belarus27

for a wheel bearing to go out at a 100k miles?

im asking because i have a weird vibration , when i accelerate slowly i can feel it at around 64-75mph , but once i reach 75-80mph and then would start slowing down without brakes and i dont feel any vibration at all . its not constant , it goes away and comes back...but varies with speed. Lets say this morning on my way to work it was all smooth , but from work to home i felt it for a lil bit and then it went away for the rest of the drive. i thought it was wheel balance so i redid it 3 times lol . i also did an alignment about 6 months ago. tires are in ok shape , changed upper control arm , ball joint and strut links about 6 months ago also , didnt hit any major potholes.

so my question is , can it be possibly a
wheel bearing(my 1st thought)? (i also hear a humming like noise when coming to a stop , unless its because of cheap tires)
lower control arm?(kinda old , but visually not so bad)
tranny or motor mounts?(car dont shake in N)
any inputs are welcome. TIA

KEY08

drive shaft flex coupling?

homeofstone

or center support bearing on drive shaft.

If you replace the center support bearing I would replace the flex disc at the same time since the shaft will be out of the car.

belarus27

wow thanks for such quick replies....

Can any one of you please post pics/links of what yoi talking about? Never had an opportunity before to work on/replace one.
im a diy guy , is it something i be able to do myself?

belarus27

So i can reuse the shaft , but just to replace the support bearing?

homeofstone

yes. I did the replacement on my w211 E500.

belarus27

Is this something you talking about?

belarus27

Anyone else? Can add another thought or idea what can possibly be causing this?

It vibrate in neutral on speeds of 64-75mph also.. but not all the time , so its probably not a shaft issues. Since shaft is not spinning in N.

kajtek1

Over the years I bought close to 20 MB for me and family, some of them closing on 300k miles and beside belt tensioner, I yet have to have bad bearing on MB.
Meaning bad wheel bearing is not likely at all.
Go under the car and inspect, inspect, inspect.
Those cars are sophisticated enough, that finding source of vibration can turn into long-term job, but flex disks not only wear with miles, but they age with time as well.

belarus27

I checked my tires for a wobble/shaking (just like people recomend ) and both side have a wheel play when i grab it at 12 and 6 oclock positions.... so im suspecting exactly that

belarus27

Adjusted the wheel bearing , it did have some play , now the ride feels firmer (unless its all only in my head) BUT didnt fix the vibration.
So on saturday i might be taking it to a shop in bay area for diagnostics , maybe things will clear up there.

Also i suspect lower control arm is causing it , since vibration is still present even in NEUTRAL on highway speeds when the shaft isnt in use this part became my 2 or 3 place after LCA.so gonna get 2 lower control arms and replace them which also isnt hard.

KEY08

Tell me more about this wheel bearing "adjustment". I am quite curious.

belarus27

This pretty much it ... i will upload a video as well on how it sounded if itll go through this site attachments.

belarus27

@key08

KEY08

These cars never cease to amaze me. That was a good find and I admit something I was completely unaware of.

belarus27

I know for most this thread is nothing... but im sure one day itll help someone lol
so here is the plan , i will start with the easiest , tomorrow i will do the Road force balance to put this aside and be sure that it its not the wheel/tire that is bad/bent/have excessive run out/or have flat spots or just defective. Hopefully that fixes it , so i sont have to replace anything else just yet.

belarus27

Finally found the problem.. and it is the rear new tires that i got right before my trip to SoCal couple weeks ago...
Road force showed some defects on both of them. Also made my fronts better , and ride a lil bit less shimmy.
time to replace the tires.

good to know that it is not the car but just defective tires.
Road force Balance is the way to go.

konigstiger

thefisch

kudos to you for hunting down the issue. And nice find on that video.

belarus27

Here is the video
Sorry not the best quality but it dont matter much since its all about sounds.

That how it was..right now no sound at all.