I am going crazy. I am a lady who bought her crossfire 10 years ago. I have only put 50,000 miles on it and have gone thru 4 sets of high speed tires and all have been worn in the same way. The outsides look good but the insides are worn to the steel belts.I always have the tires aligned as soon as changed.I have all repairs made as soon as I am told it needs to be done,but nothing has changed this extreme tire wear.What is wrong and how do I fix it. I hope you can help me. None of the shops seem to have a clue.Thanks Joyce

 

Sounds like your camber adjustment needs improvement. Did you lower your car or does it have the original suspension? If you have the factory suspension you can correct your problem with this rather simple fix. Buy a set of eccentric bolts for the front and have get them installed. Parts numbers and instructions are in the PDF link: DIY eccentric bolt install

 

Ok, so 12,500 miles on a set of tires. If I drive my SE so that I take every curve as fast as I can, and accelerate hard, and brake hard, I get around 11,000 miles from the rears and about 13,000 from the front with a $900 set of Hankooks.
Driving more reasonably I can get close to 20,000 miles.

My front tires wear pretty evenly, but the rears will wear down on the inside more than outside, as our cars have more camber then most cars - that is part of why they take corners faster and better than a lot of cars. ALSO, our rear ends have independent rear suspension, which helps with handling but also causes more rear tire wear.

If you are driving reasonably, I'd tell you that my first set of tires on my first Crossfire (which I drove like a school bus) lasted nearly 30,000 miles (with some uneven wear in back, of course).

I'd have two things to ask:
1) What brand and type of tire are you using?
2) Exactly how bad are the tires at 12,000 miles? Uneven wear is fine, you replace the tires when tread is very thin, not when it's just uneven.
I am questioning if you are not being sold 'a bill of goods' and replacing tires way before it's really needed.

I reread your post. I am getting the idea that someone has put aftermarket rear arms on to get a LOT more camber. This would wear the rears faster, but not the fronts. Changing back to factory camber would fix this.
You say they "align" the tires, if the alignment was set correctly, the wear would not be nearly as bad at 12,000 miles as you describe. This tells me that the work on the car is not being done that you believe is being done.
Your issue may be who you are trusting the car to.

 

You state you always have the tires aligned I think you might mean balanced.
f they are performing an alignment you will get a report showing measurements for camber, toe, caster (ect).
If you have these reports please post them. They should tell you if you pass or fail.
Maybe if you post your location someone in your area could recommend a good tire shop.

 

"The outsides look good but the insides are worn to the steel belts" that is way too much negative camber - on all four or just the fronts ?
Negative camber is often used on race cars and canyon carvers but I set the fronts on my street cars beween 0 and 1 degree negative and 1/16 to 1/8" toe in.
In general a good radial should accommodate up to two degrees negative but depends on the car.

 

I was having the same problem. But now my front tires are wearing outside and inside. I have had it aligned ever time i put front tires on seems to be getting worse. I might be getting 2,000 miles from the front tires. Back tires are doing fine.

 

Four things come to mind, Front suspension parts worn out, your front wheel bearings have play (do a self inspection on jack stands), the alignment shop doesn't know what they are doing, or your driving too fast around corners. After checking the front bearings take the car to a different independent european shop that does wheel alignments (the crossfires need the all 4 wheels alignment) and have them give it an alignment. IF there is a problem with getting it aligned, they should be able to tell you if and what may need replacing (front and/or rear). If everything checks out OK, then maybe your taking corners too fast? Good luck.


.

 

There is not enough information in your post to really help much.

GraphitGhost is absolutely correct in his post as to checking for worn out parts! If necessary get to a Mercedes dealership who will work on the car as they at least know the R170 frame and how to use eccentric/adjustament bolts to correct a problem. I would ask as to what air pressure you run in your tires and how often do you check it to be sure you maintain that pressure. The brand and type of tire you use may have something to do with it as well.

Alignment for Crossfires (Mercedes R170 models) are sort a BS as the only thing that one can align as they come from the factory is toe. Caster, camber are fixed non adjustable from the factory and many techs look the car up in there data base, see that info and only adjust toe. They do not even look at the other adjustments as they want to move on to the next car to get paid. The cars are getting old, so first things first: Follow GraphitGhosts advice as to checking, correcting worn parts. Does your car have the original suspension components?? Have you or a previous owner lowered the car, changed the shocks or coil springs, installed eccentric/adjustable bolts or other after market parts?

