I have a 98 CLK320 and recently I've been having a shake in the front end when going anywhere from 40 on up. I then was told I had two bent rims, so I went and bought a new set of wheels and tires. Put the wheels on yesterday and it still has the shake. Anybody know what may be causing this? Also, what kind of spacers are recommended for my car in the front?

 

Hey, i have the exact same car with the exact same problem. All of my rims were bent originally, but i had them straightened and got new tires which seemed to eliminate the problem. Did you have your car realigned and your tires balanced? if not this is what is causing the problem. One other thing you may want to check is the rest of your suspension for bent controll arms or other abnormalities. Were the bent ones on the front? If they were both on the front or both on the back you may want to have your suspension checked out...(im assuming you bought this car used) the previous owner may have bent those rims by running into something, which could have bent something else in the suspension. Best of luck.

 

I had the new wheels balanced. I havent had the car realigned though. Will the alignement being off cause a shake in the steering wheel though? I thought someone told me before it wouldnt?

 

well, the shake in the steering wheel is most likely just a result of what your suspension and wheels are doing down on the road. When i had my suspension realigned it caused a noticable difference. The thing is that the bent rims have been vibrating on your car for as long as they've been on there bent, so they have probably knocked your suspension out of alignment. Now this misalignment in your suspension is causing your now straight wheels and tires to shake. In my experience i found that both the suspension and the wheels pretty much have to be straight to get this problem solved. Also, what kind of wheels did you get?

 

Lorinser LM1, 18x8.5, with 235/40/18 tires all around. The front rubbed alittle so I put a spacer on the front and it took care of that problem. So I should just get the car aligned? I dont even wanna drive it cause it feels like the wheels are gonna fall off cause of the shake.

 

Do your wheels use hubcentric spacers? If so, you may want to take a look and make sure the spacers are properly seated. My Carlsson's came with hubcentric spacers that snapped in via a metal ring. This ring had come loose and was preventing the spacer from seating properly. If they're even slightly off the wheel won't be mounted straight (even if the lugs are tightened properly) and there'll be a whole lotta shakin' goin' on.

 

I used some spacers I had from a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I dont know anything about them, except they took care of the rubbing problem. Where do I get spacers that are hubcentric?

 

If they're required then they should have been included with your Lorinsers.

 

Well I dont think the wheel requires them, I need them cause I got 235/40/18 tires and they rub in the front. I dont know what it was rubbing. Im getting frustrated here! I dont know if the spacers I put on are causing the vibration or if its something else.

 

That's exactly where your problem lies, autoclass use to have hubcentric spacers, I don't know if they still do.

 

What is it?