Pagoda SL Group

W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: n/a on December 19, 2003, 00:36:26

Title: Castor on a 1964 230 SL
Post by: n/a on December 19, 2003, 00:36:26

My 230 has a castor of 0° and seems to be unadjustable. Is there an adjustment for this or a mod that has to be done?

Title: Re: Castor on a 1964 230 SL
Post by: rwmastel on December 19, 2003, 21:55:47

ddixon,

I assume you mean the castor on the front wheels?  I believe camber, castor, and toe-in are all adjustable with basic tools.  Unfortunately I have no experience with this.  Do you have the MB Shop Manual or the Haynes Manual?

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

Title: Re: Castor on a 1964 230 SL
Post by: A Dalton on December 19, 2003, 22:07:19

Front castor is adjusted with the cam bolts that secure the leaf springs to the torsion bar brackets.
 Final tweaking/equalization from side to side is adjusted with the castor position plates/washers on the upper control arms, just behind the camber eccentric  bolts/lock..
 It is best to let car suspension settle and rock it back and forth
a few feet before tightening cam locks..

Title: Re: Castor on a 1964 230 SL
Post by: Benz Dr. on December 19, 2003, 22:45:35

Normally caster isn't too much of a problem on these cars. When I do a front end rebuild I just put all the pieces in a central location and it usually works out pretty close at the alignment shop.
Camber and toe in is usually more of a concern because you can have rapid tire wear if they're out a lot. I usually measure the distance on all four corners using the stud mounts as a locating point to see if the car is square and the front end is square to the rest of the car. I've found more than one accident victim doing that.

Getting the rear axel square to the car - now that's  tricky.

Dan c
 SL Barn

Daniel G Caron

Title: Re: Castor on a 1964 230 SL
Post by: A Dalton on December 19, 2003, 23:03:14

There are Factory chassis "Bore Holes" located in the  chassis underside for square geometric measure.
 The trick with the rear is to have the axle centralized to the bore holes.
 There is a cross strut adjuster for this purpose and the measurement spec you are looking for this to have the center of the pivot bolt head of the swing axle fulcrum to be 36 mm [+/- 2 mm ] to the right of the chassis C/L..[ looking at chassis in direction of travel ]
 You can make a simple tool for this .. i think it is listed somewhere here
 I have chassis geometry schematics , if anyone needs them..

Title: Re: Castor on a 1964 230 SL
Post by: pkiefert on December 23, 2003, 00:41:47

A Dalton, I'll take a copy of the chassis geometry.  Thanks

Title: Re: Castor on a 1964 230 SL
Post by: A Dalton on December 23, 2003, 07:31:57

Send an email with 113 in the subject line and I will jpg the chassis specs.

ajdalton7@aol.com