[Tony Mac]

Have you watched the videos from owners of Crabbing GLC’s?

Does yours Hop - Skip - Crab & Judder as badly 🤔

 

[Mikkoman1]

Have you watched the videos from owners of Crabbing GLC’s?

Does yours Hop - Skip - Crab & Judder as badly 🤔

Hello. I have not compared. My crabbing feels like the car is broken.

 

[robwils]

Hello. I have not compared. My crabbing feels like the car is broken.

Yes ours did to, felt like the tyre had come of the wheel. Couldnt keep it , it was that bad….
winter tyres did help…

 

[Samwise]

I just wanted to add to this thread, as I read it last year and learnt a lot.

Bought GLC May 2019 - 220d 2016.

Didn't notice any juddering for a while, I though we were safe. Winter and wet weather kicked in, October 19 onwards, really bad on full lock, we have 19" alloys which apparently makes it worse.

Spoke to my local Mercedes garage (after a checkup), workshop guy basically said, it is common with cars of this size, with the torque etc, basically trying to fob me off. I've thankfully owned a lot of cars, all shapes and sizes, disagreed with him throughout 😂

Left the garage went home, did some more reading on here, saw a statement on this thread from the same garage, got angry and called Mercedes HQ (main number on global site). Logged the issue, they said a local garage would come back to me, 2 days later get a call to book the car in, I book it in. Closer to the booking date, I get an email saying this issue is most likely going to cost, BUT they then go on to say they have a solution and what it is (mechanical fix not tyres) but it would cost something like £1100.

Thankfully that p155ed me off enough for me to quote their email back and highlight how they acknowledged a fix was possible, and a fix clearly states a fault etc. This went on for a while, then I said i'd go back to Mercedes HQ and start questioning known faults and how this could be dangerous - unnormal tyre wear etc,

Email back, saying car booked in, cost covered and would I like a loan car.

So a big thank you to everyone on here sharing their information, without it, i'd of conceded at round 1.

FYI - problem solved 100% and to be fair, the garage were brilliant after they agreed to fix the issue, I will always return for a service and will buy future cars from them.

 

[Samwise]

Adam - did you get this fixed under warranty or extended warranty?

Thanks
S

I just wanted to add to this thread, as I read it last year and learnt a lot.

Bought GLC May 2019 - 220d 2016.

Didn't notice any juddering for a while, I though we were safe. Winter and wet weather kicked in, October 19 onwards, really bad on full lock, we have 19" alloys which apparently makes it worse.

Spoke to my local Mercedes garage (after a checkup), workshop guy basically said, it is common with cars of this size, with the torque etc, basically trying to fob me off. I've thankfully owned a lot of cars, all shapes and sizes, disagreed with him throughout 😂

Left the garage went home, did some more reading on here, saw a statement on this thread from the same garage, got angry and called Mercedes HQ (main number on global site). Logged the issue, they said a local garage would come back to me, 2 days later get a call to book the car in, I book it in. Closer to the booking date, I get an email saying this issue is most likely going to cost, BUT they then go on to say they have a solution and what it is (mechanical fix not tyres) but it would cost something like £1100.

Thankfully that p155ed me off enough for me to quote their email back and highlight how they acknowledged a fix was possible, and a fix clearly states a fault etc. This went on for a while, then I said i'd go back to Mercedes HQ and start questioning known faults and how this could be dangerous - unnormal tyre wear etc,

Email back, saying car booked in, cost covered and would I like a loan car.

So a big thank you to everyone on here sharing their information, without it, i'd of conceded at round 1.

FYI - problem solved 100% and to be fair, the garage were brilliant after they agreed to fix the issue, I will always return for a service and will buy future cars from them.

 

[Mister P]

Would the sound disappear should you fit a smaller rim?

 

[Tony Mac]

Smaller diameter wheels do reduce the Crabbing & Clonking caused by Faulty steering geometry.

Smaller wheels look awful - breaks the design

Factory fitted wheels should work as expected - customers should not have to payout for a replacement set of wheels

It appears that eventually MB UK were very good at fitting New Steering Knuckles under Warranty, for virtually all owners suffering from this fault.

