Karlson

Got a problem and don't really know what else can it be? I put 19 inches wheels and there were a vibration. I took them for balancing and wheel shop sad now it should be fine. I hear some noise and wheel vibrates when I am doing 45-65mph, but then I go 70 or more it stops vibrating and there no more noise. Rear wheel is a little bent, but I don't see why would a wheel vibrate. What can it be guys? Is it a tie rod, I thought a wheel bearing, but wheel stop vibrating at higher speeds. Any input would he helpful


Thanks

Ammi

It could be the person balancing the wheels. I got mine balanced at a Discount Tire location. I still had vibration issues so took it to a different Discount Tire. No more problems after the last visit.

It could be bad tires as well

Yacht Master

This condition " vibrates when I am doing 45-65mph" then subsiding at 70+ is indicative of a tire/wheel out of round.

Yuille36

I recommend getting it balanced somewhere else, I had this same issues with my cars in the past. Re-balancing cleared my issues.

Karlson

Thanks for your help guys. I already balanced my tires in two places!! Once in Merchants and then at Ye Ole Wheel shop. The Ye Ole guy told me that Merchants did a bad job, but it is still not right..btw, since you are also in Nova, can you recommend a place that can balance my wheels 3rd time now!

Karlson

out of round.. oh boy, you confused me on that one.. Front wheels are not bent, well according to two places that balanced them

amdeutsch

Did they do a roadforce balance. Tirerack has a good description/explanation of the advantage of that type of balancing.

stevebez

Is the rubber new? Mbe the tyres not the rims are faulty.

I have a similar probelm but only under braking at 60-70 and at no other speed.

If a rim is bent i'd start there. Pressures ok? Mbe go a little higher for a while to try and round the tyres.

Hmmm just thought of something.

Are all the wheels sitting flush / parallel with the wheel hub? Corrosion build up and shift during install could create a highpoint and viola you have a wheel not running straight. Even small amount could cause a big wobble at speed.

I'd check the hub side of the rims and make sure they are clean / true ...

bearings will be taking a hammering if u dont sort this.

Yuille36

Typically some shops used different machinery for balancing. The new computer balancing machine tend to work better. It could be a number of different things, out of round, the wheels were off balanced when they were cast or forged, tire are cupped etc. Depending what size your wheel and tires are, 19 and larger; the tires can get flat spots from sitting in the place spot for a long period of time, especially in the cold. But, I'm sure that you do not suffer from this problem. If your wheels are bent, that would do it as well. Royal service center located in Alexandria, VA off of N. Quaker Lane, their a recommended Tire Rack installer, they do good work as well. Talk to Jim !
1333 N Quaker Ln
Alexandria, VA 22302-2613
(703) 931-5802

Karlson

I got that wheels used and previous owner didn't have problems with them. After they been shipped to me, I took them for re balancing and the problem began. I already changed one tire(front right) because got a flat. I got 19 HRE's. A rear wheel is a little bent, but I don't see know if can affect steering wheel vibration. Stevebez, gave a good idea about a corrosion, I will try to check it. I called Curry Auto at Vienna and they sad that they can balance with roadforce for $112. Kind of a lot of money, especially since I already payed over over $200 in balancing in two previous places.

komp55

Here's a link to a another discussion about wheel vibration and bent rims:

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ml#post3530080

The best wheel balancer is a Hunter GSP 9700. Find a shop that has one, and has a tech that is Hunter certified to operate it. And make sure they do use the machine to take adavantage of its capabilites.

There are a lot of shops that have Road Force balancers (GSP 9700) and will charge you a premium for it, but actually end up giving you just a standard dymanic balance. I couldn't find the link, but I've previously posted on several of the things shops will do to shortcut the process or create the outcome without really doing the necessary work.

Since you have HRE rims, they are immediately suspect due to their propensity to bend easily. I would suggest having all four tires dismounted, having bare rim lateral and radial runout measurements taken by the GSP9700, and determine how badly the rims are out of spec. Without doing this, you simply can't eliminate the rims as the source of vibration.

It's possible to balance a bent rim, but it will still vibrate at certain rotational speeds - that's why you need to know the extent to which your rims are bent. Once you've eliminated the rim as a possible source of vibration, you then check the RFM of the tire/wheel assembly and see if the tire is causing the problem.

