Factory Alignment Issues

fireball

Member
Seems some people are having issues with the alignment being off from the factory, I myself noticed the driver side outside tread is wearing way to fast. I have talked to my local Sprinter dealer and its going in for an alignment tomorrow under warranty.

What should I expect from this? I thought I read somewhere MB had a fix for this and not to set it to factory specs?

The tire at this point was moved to be a spare and it honestly doesnt have much life left, at only 9900 miles should MB be held responsible for replacing tires and fixing the alignment issue under warranty?
 
I have a 2011 144 Passenger that has the same problem.
At only 10,000 miles the outside edge of the front tires are almost gone.
My old 2004 never did this.
I brought it back to dealer, they did an alignment, and charged me for it.
Hopefully the new alignment will stop this.
Miles will tell soon.
 

gazor

New member
2008 - 82000km - cargo 3500, same issue from day one(bought it brand new)
going to book an appt at a local mercedes dealer to see if they can fix it.
local dodge unable to resolve the issue from day one.
There is slight steering wheel vibration at around 110 km/h and up.
 

Sprinter Ottawa

New member
This issue was discussed recently in a thread called "Camber Crash Bolts". In brief, I wrote that in Canada we have seen this problem and that MB Canada has been paying to have the problem corrected as long as it is brought to the dealers attention early, generally within 1 year of purchase. Normally the problem shows up within a few months depending on mileage and load on van. The problem is that the front wheel camber is set to allow for a heavy load on the front axle, if the van is not loaded heavily or loaded with more weight towards the back the front tires wear on the outside edges. This is why doing an alignment to original factory specs. doesn't work, MB Canada have supplied us with revised camber settings so that the front tires run flatter with less load. You may also be able to get some compensation for replacement tires, probably on a pro rata basis. Hope this helps.

Phil Brown
Star Motors of Ottawa
 

sprintguy

16+ yrs Master Commercial technician
The issue of alignment , and outer edge tire wear is not a factory defect nor is it a blunder in any way. Like said already , the heavy positve camber angle is for proper load distrubution throughout the vehicle. The camber specs are based on Shock tube length and ride height. Most NAFTA vans have a pretty high ride height.

With all that said , The proper loading of the van is crucial in proper tire wear (most weight and mass as far foward as possible) . Then constant tire rotations are required to cut back on the wear(5-10K miles) even on the 3500 dual wheel trucks. Camber is adjustable even without the camber bolts, (I recommend you use the bolts) . Then lets throw into the mix a cheap crappy tire that wears out in 20k miles anyway. Note that if and when you do replace the tires you use a good (not cheapo depo ) tires and check the alignment yearly if the truck is used that much (especially inner city driving). again ROTATE ,ROTATE,ROTATE. Oh and proper pressure in the tires is required for good wear, check it every week (don't wait to the light comes on).
 

fireball

Member
So what does this van load rating have to do with someone who never loads the van? I have a crew van and the back has seen nothing more than a mountain bike and a weeks worth of groceries? I do not use this as a commercial van.
 

Sprinter Ottawa

New member
Since most Sprinter cargo vans (incuding Crew) are used as commercial vehicles and are usually loaded quite heavily this is the camber angle setting that Mercedes have chosen to meet the needs of the majority of buyers. Who knows, maybe they will revise this in the future to a more moderate setting, then of course they run the risk of having front tires wear on the inside edge when heavily loaded. For the simple reason that one camber setting doesn't work for a van with a few hundred pounds in it and a van loaded with over 3000lbs Mercedes have been resetting camber angles on vans that are used with lighter loads and show excessive outside edge front tire wear at no charge to customer (in Canada anyway). As mentioned above, this is not due to defect or poor alignment from factory.

As far as T1N's go unfortunately we don't have enough experience with them to be able to answer that.
 

fireball

Member
They said the toe was out..driver was out 10 minutes and passenger 5 minutes. Warranty was covered, loaner car given but nothing done about tires
 

showkey

Well-known member
They said the toe was out..driver was out 10 minutes and passenger 5 minutes. Warranty was covered, loaner car given but nothing done about tires
Does the repair order have the camber reading (numbers) not a statement like "in spec"????
 

fireball

Member
That is what the tech told me, the invoice states "Found front toe out of specification, adjusted toe pressed, performed road test and verified wheel straight"
 
Does anyone happen to know the part number for the camber bolt package. That would be beneficial.

I work on a lot of T1N's. Not too many problems with alignments. Can't change anything but toe anyway. Only problem with tire wear is not rotating, underinflation, and crappy tires.

Go Michelin!
 

showkey

Well-known member
That is what the tech told me, the invoice states "Found front toe out of specification, adjusted toe pressed, performed road test and verified wheel straight"

One way to handle this is go back and ask for the camber setting ( a good dealer best practice would give a print out Of the alignment spec and setting setting as measured) since your concern is left tire wear camber on that wheel would be a good place to start. Others have reported a less than perfect camber setting cause edge wear. Toe setting off should give more of a feather type wear pattern.

