ChuckMoritz
Well-Known Member
This weekend i tried to fit my alloys, with mixed results...
I knew that the wieghts used to balence the front wheels out would hit the brake calipers and make an ugly sound and possibly damaging something, so i had them balanced out with flatter weights at the local mercedes dealer (who didnt refuse to listen to my problem and just tell me tey're overbooked, like atu) for only 15?. however, when i first drove with the alloys mounted i noticed a serious shaking in the steering wheel going on above 40 km/h. Now there might be several reasons to this:
- The brakes. The discs are warped, despite being only 8000 kms old. You get what you pay for, these were cheap discs.
This may be the cause of my problem, however not a likely one, because with the steelies the only thing that made you notice the warped discs was a vibrating when braking, not generally when driving
- Some kind of worn steering link. This is very unlikely, since i checked them all and none of them was loose or greasy.
- Finally the tires themselves, maybe the profile is somewhat uneven, and makes the steering wobble. This is the most likely cause, because a)when i fitted the newly balanced wheels on the rear Axle, the wobble was gone, only the shaking when braking remained.
and b) unlike the winter tires, all of which are Michelin tires, the summer tires are mixed: one fulda tire, one made in poland, and two i cant recall off the top of my head.
Sorry for the unnecessary post, but I just had to write this down before i overthink it, and tomorrow i will fit the other alloys with the thick weights in the front and see if the wobble is gone. if yes, they too will get flat weights.
I knew that the wieghts used to balence the front wheels out would hit the brake calipers and make an ugly sound and possibly damaging something, so i had them balanced out with flatter weights at the local mercedes dealer (who didnt refuse to listen to my problem and just tell me tey're overbooked, like atu) for only 15?. however, when i first drove with the alloys mounted i noticed a serious shaking in the steering wheel going on above 40 km/h. Now there might be several reasons to this:
- The brakes. The discs are warped, despite being only 8000 kms old. You get what you pay for, these were cheap discs.
This may be the cause of my problem, however not a likely one, because with the steelies the only thing that made you notice the warped discs was a vibrating when braking, not generally when driving
- Some kind of worn steering link. This is very unlikely, since i checked them all and none of them was loose or greasy.
- Finally the tires themselves, maybe the profile is somewhat uneven, and makes the steering wobble. This is the most likely cause, because a)when i fitted the newly balanced wheels on the rear Axle, the wobble was gone, only the shaking when braking remained.
and b) unlike the winter tires, all of which are Michelin tires, the summer tires are mixed: one fulda tire, one made in poland, and two i cant recall off the top of my head.
Sorry for the unnecessary post, but I just had to write this down before i overthink it, and tomorrow i will fit the other alloys with the thick weights in the front and see if the wobble is gone. if yes, they too will get flat weights.