dlbehrns

I can feel my car moving slightly left or right on crummy uneven road surfaces. with the left or right front wheel off the ground, with my hands pullng back and forth at 9 and 3 oclock I am feeling a slight bit of play and can actually hear it as well. I don't notice it as much with 7" rims as I do with 8". I only have 37K on the car. hate to be so **** but......has anyone experienced this with low miles. what could it possibly be with that low mileage?

3 bAn 2 PoW 0

I just replaced my front wheel bearings. Made a world of difference. ~$15 each side

dlbehrns

If the bearings were bad, wouldn't there be play when I pull back and forth on the wheel from the top and bottom as well?

3 bAn 2 PoW 0

Yes. Check for the following:

Tie-rods. Check by (in the air) grabbing the tire and wiggle left to right (horizontal). Should be 0 play.

Hub or bearing. Check by (in the air) grabbing the tire on the top and bottom, wiggle vertically. Should be 0 play.

karayjay

Is there any vibration when you drive? what happens it you let the wheel go on a striaght road....that is smooth

dlbehrns

no vibs, tracks straight on smooth road

karayjay

Tie rods/lower ball joints or upper balljoint thats it

Vander

Probably outer tie rods. Make sure to get an alignment after having any front end work done.

bobbyjo9

There could be a cheaper easy solution. Your at the mileage the steering stabilizer is probably toast. It's sole "purpose" is to counteract the wheel being jerked by uneven surfaces and impacts to either wheel. look for leaks here or just remove one bolt and feel for resistance in the shock. If you can compress/expand easily, then Id start there.

dlbehrns

bobby, I have one from autohausaz sitting on the shelf I got on sale. plan on it when I change out to the winter tires. i'm thinking that the miles are too low for that other stuff to be going out. I drive and corner agressively and have tracked the car on a road coarse only once but don't think those parts should be worn yet. maybe. will try to remember to post back when its done.

bobbyjo9

Yeah.. I'd roll with the easy stuff first and it doesnt get any easier than the stabilizer. You can easily check the other parts when you have it jacked up. The ball joints are a weak link too, but you should be hearing them clunk and wear tires if they are bad. They seem to have a short life also but 37k is a VERY short life

dlbehrns

Replaced the stabilizer and going for a test drive now. the old one was definitely not in good shape.

etownbala

Is this the stabilizer piece you are replacing? I think I may also need a new one. I shimmy a little to the left and right on ****ty roads...not feeling it...feels like the front end has too much play

dlbehrns

No. I think that is called the drag link/center link. There is a little shock absorber/steering damper that connects to that piece that took all of 5 minutes to replace and it cured my problem. http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...id=26@Steering System&gid=7412@Steering Damper

dlbehrns

that link does not work. . go to www.autohausaz.com and search Makes > 2002 Mercedes > CLK430 > Steering System > Steering Damper

etownbala

So this is the culprit...



i'm gonna be replacing mine as well now

dlbehrns

YES. Take that puppy off and pull on it and it will probably be sloshy. If it is quite stiff that is not your problem.