SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: Rim/Tire problems....
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Rim/Tire problems....
On Thursday I took the SL to Mercedes because the check engine light turned on and the car felt like crap so I brought it in... So I got the car back on Tuesday afternoon and drove it home. Wednesday morning I started to drive the car and felt a brushing/wobbling from the rear driver side. So, I pulled over into a inside street and started to go about 5 MPH (just letting go of brakes) to see whats wrong... And then all of the sudden the tire blew out! The wierd thing is that the inside of the tire ripped (the side facing the wall of the car)... It left rubber marks on the wall of the car, showing that the noise was coming from the tire brushing the wall. ( I have pics of the rip on my phone and am trying to figure out how to put them on the PC??) So I got AAA to tow the car to a tire shop and they put on an SL500 rim for a spare.
HAs anyone else had this kind of blow out?
I didn't want to just put a new tire on the rim because I have already changed my tires 3 times...(because of air problems). I have 20" Asanti's on 305/25/20 in the rear. Were the tires too wide or what went wrong?
I have decided to just sell my rims and buy the same rims but 19" ( beause or rim bending and tire problems that I have talked about in my other post)... But the tire guy at the shop told me that I will always have rim problems with a 3 peice rim, so I should try to buy a 1 peice.
Does anyone have a solution?
P.S. Shouldn't I have the rights to complain to Mercedes for returning me the car back in a bad condition???
HAs anyone else had this kind of blow out?
I didn't want to just put a new tire on the rim because I have already changed my tires 3 times...(because of air problems). I have 20" Asanti's on 305/25/20 in the rear. Were the tires too wide or what went wrong?
I have decided to just sell my rims and buy the same rims but 19" ( beause or rim bending and tire problems that I have talked about in my other post)... But the tire guy at the shop told me that I will always have rim problems with a 3 peice rim, so I should try to buy a 1 peice.
Does anyone have a solution?
P.S. Shouldn't I have the rights to complain to Mercedes for returning me the car back in a bad condition???
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From: Austria
Mercedes
What is the width of your rear rims? 10"? If so, a 305 tire might be to wide. I'd suggest a 285 tire (or 295 tire max!).
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thats the thing... I don't know the width of the rim because I bought the car with the rims already on..
The car has been driven for 20,000 miles and the tire never rubbed the wall, so how come all of the sudden???
The car has been driven for 20,000 miles and the tire never rubbed the wall, so how come all of the sudden???
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From: Wilkes-Barre, PA
E46 M3
I don't know why you wouldn't feel anything for 20k miles, then just get a blowout, but I'm thinking you may have just gotten used to the feeling.
Is the car lowered at all?
Switching from 20s to 19s won't really do the trick (if your wheel dealer adjusts the profile to make up the difference in diameter, which is standard). Sharkster is right, you should go with a narrower tire, even with 19" rims (but you don't really need to go smaller diameter if you like the look).
I have 10" wide rims on the rear of my car and have 275s fitted, which gives more slope to the sidewalls and a much lower possibility of rubbing.
Just checking the tire rack for SL wheels, they recommend a 10" or 10.5" rear wheel, but still fitting 275s to it.
Is the car lowered at all?
Switching from 20s to 19s won't really do the trick (if your wheel dealer adjusts the profile to make up the difference in diameter, which is standard). Sharkster is right, you should go with a narrower tire, even with 19" rims (but you don't really need to go smaller diameter if you like the look).
I have 10" wide rims on the rear of my car and have 275s fitted, which gives more slope to the sidewalls and a much lower possibility of rubbing.
Just checking the tire rack for SL wheels, they recommend a 10" or 10.5" rear wheel, but still fitting 275s to it.
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It only began to feel like that since I last got the car back fom mercedes. Trust me I would of felt it...(It was bad).
What happened was that the problem used to be was that everyday I would have to fill the air up with air, but never felt or heard the tire rub... I can't think of anyhting that would make it rub all of the sudden.
The car is not lowered.
""Switching from 20s to 19s won't really do the trick (if your wheel dealer adjusts the profile to make up the difference in diameter, which is standard). Sharkster is right, you should go with a narrower tire, even with 19" rims (but you don't really need to go smaller diameter if you like the look).""
I like the look, but I thought I just need to find a way to get a taller sidewall.
Doesn't the SL65 come standard with 285, so there is no way I can put 275's..
I am going to call the tire shop tommorow and see what the tire width is...
What happened was that the problem used to be was that everyday I would have to fill the air up with air, but never felt or heard the tire rub... I can't think of anyhting that would make it rub all of the sudden.
The car is not lowered.
""Switching from 20s to 19s won't really do the trick (if your wheel dealer adjusts the profile to make up the difference in diameter, which is standard). Sharkster is right, you should go with a narrower tire, even with 19" rims (but you don't really need to go smaller diameter if you like the look).""
I like the look, but I thought I just need to find a way to get a taller sidewall.
Doesn't the SL65 come standard with 285, so there is no way I can put 275's..
I am going to call the tire shop tommorow and see what the tire width is...
Last edited by bigmac834; May 29, 2008 at 11:24 PM.
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From: Wilkes-Barre, PA
E46 M3
yeah, you're right, the 65 comes with 285. You didn't specify in your original post which model SL you had, so I incorrectly assumed it was a 500.