They may say the toe setting was the reason for the left tire wear. Then you might have to get second opinion. Plan B rotate front tires side to side and monitor wear closely.

Been Said many times " their a big difference in checking alignment and doing a correct alignment to resolve problem like excessive tire wear.

If the dealer can not satisfy call MB and ask for assistance.
 
Last edited:

Sprinter Ottawa

New member
I spoke to our shop foreman and our alignment tech this morning regarding this issue, the problem of excessive tire wear on the outside edge of front tires was discussed recently at a meeting of Canadian dealers shop foreman. The original front wheel camber setting is 1.3 degrees of POSITIVE camber, the cure is to reduce this by 1 degree to 0.3 degrees of POSITIVE camber, then reset toe if needed. We have done this on a number of vans recently that are running with lighter loads and experiencing this problem, mostly 2500 144's, although we have done a few 2500 170's. At the dealer level we are trying to catch this as early as we can, MB Canada would rather pay the dealer for an alignment than deal with tire wear issues down the road.

As I've said before, this comes from a Canadian perspective, and this is assuming the original camber settings are the same in Canada as the U.S. If you think you are experiencing this problem and your dealer isn't aware, contact Mercedes-Benz.
 

SOLBRTs

Member
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1344450992.952950.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1344451020.019322.jpg

2011 LT 144. At 9700 first service dealer told me no rotation necessary,although I asked 3 times. Went out and drove 7900 miles in three weeks, no more than 500 lbs of dogs and gear with two people. This is the result and I was EXTREMELY careful to spread and balance the load.

Now dealer telling me no coverage from MB unless I rotated every 3000-5000 miles. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

My MB Sprinter experience is certainly nothing like my MB car experience and not even close to the quality of my BMW service.

Feeling like this vehicle is too fragile and no one really understands customer service.

Based on the info above I guess the next call is to MB corporate.
 

jdcaples

Not Suitable w/220v Gen
If you could get Sprinter Ottawa's dealeship to send you fax on dealership letterhead confirming the "dealership level" position, I think MB USA, LLC and/or Daimler Vans of North America, LLC would be more likely to listen to you.

All you have right now is, essentially, "I read on the internet that......"

At the very least maybe send a private message to Sprinter Ottawa; get a technician name or shop foreman name for MB to contact. That way you have a dealership employee known to MB Customer Service who will back up your story.
 

SOLBRTs

Member
I think you are absolutely correct. I intend to follow up with the Canadians. I read it on the Internet rarely carries much weight.
 

showkey

Well-known member
I think you are absolutely correct. I intend to follow up with the Canadians. I read it on the Internet rarely carries much weight.

Yup..................read it on the Internet.................leave that at home.

Tell them your an engineer .........that will get about the same response as the Internet :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Just ask them to fix the tire wear............:bash::bash::bash::bash:

They may still fight you or blow you off buy:
Stand up and ask for the camber measurements..........if that left wheel is excessive positive camber.......ask them to make .3 to 0 camber.
 

flman

Roadrunner, Genius of Birds ALWAYS WINS! NO FAILS!
Is there a TSB or any official documents from MB on this issue? My NCV3 wears both front tires heavy on the outside. My T1N has always worn them even for 7 years with no alignment and hired help driving it. Is this alignment a job only MB can do, or can my local mechanic do it?
 
Is there a TSB or any official documents from MB on this issue? My NCV3 wears both front tires heavy on the outside. My T1N has always worn them even for 7 years with no alignment and hired help driving it. Is this alignment a job only MB can do, or can my local mechanic do it?
With 3500 miles on the clock and some outside tire wear on my fronts I scheduled an appointment with the nearby M-B Sprinter dealer in Shrewsbury Ma. When I took it in I explained to the receptionist / writer (a nice looking lady who was pleasant but clueless) that I wanted the camber brought down to 0 and the toe corrected...blank stares. Luckily for me, Carl (yes, the famous Carl on this board) happened to walk to the desk as I was trying to explain what I needed. He immediately understood. While he doesnt actually DO the alignments, I am pretty sure it was he that told the tech who does them what was up and needed. It came back to me perfect, and the printed before measurements confirmed that I was correct regarding the (around) 1.5 degree positive camber it had when I brought it in.

Readers may recall I originally found the left front was over 2 degrees shortly after I got the van and I corrected that myself to match the right side, but I was still not happy with the 1.5 degree positive camber and given I measured this with the van loaded as I use it I didnt want it to continue since it would just chew thru tires.

Anyway, I do not know of a published tech bulletin by M-B on this but the good Sprinter techs will understand. I got mine done under warranty because I brought it in so soon, but paying for an alignment should only have been around $80-$100. And, there is nothing at all unusual about this strut based front end to prevent any alignment shop from getting it to where you need it. The strut lower mounting bolt holes are slotted and appear to have a range of over 2 degrees positive to slightly negative (with the van unloaded) without having to go with an offset (cambered) or undersized (crash) bolt. If you decide to have it done, I suggest the van be loaded as it is for most of the miles you drive it and ask for 0 camber at that load.
 

Top Bottom