 

you need this ,,,two bolts for the front ,,may not need the rear u can get them off ebay now find a mech to install them Miami matt will drive to you to install TEXT him do not call he will call back also where are u? if you can find a set of two bolts it cost less here is the link Matt phone # 786 877 5959
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20420194795...Bk9SR86t6v_fYg

then if u want the rear this is the best or any like
ithttps://www.ebay.com/itm/354964718936?hash=item52a58bc558:g:kPkAAOSwDcFk0Ge h&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8LJs4vd1RLFN%2B%2B49SyzTx5H zfD21tpxudmlY0aLFLPUiRpaSVLqzfr%2BS1xTcKbeT6jpv1V1 Ysu4AvLQTnASi0KOpfG2iNFT0n1Osrq%2BQ3NaU%2F%2FjHvPS fXfCNqM8Rg8yDiE%2BBwW8UHv%2FjgqRepWhAzUocDpi33wrML YWttyqPCpB22lwc8wUgYfHZi6Z%2Bp1Gw7dIr1xS9YrHM4GjFJ DkChcEK0%2Fj0SN1yOB6ydB9fVQzuMCHATAzGrzGmMvpkgrZ7k nzqD%2BV5WJvQhK62iE7RKCpVtEaN6M7hGnLxEeTQpVq%2F3Wn UxBo%2Fmoj50cjjz3eXMA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMzq3q_99i

 

That ebay link part Number 140 330 00 18 is NOT the correct eccentric bolt for our Crossfires. The correct number is from Febi 202 330 01 18. The Mercedes number is 2023300118.

 

Thank you Zip I was not sure if that was the # as i have not bought those bolts for years,, anyway thanks for catching that and posting the correct number,, jim

 

Why not order the parts from Rob at Needswings?
https://needswings.com/front-adjustable-camber-bolt-kit

I had to do this for the last two Crossfires I've owned - as the "alignment" they do without them is BARELY going to make any difference.

I still think it's asinine the cars came with such limited adjustment up front. No wonder the guy is beating his head against the wall.

 

Hay Mark. i had forgotten that Needswings has the alignment bolts thanks for reminding me I think i will order a set now, we are replacing all the suspension on my v8 factory parts on the front and adj links on the rear,, also moving the bottom radiator support down and forward 3" here is a pic on the rear on my aero blue srt6 jim

 

The last time i had it aligned it was wearing on the outside of the tire. He said my camber was out so i got the kit from needswing. When i get the money Im taking it to a different shop.My font wheels have some play when i jacked it up.Something is moving i just cant tell what. Ive thought about taking it to a frame shop it has a rebuilt title. Maybe something is bent.

 

FIRST correct the slop/play in the front suspension. If the lower control arm (A frame) has bad bushings it is easier and less expensive to buy a new Lemforder complete control arm than trying to install new bushings on your old "A Frame. Install the bolts you got from Needswings and get it aligned. If it looks okay on the alignment rack you do not need to go to a body shop to check the frame. A good alignment shop will check the cars front to rear ride height and the thrust angle. If they are within spec you are good to go.

 

Good people,

Am reviving this older discussion as it seems to be about the only one on alignment issues. I didn't have tire wear problems. But I had four new Goodyear tires put on as the rears were some low profile Pirellis and the fronts were the correct size, but also two different types of Pirelli. Anyway, the ride is nicer with the correctly sized Goodyears, but the car then developed a pull to the left even after the alignment at the shop. We replaced the camber adjust bolts (or whatever they are called) as the guys there said that then gives them greater alignment abilities and it fixes it on the R170 body Mercedes. Well, the car pulls even more to the left after they installed the adjustable bolts and now claim that the alignment is at its max adjustment and can't be done any differently.

Attached are (or should be) the alignment print outs for my 2005 XF roadster. I don't trust the shop any longer and find it hard to believe that after swapping in adjustable bolts that they have less ability to change the alignment than they had with the original bolts. And again, the car pulls more to the left now than it did before I took it in. It is subtle, but it is there, especially when I let off the accelerator and the car decelerates (without braking).

Any ideas? Would appreciate some of you casting a cold, calculating eye on the attached alignment print outs to see if anything there stands out as odd.

Much appreciated!

John
Pretoria, South Africa

 

And again, the car pulls more to the left now than it did before I took it in. It is subtle, but it is there

It is not unusual. Often the steering wheel is not exactly centered when an alignment is done, so the wheels are not pointed where the steering wheel is pointing as the steering wheel was not at exact center when the alignment was done. The car will also pull with the crown of the road, so while testing your car for a pull left or right, do it on a very flat parking lot. I would say subtle is normal.
On Mercedes automobiles the caster is often adjusted by 1 degree difference between left and right sides of the car to help "cure" that drift caused by the crown of the road. I believe you drive on the left side of the road in S. Africa so having a more positive caster on the right side as your alignment shows is correct. I think your camber should be matching a bit better if you can as that drift to the left could be caused by the right camber being greater than the left.
You may also want to replace the steering stabilizer shock if it has not been done in the past several years.
Be certain tire pressure is the same side to side. Check the door label for proper pressures front to rear.

 

Thanks. Regarding the road crown, I will take it out on the highway where the driving lanes are flatter. Yes, the left pull is away from the crown (right hand drive). Appreciate it. John

 

Another thing to consider are the tires. Can you switch tires from side to side? The tires must be non directional to do this. Maybe if you switch tires to the other side the pull might change sides with the tire.

 

So far I've found bad inner wheel bearing and lower ball joints. Just ordered steering damper. Don't know if it will help but it still drifts to the right. Still feel something moving think I'm buying upper control arms next.