bighops213

Okay, well I seem to be having a problem with my front end. The other day I was driving home, and well, its true I was going a little faster then I should've been. I'm sorry, its a little to tempting when you have a fun car like mine...okay I know its not much but its still fun to drive fast, ANYWAYS! I had slammed on my brakes because someone in front of me stopped very quickly. I was a good distance away from them but their sudden stop prompted me to slam on my breaks...for some reason. Well, the wheels locked up and I skidded to a stop. All was well, I ended up about ten feet behind the car in front. Well...I started moving again after they got off the road, and to my dismay I noticed a vibration. It seemed to be coming from the front drivers side wheel. It was like a THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP, if I sped up, it would speed up. To best describe the feeling of it, it was almost like my tire had a lump in it and it would it that lump and create a sort of vibration. Sorry, if thats confusing, thats the best I can describe it. As I said it did seem to come form the front drivers side, but mind you I am sitting on the drivers side so it may have been coming equally from the passenger side(the left) as well. So, I got home and my father and I pulled the tire off the driver side...everything seemed to be fine. We then pulled the tire of the passenger side, and their seemed to be some play in the rotor, is in...it would move side to side, without moving the steering components. Well, we pulled the rotor off and took the bearings out and looked at them, they appeared to be fine. APPEARED TO BE. We put them back on and tightened them down. Since it appeared we had come to a dead end I drove the car down the driveway(Our driveway is pretty long) to make sure everythign worked fine, so maybe I could at least take the car to town if nessecary. Well, the problem seemed worse. So, it seemed that our messing with the bearings had somewhat amplifide the problem. IN CONCLUSION, my dad and I believe that maybe a bearing was going bad and its wear was furthered by my over-use of the brakes. So, we plan on ordering new bearings and seals for both sides of the front end.

At last the end has come....

So, I ask you all...

(The car in question is a 1992 300E 6 cylinder 3.0 liter engine, W124 Chassis, Sedan, 150,000 miles)

What do you think happened?
What may need checking out?
Could it be the bearings?
And any other helpful info!

PS. What about the alignment, could it be that?)

mgw_300e

Two things about front wheel bearings on these cars:

1. They almost never go bad.

2. When they do, the noise is constant and varies in volume with wheel speed and turning.

It sounds more like some kind of suspension issue. Maybe worn bushings combined with poor alignment made worse with a sudden, hard stop. Check for play in all of the suspension bushings, ball joints, and tie rods.

You may have had a wear/tear issue about to happen that was worsened by the sudden stop.


Does the sound happen any time the wheel moves, meaning at all speeds?

PaulX608

If you locked up your front brakes and slid to a stop, there's a fair chance you could have worn flat spots on your tires. That would certainly explain what you heard.

Arnie

"Okay, well I seem to be having a problem with my front end."

Have you tried Viagra?

shadowgriffen

shadowgriffen

I dont see how your suspension would couse your car to wobble in this case, since you didn't hit a pothole or anything.

Sounds to me like a tire issue.

marco402

FWIW,agree with the tire line of thinking... especially if the tires are older (or cheaper). When you lock-up and skid on the tires, you can damage the underlying belts (remember, radials are laid at 90deg to rotation) by either breaking them, or causing a shift...Run by your local DiscountTire ( or equiv) and get both front tires de-mounted, inspected, re-balanced....if they're damaged, it should be evident during the inspection. Don't try to save too much $$$ on your tires, if you need to replace them...your asking approx. 16sq.in. of contact area to do alot for you.....quality tires are an investment in safety & performance, and we want you around for a long time

bighops213

well...i looked closely at the tires and didnt see a flat spot, although judging from the noise and vibration from the front. thats exactley what you would think happened if you didnt check the tires out. As the cars speed increase, the speed of the thump-thump-thump gets faster. So....your thinking that the bearins probabley arent to blame? And that maybe the bushings are, or possibly the tire alignment?

But how would the tire alignment make that vibrating. The steering wheel isnt jerking back and forth or for that matter pulling extra to one side or the other.

ShoreBenz

Inspect the brakes. After hard braking a caliber may not have completely released, causing the brake pads to drag.

bighops213

Great news! It wasnt the break pads locking up. it wasnt the bearings(lol). It was...the tires. I rotated them, since the vibration seemed to be coming from the front. I rotated the front left to the back right, and the back left to the front right. Sure enough, the vibration moved to the back of the car afterwards. So indeed it was the tires. Another question then. Does this mean A) There is just a flat spot on the tires and it will eventually wear away. B) There are flat spots and the tires need changing, or C) The sudden stop has tweaked the internal belting of the tire, and it most definitley needs changing.

If it does need changing could it wait a thousand miles or so. I plan on getting some AMG rims for my car, and I dont really want to shell out more money for tires that will eventually be sold...unless the new tires should be put on pronto.

marco402

it's a matter of degrees...... drive it at 60-70mph. see if you can live with the vibration, AND honestly think about all that shaking going on back there..The price of a 2 tires vs. the cost of rear suspension bushings ect. maybe a pair of used tires to get you through a month or so....I guess it depends on how fast & how far you need to drive it, but of course, sooner the better ...glad its just internal tire damage (no, you won't wear down a flat spot and even things out) and not a brake/suspension component thats damaged.....

mgw_300e

You still need to get to the bottom of this. Although not the cause of your current problem, this may (will) lead to problems in the future.