Thought I would replace the steering stabiliser before I posted this thread. I purchased the stabiliser for £38 from Mercedes and took about 1/2 a hour to fit. I have a 2005 model with 63,000 on the clock. Changing the stabiliser dosent seem to have made much difference as the car still plays hunt the white line when out driving. I have had the car a year now and the handling has definitely got sloppier over this time. Anybody got any ideas if I am looking at a steering or supspension problem. Also does anybody no any garages in the Teesside area that does Crossfire services.

 

If that means it is constantly wanting to go left or right, then I'd find a good laser alignment shop.
Most likely the toe in/out is off on the front or rear.
Toe in is adjustable both front and rear, camber is not without some aftermarket parts.

 

Hope your running radial tires on all four. Bias tires will send you all over the road. Squirrel Crusher

 

...and these cars are very well known for following tire ruts. "Tram-lining" we call it here.

 

Thanks for the replies. I will check the tyres, I know I am due some new ones on the front. I wil change them for the same as I have on the back. If that doesnt sort it I will get laser alignment on it. Cheers Karl.

 

A pull like that can really only be caused by 2 issues. Incorrect caster, or tires. Bad toe can’t really give you a real pull though it will wear out tires quickly.The stabilizer cannot affect alignment. I am skeptical that your stabilizer was worn out at 63,000, I have 57,000 and my stabilizer is as good as new. Just had it up on a hoist last week. I guess you would have to test them side by side, you should be able to compress each like a shock and gauge the resistance as you do so.

My experience was a persistent, strong pull to the right in my 2005 coupe at 12500 miles. As soon a I put new summer tires on it, I also put Koni shocks on the car at this time which was 3 years ago. I live in Michigan so it’s only a (most of) 3 season car and has never been driven in winter temps or weather. Ever. Even before I owned it.

I concluded initially, and after 2 alignments in a year and about 3 years of driving, that the tires were the issue. Brand new BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2 tires.

The front casters was slightly out of spec initially, this was corrected (to OE specs) with the camber bolt kits. These can correct and adjust a limited amount of both caster and camber.
The car still pulled.
I switched front wheels side to side (which had these directional tires rotating backwards) and even switched tires side to side via dismounting and remounting.
The car still pulled.
It pulled idling in 1st gear. It pulled eveywhere, all the time. At some point I just learned to live with it and rationalized that it was “just a Crossfire thing” even though I believed the tires were at fault.

I replaced the well worn rear BFG tires with Continental Sport Contact 2’s (summer tires) very late last fall right before my car went into winter hibernation in 2015. I replaced the well worn front BFG tires with Yokohama AVID (all-season passenger/not high performance all-season) just this month.

The car now drives like an absolute dream.

End of story.

 

So: your answer is to use 2 different tire make/style/tread from front to back? Just make sure to use Yoki's in front and Conti's rear?

 

So your position is that the driveability issue was a tire-related one. I sort of agree with that position. One could assume that your pulling issue went away once you installed the Yoko's on the front. Being a typical all season tire, rubber compound may be more compliant. And the tread pattern would be a factor.

Thoughts anyone?

 

No, you don't have to choose the types of tires I used to cure a pull, though it did work in my case. And you don't have to mix and match tire performance types though all season tires will be more forgiving to drive regarding tram-lining, crown following and the like.
What it proved was that the issue was with the tires. Specifically the set of tires that I got, hopefully not all BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2 tires.
The front tires clearly had some manufacturing defect that caused the pull in my car when all other possible causes were ruled out and/or corrected. If you had another set of tires to use as a diagnostic tool you could do that but it would be a PITA to have to do that.

 

I have the same tires on the front of my 2005 Roadster and I promise you I will never buy them again, drivability is very poor with the BF Goodrich Tires.

 

Yes, it was unequivocally the tires, the car drives as it should, there is no pull of any kind at any speed. The car was literally transformed by a change of tires, it’s now enjoyable to drive.
And yes the type of tire (all season passenger in my case not even high performance all season) has an effect on how a car drives. They are much more compliant and have a tread-wear of 320 which is pretty soft for a tire of this type. For reference the BFG summer tires had a tread-wear of 300. My car will not have the ultimate cornering grip that you would get from a set of summer tires.
The moral of my story is this: If the car is aligned correctly and still pulls, the issue is in the tires.

 

I somewhat disagree about toe in/out not pulling. Toe in out of alignment on 1 tire only can pull a good bit. On the back too. I suspect there is another issue that will resurface after the new tires get some wear, hope not. While different tires definitely affect ride and handling, they usually do not correct a "problem."

 

^^^^^^
I agree with JEFASOLD.
I bought mine in Jan 2011 and it always wanted to turn left.
I figured it just wanted to go to Talladega and play with the big boys, but I found from a laser alignment check that the toe in on the right rear was waaaaaay off, along with the camber.
I installed adjustable camber links, had the alignment set again and now it drives arrow straight.
( same tires )
I think the previous owner most likely curbed it at some point.

 

I’m referring to front end issues in my case not any issues with the rear, though the alignments done on my car were indeed 4 wheel alignments. That said if you whack a curb and bend a rear toe link the car will pull. Of course that bent toe link has affected the rear caster and camber also.
On the front toe issues may cause a pull, incorrect caster and or defective tires (and as I have suspected and experienced) will cause a strong pull.

Cliffs Notes.
1 New tires: Strong pull
2 Caster out of spec, car aligned: Strong pull
3 Alignment verified: Strong pull
4 New tires, alignment verified: No pull

New tires certainly will cure a problem when the problem is the tires, as was the case here. I have been driving on them for about 6 weeks now and guess what, there’s still no pull. If there is some double secret mystery factor in this equation up I will document it here, though I suspect (actually I know) that the problem is fixed. It was the tires.

 

Well they are both Crossfires and they both pulled, apart from that the issues we had couldn't be more different.

 

I'll have to agree with you.
There can always be different causes that result in the same problem.