Brother's car a Merc E220 Cdi on a 51 plate. Pulling quite severely to the left. He has changed everything shockers, ball joints, steering rack, bushes, wheels and had it aligned! Still no better. He is pulling out what little hair he has left. Can anyone shed some light on this matter. The car has been laser scanned to see if a component is bent but everything is okay. The car only started doing this after a ball joint was replaced. What could be the cause?

P.s Drink for the person who gets to the bottom of this.

 

whats the tread on the tyre like, who did the laser alignment as they may not be the most competent at it as merc are sensetive beasts at best of times, an old trick is to swap the front road wheels from left to right and if it still does it its the suspension and if not it could be an unevenly worn tyre playing you up, just a thought

 

Tyres have been swapped umpteen times. It's definetely not the tracking that's been done and re-done and done again. Tyres are new to eliminate them, shockers have been replaced too. It really is a puzzling problem Thanks for your suggestions.

 

you say since the ball joint has been recplaced its doing it , then i would say faulty ball joint or wrong ball joint or not fitted correctly especialy if its a press in type ball joint ! are the front calipers binding ? does it have traction control or electronic brake assit ?

 

Check brake caliper, if a piston hass siezed it will hold the pad onto disc slightly causing the inballance.

 

Above suggestions noted with thanks and will be passed on.

 

In terms of alignment, it's not just tracking that has to be considered. More castor one side will increase the tendancy as will camber. A full laser alignment check may be worth considering.
JohnD

 

Here's some random thoughts and questions;

Does it pull to the left when braking? both with the foot pedal or the handbrake (it could be badly adjusted)
Or does it do it when accelerating and or decellerating?
Any bigger/wider wheels/tyres fitted recently? as this can affect the affect of the road camber pulling.
Does it pull to the left in a car park where there is no camber?

 

That has been done John. It is not a slight pulling either which I discovered after having driven the car myself. It is very pronounced and the car has to be corrected constantly, on taking a left turn it doesn't centre properly either. Thanks for your input.

 

Wheels are standard Merc fare, the other points I will follow up. Thanks.

 

If its that bad change that ball joint for another one , get an original merc one ! i can remember the early bmws having weird front lower ball jionts that were round but had to be fitted a certain way as the ball joint itself could only move left to right (like 9-3 oclock ) and people were fitting them wrong making the ball joint move 12-6 oclock without realising this and made the car steer and drive like crap ! not sure if the merc is a press in ball joint or a complete arm ?