Tony

 

[Franco189]

Yep thats what i said, ive attached what it should have looked like

Hi,

Was wondering if MB Aus had a similar letter like this released to local dealers?

 

[Franco189]

Many thanks for that, Toolbad. Yes, I guess I'll probably have to wait another 1,000km or so and then buy the Conti Seal tyres myself.

There is, however, some grumblings about this GLC tyre crabbing issue in the media of late so perhaps it's worth my writing to the paper and seeing if my letter has any effect on the local dealer.

As well, in our national news paper today, there's an article saying that our ACCC, (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission...supposedly Australia's competition regulator and national consumer law "champion"), is targeting new retail car businesses as they feel the consumer is getting a raw deal. They plan to change legislation so that complaints are handled correctly and car returns/replacements occur justified. I might write to them as well!

Hi Pete,

Just wondering if you ended up getting in contact with the ACCC about this issue?

Been a few years since you posted this.

 

[GLCMatt]

Sadly not...issue definitely remains on the 2020 facelift (which I believe was released in 2019). I still believe this is a fab car...but in order to mitigate the issue, the smaller the wheel the better and avoid run flats...

Was this just for the pure AMG models, i.e not AMG Line. I am trying to ascertain whether my AMG Line 2020 facelift has the old knuckles, as on the extremes I do get crabbing.

EDIT: I just looked under my car and there are two things are pointing me to think I have the later parts, the brake cover plate shares the same number as the part number in post 54 (although I don't know if they really did change that part from pre revision to post, seems an odd part to change but equally why replace it, if it's the same) plus the number of threads on the tie rod end matches that of post 54. Unfortunately I can't get to the part number at the bottom of the knuckle as it's obscured by everything it's bolted to.

I just took it out in the cold (4 degrees celcius)but dry day, did full lock on a solid surface in drive and reverse and didn't get any skipping. So that actually points (unless I am missing something) to the idea that the facelift cars did get the revised parts in the UK from factory.

 

[Tore Aa]

GLC350e – CRABBING, JUDDERING ETC

I am following various threads on this issue – thank you to all contributors – I notice that most of them end up in a discussion about tyres…

I believe that the crabbing issue primarily is caused by poor design or adjustments of the front end of the car. The PROBLEM is an error in the angles for the front end wheels when turning (all the way). This is known as an Ackermann issue. On my car (2018 GLC35e left hand drive – in Norway) the outer wheel points too much inward (compared to the inner wheel), thus the outer wheel skids slightly SIDEWAYS. Many videos on ‘crabbing threads’ show this. This exists both Summer and Winter. So the crabbing is not the PROBLEM,- it is the RESULT/CONSEQUENCE of the problem!

Can the crabbing/skidding be caused by extra wide tyres? NO - I do not think so. The difference in outer and inner diameter of the outer tyre when turning all the way will only lead to minimal unwanted movement of the tyre when this happens. And movement should be in line with tyre direction (inner part of outer tyre wants to run slightly faster than outer part of tyre) – not sideways. (If radius in a 8 m circle increase by 1 cm – the circle will be 6 cm longer – ¼ of the circle = 1,5 cm longer - this will not lead to crabbing?)

So many put new (softer?) tyres on the car. MB even pays for this I notice (thank you for copy). Does this fix the problem – NO I do not think so! It only removes some of the CONSEQUENCES of the problem. There is still crabbing, but due to softer tyres, you do not notice/hear it as well.

Some of you guys have performed/mounted the STEERING KNUCKLE FIX. Does this remove the problem? YES – I believe so, but I have not studied the mechanics of this operation. Problem is solved if angles of wheels are changed as a result of this - in full turn...

MB says that ‘the car is still safe’ – and wants to stop the discussion there… (?) I believe that the Ackermann problem over time will result in extra wear of front tyres + extra wear on front end mechanics – ie a potential and substantial cost for owner. On my car, left front arm of front end was replaced under 5 year warranty (indicating that somethis has been wrong..?), and I notice that the front end tyres are unevenly worn.

