castroadan

Hello guys I need your help,
I have an 08 w221 4matic with the factory air ride suspension. I am
getting abnormal tire wear on my 22" wheels. I went to tire kingdom and have had the car aligned twice. My driver side rear tire is the one that has a high and low spot on the tread. here is a picture.



One of the techs said that this is due to struts. Before I fork out 600$ for a new strut I wanted to get some feed back from you guys incase you have experienced the same thing.
THanks in advance

castroadan

Another issue I am having is the car shakes between 40-60 mph. Had all the wheels balanced and they were find. but I would like to solve the tire wear issue first.

1bad540

That's feathering.could be caused by any alignment issue, the 22s will only make it worse and I'm sure the rears are wider too?

mrbobby

Camber is my guess.

NuMBS500er

Did you check the control arms for any free play?

castroadan

Yes the rears are 11.5" wide. I have a staggered set up. The tire shop I took it to said it is the struts that cause the chopping. He said feathering is caused by alignment.
He says i Have chopping. I don't think its my struts that are causing this, i feel this is an alignment issue. Tire kingdom has aligned my car twice but I think its time to take it to mercedes benz.

castroadan

The guys at tire kingdom checked and said they are fine.

castroadan

castroadan

ruflife1

Had the same problem before. Was due to broken belts in the tire. What brand/model of tire are they?

Mike5215

Nobody here locally will even attempt an alignment on an S besides the dealer. I'd definitely get it aligned on the right equipment by an MB tech before digging into the suspension.

castroadan

yeah that is what my next step was before i go to replace a rear strut. Just sucks because I figured I could trust tire kingdom.

Mike5215

Well, yeah. I mean if they're an actual kingdom they should know what they're doing

Bobbybigbucks

My rear tires only last me the summer due to how low my car is, they wear on the inside inside first, my rears are 295/25/22 . No matter what alignment these cars chew up the rears its normal.

Mike5215

True but evenly. I run thru rears at 2x fronts but no crazy cupping or feathering.

1bad540

Mike that's cause your running a 275, a 295 is wider so the edges get worn even more. Nothing you can do when you have a lowered car and running extra wide tires that's the price you pay.

Bobbybigbucks

He's absolutely right, I buy 4 new continental every summer, I could probably get away with just changing the rears cause the front doesn't wear like the back

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MonroeHandyMan

Possibly a bent rim

Mike5215

Yeah I love the way the wide rears and a drop looks but I'm not into forcing the car to fight its tires. I'm a big baby when it comes to anything that might deteriorate the ride.

ducatista4life

+1 on bent rim,
I have both of my front rims somehow bent/out of round is more the term. I also have the shaking at 40-60 and then a little more when you go faster. I had taken the car 3 times to tire kingdom/NTB and they couldn't figure it out. Ultimately, I went to another shop and had them look at it on the lift and based on the tread wear they concluded that it was a bent rim on both front wheels and then they spun the rims and showed me while it was on the lift and you could see the out of roundness on the rims. Hope it helps! Its about 100/rim at the place I go to for rim fixes

castroadan

Well here is a little update, the shaking was due to the front drive shaft. I had that replaced. There was still some shake left and it was the rear wheel bearings.

I am about to replace both rear tires and take it to MB to see if they can do a better job of aligning the car.

castroadan

My car isn't even lowered. But I guess I'll just have to replace the rears every year

alx

your problem is your 22" rims. they are probably too heavy and fall outside of the ability of the stock shocks to quell/ damper them over rough road. the result is unchecked wheel hopping (some times felt some times not) that creates the high/ low spot on your thread and also generally crappy ride, handling, noise... you name it.

stay tuned for your steering rack to go out next due to the added weight.

castroadan

I get the rears for $130 each and $25 mounted and balanced.
So I'll just keep spending $300 every year for the rears then lol