Other common wheel related vibration issues are use of certain centering rings (shouldn't be an issue with HRE's), and use of incorrect mounting bolts - HRE's use conical; MB uses ball). GL becoming vibration-free.

TopGun32

its the wheels....

I have the same problems with my CLS55 19"..

I removed them and placed my sock wheels and problem is gone.


if you feel harsh vibration on your steering wheel, the its the front. If you feel vibration but not directly on your steering wheel then your rears are bent.

Karlson

Thanks for the info and the link. Unfortunately, I went to the same shop as Benz-o-Rama mentioned and they found nothing wrong with my wheels, just a rear wheel a little bent, but a guy sad that it shouldn't affect steering. I was about to put my stock back to check, but all this post really made me think that my HRE are messed up.

Karlson

Just came up with idea since that problem is bugging me all day at work, can it be that wheel fastener bolts are loose and needs to be tighten?

amdeutsch

Why ask this question? If it came to mind why not simply go out and check it. A lot faster than an answer of a forum.

$0.02

Karlson

Thanks for a friendly reply.. I will have to jack up a car to check for that.

amdeutsch

Not really. All you need is a torque wrench. That way you check if they are all at the same value. Jacking up a car to do this doesn't mean anything because the wheels will be turning prior to you getting to the correct value.

You always lower the car back on the wheels prior to torquing to the correct value unless you have a contraption to stop the wheels from turning during the process while in the air. But then again as a knowledgeable MB owner you already knew this.

Karlson

Nope, I didn't know that. Just thought to consider to ask since other people already experienced with 2 or 3 peace wheels before. I don't own a torque wrench so it will be more difficult for me to see it fasteners all at the same level.

amdeutsch

A torque wrench and a correctly sized socket are always good to have. Especially if you are cheap like me and rotate or swap tires side-to-side instead of paying someone to do it. But then again that is cheap ole me; faster, cheaper and more convenient than taking it somewhere.

Fastening with just the std provided wrench is old school from the time of steel wheels and regular brakes. With alloys and discs I prefer to even the torque to avoid rotor/wheel damage.

HTH

Benz-O-Rama

If you swap back to your OEMs and the vibration is gone, then you know for sure it's either a wheel, a tire or both. Euromotorcars in Germantown has a Hunter road force balancer. Ask for John, he's a buddy of mine and does all the work on my cars. If Ye Olde Wheel Shoppe found a bend, why didn't you get it fixed? That's where I would start, honestly.

I also had a very annoying vibration on my VIPs. The right front had a bend it in and I felt a vibration in the wheel and the seat. Ye Olde found and corrected the bend but I still felt a vibration, albeit less severe in both the steering wheel and the seat. Took it back to Ye Olde and they found that one of my rear tires was slightly out of round. How bout that? All 4 wheels straight and true, but one rear tire was ever so slightly out of round causing a vibration between 40-65 mph in both the steering wheel and seat.

How old are your tires? It might be all in your tires. I would suggest having Ye Olde straighten that rear wheel and get new rubber. I bet all your problems go away.

Good luck, I know how annoying it can be.

blk07bruins63

I've had the same problem with the tires on my Ram. 20" truck tires are difficult to balance is what they tell me and all I get is excuses from the places I've gone. The tires have less than 1K on them. Had them balanced 3X so far and each time the vibration is at a different speed. I'm starting to think one of the tires is out of round. I'll have to try to find a Roadforce balancer in my area. I feel your pain! SUX

djamer

Just read the tread, say you called Curry's. these guys are pretty expensive, but at least they know what they are doing, especially, with hi line alignments and wheels. I have used them before, good customer service.

Karlson

I schedule an appointment for 1pm today, I will post back by evening hours, hopefully one of the respectful shops in NOVA will help me out with my issue..

djamer

Good luck w/ the appointment.
Let us know if they determine the root cause, interested in finding out.

Amer

stevebez

Once you have the wheels 100% balanced off the car get them checked for balance on the car... some shops still do this.

Takes any imbalance in the hub/drive assembly into the balancing equation.

Have you tried rotating your wheels around ... I know you not suppossed to change R->L and L->R but just as a sanity check?

Missing a wheel bolt? That will throw the balancing.

Get the bent rim fixed too.... that seems like an obvious starting point to me.

Wheel balancers cannot balance the wheels under load - might be usefull to find one though if u can. A bent rim under load has very different dynamic properties to a one that is round, even if they are "balanced" when spinning without load.