When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
2011 S550 Rwd with 36k miles, clean history, steering wobble wont go away between 55 and 75 mph. Tyres replaced with New Michelin AS4 and road force balanced times 3. Rims inspected. Bushings inspected. Wheel bearings checked. Everything seems okay.
What is my next step. Many forums feom 10 yrs ago mention this wobble but nothing new posted lately. How much more money should I spend on this car
normal - budget engineering - they went so tech heavy they forgot standard principles henry ford used - the wheel run concentric due to a horrific engineering flaw !!!
this comes and goes - as they wander with cornering from being a huge issue, a mild issue, all the way to oh it's OK today....
normal cars mount the road wheels using sound engineering principles............ the S Class has a concentric fit design flaw .................................................. .................................................. ............where they can't run eccentric - loosen - kick - wobble - do up very tight and hope
2011 S550 Rwd with 36k miles, clean history, steering wobble wont go away between 55 and 75 mph. Tyres replaced with New Michelin AS4 and road force balanced times 3. Rims inspected. Bushings inspected. Wheel bearings checked. Everything seems okay.
What is my next step. Many forums feom 10 yrs ago mention this wobble but nothing new posted lately. How much more money should I spend on this car
I struggled mightily with this during my first year of ownership of my 2008. I did the wheels, balancing(s), alignment--all with no improvement. However, once I started replacing front suspension parts, it made all the difference. Botus has a point with his issue, but your 12 year old control arms and tie rods are probably toast. Some of mine looked okay on visual inspection, but when I got them out they were all floppy and failing. Next up is replacing the rear suspension control arms, and at that point I think my car will feel close to new in terms of ride/handling. I replaced mine at about 55,000 miles.
Like vettebk says, it probably is the rearward lower control arms ball joints that have worn out. These joints cannot be checked or are extremely difficult to check for wear without taking them loose.
The quickest way to check them is to take the upper wish bone control arm loose and allow the steering knuckle to turn in position it wants to turn to. This will take the force out of the ball joints and they can be felt for wear.
You most likely would find them worn and replacing them would change everything for you in a good way.
OK Arrie and vettebk - if its worn parts why it is it can by 100% normal and you drive round some bends till the out of whack concentricity makes it start wobbling again - they parts didn't unwear and rewear... did you read all those posts on the thread link I gave ?
2007 S600, 2007 Chrysler 300 SRT8, 2000 C5 Corvette, and 2017 Mustang GT, and just got a 2023 300C
BOTUS, You are right about the wheel lug concentricity. When I mount my wheels after a tire change, I ask them to use the threaded rod that keeps the wheel centered while he screws in the lugs; and then unscrews the threaded rod for the last lug. I also watch to make sure they torque the lugs after it is on the ground. But I know the front lower control arms wear and start to shudder and vibrate. My right rearward lower was bad at 55K miles and I replaced the left at 67K miles. I now have 92K miles and I am getting ready to change the right side again for a minor shudder at 70 mph.
OK Arrie and vettebk - if its worn parts why it is it can by 100% normal and you drive round some bends till the out of whack concentricity makes it start wobbling again - they parts didn't unwear and rewear... did you read all those posts on the thread link I gave ?
Because this double lower control arm construction puts so much force on the ball joints that nobody can check on the balljoints by hand force and nobody takes the upper wish bone loose for the lower joints chek-up. This then leads to alignment done just fine but after some driving it is all bad again. It keeps changing because the mass of the car induces big enough forces for the ball joint to move around.
There are lots of posts of the repeated alignments in the front of these cars and I believe big majority of it is caused by the worn lower rearward control arm ball joints that almost nobody cares or knows how to check properly.
My 2013 model had this issue and it got fixed by replacing those control arms and as I was doing that job I realized why it is impossible to check on the joints condition by “shaking” the steering knuckle by hand without taking the top wishbone loose first.
