Hello,

My annoying car's steering wheel shakes around 50 mph; I balanced the tires for about 5 times at 3 different dealers. 3 dealers checked suspension components and MB rep checked the car and blamed the tires that they are wearing irregularly. Car has 18,000 miles. I have Tire and wheel protection plus insurance on these tires. Unfortunately dealer or MB are not willing to replace the tires, even the insurance are not willing to do that since "Tires are holding up air"

So guys I need your help, what else I can do to convince them to replace the tires?


Thank you for your help.

Drive over some nails :o)

There are less drastic solutions. I believe that some tire shops can actually shave off some rubber which may help eliminate the flat spots. However, why are the tires wearing unevenly??? if they've been balanced correctly since new and rotated as indicated in Mercedes maintenance procedures, then, if the maintenance was done by your dealer, I think you have a pretty good case against them....irrespective of what they would like you to believe.

Is your tire pressure correct? I have the same problem however when the tire pressure is correct there's no vibration.

Agree 100%,,the whole idea behind the wheel/tire pkg( which I also have) is to be worry free regarding the rims and tires
Be a pest,,make an appt for them to be serviced,,maybe its not the wheels,but rotors making the vibration. Your satisfaction is what your paying for.

I would take the vehicle to a local shop that has Hunter Road Force Balance machine. Have your tires balanced. If they are unable to be balanced, the Road FOrce system will actually indicate if it is an out of spec Wheel, Tire, or both. If the road force balance corrects your vibration, submit the bill for the balance to your dealer and tell them their balance machine must be out of calibration.

+1 on the Hunter Road Force. For more info read through the info at http://www.gsp9700.com/

+2

I always have 32/33 psi front and rear per MB sticker. What tire pressure do you use?

I am going to do my best with them.

Interesting, rotors? do they cause steering vibration? I know they do when you are braking... But do they cause vibration while just driving?

When I took it to service B few months ago, the technician advised that rotors need some attention.

I have done road force balancing at 3 different dealers and Discount Tires. Also alignment has been done twice and wheels has been rotated several times and still no go. What interesting it happens mostly in the morning after driving from cold start around 50 MPH and it disappears completely above 60 mph...

Could be the rotors....

Yep,,cause when they heat up the high spots create a hi speed wobble,,and its amplified when u hit the breaks,,an old experience of mine,,however when the tires and wheels are eliminated as the problem,,,you gotta start thinking of alternatives which brings me to my first point,,,let them correct it,,its payed for.

One option you haven't tried is "on the car" wheel balancing. It offers multiple advantages. First, it might actually solve your problem. Second, if it solves your problem then you know that the real problem/issue is NOT with the tires, but with the brakes/suspension......and the fact that on the car balancing works and off the car (e.g. hunter) balancing doesn't work is proof that your car needs some brake/suspension work. They have to figure out what's wrong.

I'd really like to know what happens if you do decide to an "on the car" balancing....because it will nail the problem as a tire/wheel problem or a suspension/brake problem.

Thank you all for your help.

Tire thread still like new and I think they are just blaming it on the tires. As some of you said the rotors, it might be the rotors, since I used to hear medium to high friction noise when I come to a stop I will check with the dealer and see if they had checked the rotors.

Interesting, on car balancing? do they do that hear state side? Ive heard about laser wheel balancing in Europe but I never heard of On Car Wheel balancing.

Google is your friend Here's an example:

http://www.amftire.com/wheelbalance.htm

I just found this on TireRacks website:

An out of balance tire can adversely affect ride quality, shorten the life of your tires, bearings, shocks and other suspension components. If you have a vibration that is dependent on speed, and usually becomes noticeable around 40-45 mph and increases as your speed increases, it's probably balance related. The other primary cause of vibrations is that the tire and wheel assembly isn't perfectly round. Face it, if we go out far enough past the decimal point, nothing is perfectly round. This includes your wheels and tires. The problem is when the high spot on the tire, and the high spot on the wheel end up being matched to each other. This effectively doubles the amount of "hop" or runout. If re-balancing doesn't cure the vibration problem, have your professional installer check the runout of the tire. If there is a "hop", many times the problem can be fixed by simply rotating the tire on the wheel slightly. The technician should loosen the tire on the wheel, and turn it 180 degrees, and reinflate the tire after relubricating the bead. The runout should be significantly reduced or eliminated, and if it's not, try it again, but this time rotate only 90 degrees, and if that doesn't work, try 180 degrees on the third try. Done this way, the high spot on the tire has been tried at each quarter of the wheel. At one of those points, the tire should be good and round. At that point, rebalance the tire, and go for a test drive. If the vibration persists, the problem is either in the tire, or elsewhere in the vehicle.

Maybe re-indexing tire and wheels might fix the issue?

I use the same but mine changes often and when it does I do get a slight vibration during the first few minutes of driving. When the pressure is correct, no vibration. Get yourself a good TPG and check often.

Wow. Must be nice. There are only two Hunter Road Force balance shops in my area. Our Discount Tire does not have one. Look at the printouts you received from each of your Hunter Road Force balances. Are the number exact or at least very close from each balance? It is unlikely your vibration is coming from the rotors unless they are warpped pretty badly. You would notice that every time you pressed the brake pedal. I suspect that you did not actually receive the Road FOrce balances that you think you paid for. They would have pinpointed the imbalance that is causing your vibration. Good luck to you and let us know how you make out.

Correct. It isn't the rotors, but probably an out-of-round wheel that a hunter road force balancer would have found.

The OP needs to go to the Hunter website and find a shop near him that has a proper machine. Some places will tell you anything you want to hear just to get your money and to get you in and out.

If the Hunter printouts show that all is OK, then the OP needs to go to the dealer with those printouts and have them find and fix the problem. Right now everybody is pointing fingers but only a road force balance will either include, or eliminate the wheels/tires. Unfortunately, the OP may have discovered one of the many limitation of a wheel/tire warranty and may have to suck it up and pay for having a wheel repaired, but he won't know that until he gets them properly analyzed.