If it's a 285/30/19 stock, then a 285/25/20 should be ok, but I'd be surprised if the extra couple centimeters on the 305 weren't the problem.
Did you get a good look in the wheel well to make sure there wasn't something jutting out somewhere?
btw, plenty of high end race wheels are 3 piece. It seems odd your guy would try to dissuade you from them.
If it's a 285/30/19 stock, then a 285/25/20 should be ok, but I'd be surprised if the extra couple centimeters on the 305 weren't the problem.
Did you get a good look in the wheel well to make sure there wasn't something jutting out somewhere?
btw, plenty of high end race wheels are 3 piece. It seems odd your guy would try to dissuade you from them.
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From: Wilkes-Barre, PA
E46 M3
Did a little more looking and everywhere I can find indicates the stock 19" wheels on an SL65 are 8.5" in front and 9.5" in rear. A 275 tire will nicely fit on a 9.5" wheel (again, I have 275 on a 10" wheel and it doesn't have crazy stretch).
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yeah, you're right, the 65 comes with 285. You didn't specify in your original post which model SL you had, so I incorrectly assumed it was a 500.
If it's a 285/30/19 stock, then a 285/25/20 should be ok, but I'd be surprised if the extra couple centimeters on the 305 weren't the problem.
Did you get a good look in the wheel well to make sure there wasn't something jutting out somewhere?
btw, plenty of high end race wheels are 3 piece. It seems odd your guy would try to dissuade you from them.
If it's a 285/30/19 stock, then a 285/25/20 should be ok, but I'd be surprised if the extra couple centimeters on the 305 weren't the problem.
Did you get a good look in the wheel well to make sure there wasn't something jutting out somewhere?
btw, plenty of high end race wheels are 3 piece. It seems odd your guy would try to dissuade you from them.
Thats what I didn't understand what the guy meant about the 3 piece...
So you think that 25 over 20 will be a big enough increase? I took a picture of the wheel well after the blow out, but I can't figure out how to put it on the PC...
BTW thanks for the help so far...
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Because stock SL65 comes with 285/30/19 so if I stay at 20" shouldn't I have to either stay at 30 sidewall or go up...
Last edited by bigmac834; May 30, 2008 at 12:16 AM.
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From: Bay Area, California
2003 SL55 AMG
check this out, it may help you out:
http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp
http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp
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check this out, it may help you out:
http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp
http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp
285/30/20-
sidewall height- 3.36 in.
295/30/20-
sidewall height- 3.48 in
Can anyone find a better fitment?
And will this help in stopping the rim from bending?
Last edited by bigmac834; May 30, 2008 at 11:14 AM.
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O.K. The rear rims width ar 11". The wheel shop told me that that was the only width able to fit the tire I had on. But he told me that I could do those same rims in 19" and put the stock tire size and that will help a little on the rim bending. But then he gave me two other rims to look at that were one peice, and I hated them...
Any ideas...
Any ideas...
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From: Wilkes-Barre, PA
E46 M3
I'll be interested in biturbo's answer, but it probably has to do with offset (the distance the center (hub) section is from the center line of the wheel). His 11" wheels could be made with a high negative offset so the edge of the rim sticks out level with the rear arch.
325 on 20"x11" rim is massive, I'd love to see some pics.
more info on offset here: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101
325 on 20"x11" rim is massive, I'd love to see some pics.
more info on offset here: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101
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From: Arizona
SL55AMG, Ferrari 348, Ferrari Testarossa, Ferrari F40, Ferrari Mondial t, Ducati 916, Indycar
I have AMG 19s (the SL65 wheel) w/295/30 on the rear. The car is lowered and has no rubbing issues.
There is a challenge with these low profile tires insofar as bumps can damage the sidewalls, and they will blow out. The bumps don't have to be that big. If there is damage, it will show as a bubble in the sidewall. Perhaps you got some damage and the bubble was rubbing, and then ruptured?
There is a challenge with these low profile tires insofar as bumps can damage the sidewalls, and they will blow out. The bumps don't have to be that big. If there is damage, it will show as a bubble in the sidewall. Perhaps you got some damage and the bubble was rubbing, and then ruptured?
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From: Vancouver Canada
07 ML63 Silver Dead at 85k, 14 RS5, 05 SL600
Dealer filled your tire.
You said you were having to fill your tire daily. If this is the case then it is quite likely you were running the tire underinflated which causes heat and tire failure. This usually then shows up when you inflate the tire to the proper pressure and drive on it. Trust me as I have done it more than once.
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From: Long Island, NY
Any AMG Thats Around..
i use the 305/25/20 on the rear of every SL and CLS that i do and no problems......
2 things..
one, if there was a bubble on the inside sidewall from going over a bump that bubble if big enough could rub (as your driving) on the inside and cause the tire to pop....
two, driving with low tire pressure streches the belts in the sidewall and also eats the sidewall up from the inside out... making it very weak and more prone to blow out... and you can kinda tell from the outside, but when you dismount the tire there is usually alot of broken off rubber inside the wheel...
2 things..
one, if there was a bubble on the inside sidewall from going over a bump that bubble if big enough could rub (as your driving) on the inside and cause the tire to pop....
two, driving with low tire pressure streches the belts in the sidewall and also eats the sidewall up from the inside out... making it very weak and more prone to blow out... and you can kinda tell from the outside, but when you dismount the tire there is usually alot of broken off rubber inside the wheel...