BOTUS, You are right about the wheel lug concentricity. When I mount my wheels after a tire change, I ask them to use the threaded rod that keeps the wheel centered while he screws in the lugs; and then unscrews the threaded rod for the last lug. I also watch to make sure they torque the lugs after it is on the ground. But I know the front lower control arms wear and start to shudder and vibrate. My right rearward lower was bad at 55K miles and I replaced the left at 67K miles. I now have 92K miles and I am getting ready to change the right side again for a minor shudder at 70 mph.
it occurred to me last night - if we find a suitable tapered seat bolt you could do up two bolts centering the wheel - then drive in the other three with it all square - and then swap out the two tapered ones for stock bolts (or if brave and they fit look right, leave them to keep things square from wheel rim splitting potholes that make up most of the UK roads rather us having any smooth bits left...
I had similar symptoms on my 2008 S450 4Matic. There was too much play on the steering gear/rack and pinion (Tie rods are new). Replacing the rack and pinion fixed the issue for me. However, mine is high mileage 232k miles / 372k km.
I just drove mine yesterday at 60-80mph with zero shaking...don't despair, people, like I did. Fixable with new suspension parts (at least in some cases). At least for now. Bonus is the car feels so much better and tighter w/ new front suspension parts. I didn't realize how worn they were until they were replaced. I've got most of the back suspension parts sitting in the garage, waiting for a time to start that project.
@BOTUS assuming the bolts are cone-shaped, do I read correctly - OEM mercedes hub and OEM mercedes wheels do not fit close enough and allow the wheel to move off-center?
If this is correct, I might reconsider my search for a good W221...
2007 S600, 2007 Chrysler 300 SRT8, 2000 C5 Corvette, and 2017 Mustang GT, and just got a 2023 300C
When the tech just throws in the wheel lugs, as BOTUS relates, it creates a non-concentric positioning of the wheel. You can purchase a threaded rod on the web for about $9. When you install the wheels, you use the rod to center up the wheel and then put in the lug. I bought a couple of these rods and using two absolutely locates the wheel at the center. I also bought some centering rings but my tech declared them to be trash. He said to use the threaded rod. I have heard many good reports about the centering rings, but it wasn't worth an argument with the guy working on my car. He does everything else well.
If you are still having a shimmy or a shake, change the lower control arms, recheck the wheels for bends, change the control arms, and mount the wheels using a threaded rod or two. An S Class should give you the best ride in the World.
in the old days alloy wheels would often seize on the hub - all you did was add a copper based grease on the studs / bolts and a quick wipe on the centre of the wheel and there was never any issue - ever !
somehow much of the world love the screeching noise of dry wheel nuts that hit the torque reading 6 hours before the wheel is anywhere close to being done up - and love the fact the wheels will never come off again after one winter
so some bright engineer fixed the sticking on the hub issue by making them the wrong size (leaving the wheels rattling on the hubs and no mater how much salt turns them to dust, they never stick on the hub) - "never" being the operative word and just putting the wheels on, now needs a third hand to hold it on the hub so you can get a bolt in before it falls on your foot and lands nice side down in a horrible mess
and today with the tech's less bright than the bright engineers, they too have a solution for getting the wheels on - it involves a gun with the bolt in and swift of hand throwing the wheel on and as it wobbles on the hub, blast in the first bolt cross threaded and bottom it ASAP - then cross thread all the others and just wind them in no matter what - job done with a perfectly fitted eccentric mess up
This is so infuriating. I get that mercedes wants to appeal to the lowest common denominator of a client and sell a crap ton of cars, but this is just consciously bad design that hurts good smart customers for the sake of appeasing those alergic to knowledge. What a strategy.
I've been battling with the same intermittent vibration on my w208, and the whole saga of alignments, balancing, straightening, etc. Now that I think about it, the wheels on it also refuse to stay on the hub by themselves, but I never bother using the pin tool, I just hold them till I put the bolt in. I make it a point to tighten the bolts little by little, one by one, to ensure a good fit, but I will try using the factory tool in a couple of months when I put the winter tires on.
04-30-2023, 09:35 PM
