to drive to the Dragon my next day off for bit of testing.

 

Are you saying that the $257.00 price included the camber kits? The only rear camber kit I have found is almost $300.00 alone. Is your ride lowered? if so how much?
Thanks,
Mike

 

Apparently the previous owner started the job. I didn't even know my ride was lowered until it was noticed by another SRT owner.
I had gone into the dealer because I wanted to get the steering stabilizer replaced under warranty. They told me part of my problem was also that the camber was off, and I would need two or four camber kits and alignment to make everything right.

The 4 kits on my receipt are listed as "4 202-330-01-18 parts kit" at $15 each.

 

All said, if the problems are fixed that isn't a bad price to pay. I wasn't aware that MB offered different Camber bolts. I was under the impression that to get a decent tire life with a lowered car you had to spend $600 for "Camber Kits". I guess I'll go ahead and put springs on my short list.

 

Before you get your hopes up, let me measure the distance from the top of the wheel to the bottom of the wheel well. I'm taking your noticing my car was lowered and the dealer telling me that in addition to needing a new steering stabilizer that my camber was off, and putting them together. First, let me eliminate the possibility that I got rooked a bit on an alignment - it could be possible that my XF have looked lower because we were somewhat elevated coming out of the lodge.

Either that, or check the part number; it took 5 days for them to come in so they may not be the standard SLK camber bolts.

I do have to say that my XF has a more confident feel now, and I'm about 5 mph faster in well known mountain twiisties.

 

no need to measure it. It's definitely lowered, no question about that. I'm guessing about 0.80 inches or about 2CM.

 

Thanks, Jay. I was wondering how much.

 

jeff, can you please get me the part numbers for everything you did? i am not happy with the very expensive camber kits i purchased. the bushings and parts are much noisier than stock. even after using bushing lube. it sounds like your setup went flawlessly.

 

MB Part # for the front Camber Bolt (one per bag) two used on the front end - one bolt on each side.




Front Camber Bolt



Front Camber Bolt installed - Factory A-Arm bolt in the back



My SRT6 is now so low that I needed a little aluminum jack to get under the front bumper

 

KMAC Rear Camber Bushing W/Extraction tool



Rear Camber Bushing installed



Rear wheel after alignment (nice...)

 

The 4 kits on my receipt are listed as "4 202-330-01-18 parts kit" at $15 each.

Labor& alignment was $190.

You might also want to check with BrianBrave. He posted:

Big Brand Tires did my alignment. (after I installed the rear camber kit from KMAC - not to difficult)

I purchased the front camber bolts from MB (In stock) for arount $20 ea. and Big Brand charged me $65 to install (1 hr shop labor) + $79 for a four wheel alignment.

About $185..

Perfect....

This makes it sound like my XF's previous owner had done the camber kit, but not the bolts.
Perhaps MB has the bolt listed in their parts catalog as "camber kit".

I'd be happy to check with Barry at Skyland Automotive if you'd like.

 

Brian, you rock! Beat me to the punch, too.

Thanks.

 

I've been to 2 different alignment shops and both have told me that they can't align our cars without some kind of "spanner" bar to keep the front wheels lined up. The MB dealer I deal with charges $147.50 for a 4-wheel alignment... Is this true? My front tires are getting killed by huge tow out... I'm going to have to have them remounted on the opposite wheels as it is to get any life out of them. The tread also has that funny "feathered" wear pattern typical of Tow issues...

Sorry for the thread hijack, even though it is related.