I believe that the only FIX OF THE PROBLEM is to adjust front end correctly, with or without the steering knuckle fix…

* Want to hear opinions on this ‘chain of thoughts’… *

The challenge here is to get MB to admit that this is an error/fault – and to fix it and make them take the cost. I am on that path now…. Here, copies of ‘what MB has done and paid for’ is highly appreciated!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ackermann_steering_geometry

 

[Tony Mac]

On pre-2019 GLC's the Crabbing and Juddering is more than an Ackerman condition experienced on sports cars such as Porsche. For example, a 220 Diesel engine GLC is an SUV not a performance vehicle + the fault is typically only seen on Righ-hand drive GLC's - surprised you are seeing this on a Left-hand car in Finland.

Eventually, after over 3 years, MB accepted they changed the Steering geometry on RHD GLC's - I believe they may also have changed the Front Differential as there was not sufficient space on RHD cars due to the positioning of the steering wheel components.

Something else I found - measuring the distance between the Wheel centers on our RHD car, showed the distance was different to that specified on the Specification drawings. Not sure if this has been updated / changed.

The New Knuckles DO NOT FULLY eliminate the Crabbing Fault - it's still slightly noticeable. The new steering geometry + All Season - softer - tyres just mask the fault

Good luck with the challenge - I lived with it for 7 years - but still feel it was worth the stress because essentially the GLC is an excellent car.

Tony

 

[Tony C]

On pre-2019 GLC's the Crabbing and Juddering is more than an Ackerman condition experienced on sports cars such as Porsche. For example, a 220 Diesel engine GLC is an SUV not a performance vehicle + the fault is typically only seen on Righ-hand drive GLC's - surprised you are seeing this on a Left-hand car in Finland.

Eventually, after over 3 years, MB accepted they changed the Steering geometry on RHD GLC's - I believe they may also have changed the Front Differential as there was not sufficient space on RHD cars due to the positioning of the steering wheel components.

Something else I found - measuring the distance between the Wheel centers on our RHD car, showed the distance was different to that specified on the Specification drawings. Not sure if this has been updated / changed.

The New Knuckles DO NOT FULLY eliminate the Crabbing Fault - it's still slightly noticeable. The new steering geometry + All Season - softer - tyres just mask the fault

Good luck with the challenge - I lived with it for 7 years - but still feel it was worth the stress because essentially the GLC is an excellent car.

Tony

Do you know if the steering knuckle problem is an issue on 69 plate GLC220AMG?

Tony C

 

[Tony Mac]

If the car was built after 2019 it should NOT suffer from the Crabbing Fault.

If the car was built before 2019 it will be prone to the fault, that is also more prominent on AMG Line vehicles that typically have the larger wheels. However it may have been fitted with the New Knuckle steering geometry fix - this information will appear in the car’s maintenance history.

Hope this helps

 

[Tony C]

If the car was built after 2019 it should NOT suffer from the Crabbing Fault.

If the car was built before 2019 it will be prone to the fault, that is also more prominent on AMG Line vehicles that typically have the larger wheels. However it may have been fitted with the New Knuckle steering geometry fix - this information will appear in the car’s maintenance history.

Hope this helps

Thanks for your reply Tony. Unfortunately the car does crab. I bought it a year ago second hand from a MB dealer. It only occurred when we got to winter and it’s shod with Bridgestone run flats that will need replacing soon. Warranty runs out next week so guessing i would be fobbed off.

 

[Tony Mac]

Definitely worth talking to MB about getting the Knuckles replaced under warranty. When the new parts became available, our GLC was 3 months out of warranty. But MB still fitted them FOC - I had been screaming at them for 3 years 😂😂

All season tyres will help reduce the Crabbing - Winter tyres reduce it even more but will need swapping and storing. The knuckles also made a huge reduction in tyre wear

The Crabbing & Juddering truly is awful - has to be experienced to be believed. Apart from this fault the GLC is an excellent SUV 👍

Good luck

 

[Tony C]

Thanks again for your feedback Tony. After 8 various BMW’s it was a leap of faith to try MB. I love the car but it feels like you’ve ran over a cat!