DMC

I'm the original owner of a 2002 CLK55 which currently has 76,000 miles on the odometer. It is lowered using Koni shocks and Eibach springs. The car drives perfectly during fair weather but once the rain falls and the suspension/undercarriage becomes wet, the car is scary. At 60mph, no problem; at 65 mph, a vibration/shaking can be felt through the seat and in the steering wheel; at 70 mph and above crap hits the fan! The vibration/shaking increases 3 fold! It's as if the front wheels are trying to come off. Drop down to 60 mph and all is good again. I've spent a lot of money during the last month having the front end rebuilt, wheels balanced (including new tires), steering stabilizer installed, and alignment, including the installation of camber bolts to make sure the camber is spot on. Not sure what else could be generating the problem? Could deteriorating motor/trans mounts and or flex disc be the cause? Your thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to retire the car to fair weather driving only.

floridawriter

I don't know of anything that would relate to the undercarrage getting wet. You should check your driveshaft center support bearing and your flex disks. Do you have stock wheels on the car? Wheel spacers? Stock rotors? Ball joints? Rear subframe mounts? Transmission output bearing?

Could this be a malfunction of ESP in slippery conditions?

tw2

Replace all bushings? Was the alignment able to be put exactly in spec?

GatorMB

Can be a motor/trans mount. With wet weather only a coil pack or plug wire.

Lowering the car changes ride height and possibility of driveshaft center carrier bearing operating range. You might have lost the optimum range of play in the driveshaft.

GatorMB

The cabriolets are the most susceptible to chassis vibration.

Through the years chassis sagging is evident especially after hard core road course or even auto-crossing.

I installed a VIP320 strut-bar that brings the geometry back to new.



I am going to reinstall after the supercharger but this setup is charms.


I started fabbing custom mounts for the rear but still in the works.

Cheers, Gator

cindyclk

My first question would be...was this same shaking taking place prior to the extensive rebuild?

megacrazy

Check your wheels. You're pretty much describing a wheel that's bent/not balanced properly: typical 65mph vibration, front.

I've had tires balanced and checked out before only to vibrate like crazy at 65MPH. Do a road force balancing at a place that knows how to do it properly and has the right equipment.

DMC

Thanks for all of the great suggestions and ideas to correct my situation. The car rides on 19" HREs and yes the bushings, wheel bearings, control arms, tie rods, rotors, pads, etc have all been replaced with new, OEM parts. Alignment is per MB spec and wheels have been balanced. What is really driving me crazy is why does the vibrating/shaking of the car occur ONLY when the suspension and road surface are wet? During dry conditions, car has been taken to 110 mph with no shaking or vibration-smooth and stable. Will start focusing on the engine/trans mounts, the flex discs, and the driveshaft center carrier bearing. Will update as information/corrections become available.

floridawriter

I still think the issue is some anomaly in ESP.

cobrab19

Sounds pretty odd if you can Drive that fast in dry conditions keep us posted