My wife's 04' E320 wagon that just started pulling to the right and has a noticeable wobble when going slow (20-25mph). The wobble feels like a warped tire/bent wheel type thing, but with visible inspection it doesn't look out of round. The wobbling is not noticed at higher speed, but the car pulls right. Could this be resolved with an alignment? Thanks for any help...

ps - haves searched wobble & alignment and haven't found anything to specifically address this issue?

 

Did you hit anything in the road lately (potholes/road debris)? I would first get the wheels balanced. The shop can tell you whether the wheels are bent/cracked.

 

my wife drives the car, but did not mention hitting anything. a balance won't stop it pulling hard to the right , will it?

 

This may seem obvious, but, have you checked your tire pressure?

A low tire can cause both wobbling at low speeds (until the internal air pressure increases) and pulling to one side. Check for feathering of the inner or outer tire edges. This also can cause wobbling, although you are likely to notice a distinct wobbling "sound" at highway speeds along with matching steering wheel vibrations.

Also, try rotating the tires to see if the car suddenly pulls to the opposite side; that might be an indication of mismatched tires (tread, brand, newer + older ones together), uneven wear, tires in need of balancing, or all of the above.

Once you solve the tire problem (if there is one), you should always get an alignment.

As a final alternative, swap out the tires. There's nothing a girl likes more than a new pair of shoes!

GL.

 

This sounds like the problem I was having. At first I though it was tire pressure, nope. I recently put new tires on the front and thought one of the tires was bad, nope. Took the car in to have the wheels rebalanced but they were fine. It was a bent control arm on the right side. Apparently, because my car is an 03 with 60k miles, and heavy 20 inch wheels, this can happen. Unfortunately Mercedes says to change the control arms on both sides whether or not they are both broken. The parts are about 380 for each side and labor is 5 hrs...$1300 out the door. Better have them check yours out.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the help. Miguk_Saram, I wish I had read your post earlier. Completly overlooking what could have been the obvious I simply gave the tires a visible inspection and they LOOKED ok. Thiniking it had to be something a littlte more major I was taking the car to get an alignment and... blam.... a blowout. Put the spare on and went to the shop and they said by the look of the tire it was under inflated. Had a new tire put on and...VOILA... no more pulling or wobbling. I can't believe it was something so obvious and so simple that I overlooked thinking it had to be something major. LIVE & LEARN. Thanks for the help.