Recently, after prolonged driving, my '84 300D developed a clunking noise in the rear which became much louder (and slower) when I slowed down, suggesting that it was vehicle speed-related. The first time it happened during a long trip, I suspected that the heated-up tires were the culprit, so I had my tires rotated and balanced. This resulted in a severe vibration in the front--a predictable consequence of putting a bad tire on the front that had been in the rear. So I replaced the bad tires (now in the front, with the presumably good tires in the rear) with a couple of Yokohama's...a superior tire. This seemed to remedy the noise and vibration until today, when I took another long trip, and the same noise arose from the rear. The noise didn't become audible until I had driven at speed for about an hour, and then had to slow down for city driving. Can I reasonably suspect that ALL the old tires are prone to develop this same characteristic? By the way, the old tires are Pirelli's, a brand that I'll never again consider. This might sound as if it should be in the tire forum, but I'm not totally convinced it's tire-related.

I jacked up the rear and looked for play along the axle shafts, and other obvious things. Everything seemed normal. Does this sound as if it's definitely the tires? The reason I have ANY doubts that the tires are the cause, is because the clunking noise sounds so much like metal driveline instead of rubber...

...any ideas?

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Matt
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1995 E300 Diesel (Die Blau Frau)