Vibration and uncomfortable ride - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

The Warden · #1 02-03-2003, 03:44 PM

To be honest, this isn't anything new. What I'm getting is a vibration, felt through the steering wheel and throttle pedal (actually, pronany everything that's solid on the ar if I went and touched it). Also, at least on the freeway, the ride feels uncomfortable for what I would expect from a Benz; I can feel every bump and whatnot. My mom's Pontiac rides better.

I had been blaming this on the bad upper control arm bushings, but replacing them doesn't seem to have made much of a difference. The tires were balanced recently, and I think I need an alignment.

I'm thinking that either the alignment issues that I probably have are causing it, or that I may have bad shocks (I was almost certain the shocks were bad until I did the "push test" on another vehicle that supposedly has almost new shocks and it reacted the same way). Anything else I can check? This isn't critical; just an annoyance...

Thanks in advance!

jcd · #2 02-03-2003, 04:28 PM

Warden,

What kind of vibration and does it just occur when you hit bumps or does it cycle up and down with speed/rpms.

I'll tell you, I don't think the bump test works with Bilsteins/MB OEM's. You just have to check for leaks. I replaced my OEM shocks with Bilstein's about a year ago and the ride improved noticably, but to be honest, I think the original shocks were still OK. However, I did not have a before or after vibration of any sort.

Give us some more info on the vibration and I'll try to help you out.

JCD

#3 02-03-2003, 04:57 PM

Alignment or shocks do not cause vibrations. Bad shocks can allow them to transmit more readily though.

The source of vibration has to be a rotating part. Things like suspension bushings, shocks, mounts and such can only transmit vibration.

When they balanced the tires, did they do a dynamic balance using weights on both inboard AND outboard lips of the wheel. If they used weights ONLY on the inboard lip, the wheels will usually still vibrate.

Good luck,

The Warden · #4 02-03-2003, 08:39 PM

As far as I can tell, it's constant with speed, and only seems to be noticeable at higher speeds. I don't think it's related to engine speed as much as vehicle speed. I dunno; I'm having difficulty describing this as it's something that I typically don't pay attention to (I'm used to trucks that ride rough in all situations)...it gets tiring after being on the road a while (especially as this car spends most of its time on the freeway), and I have trouble believing that this is how the car's supposed to be, given that my mom's '94 Pontiac Grand Prix (roughly the same size, but a different car altogether) is much smoother on the highway. It's like I can feel every minor bump and/or crack in the road...like every contour of the road is transmitted to the cab.

Larry, the tires were given the "standard" spin test and weights are on both sides. I don't think the guy double-checked the balance after putting the first weights on the tires, though.

In all honesty, I wouldn't be that surprised if this did have something to do with it, or even the tires themselves (BFG's that came with the car; a tire that I have no intention of buying myself)

Again, I dunno if I'm even describing it properly...this is quite frusturating

#5 02-04-2003, 08:28 AM

Warden,

Probably well over 90% of tire vibration problems can be corrected by a dynamic balance with weights on both planes. In your case it sounds like you need the tires put on a Hunter GSP9700. You can find where they are located in your area by going to: www.gsp9700.com

Good luck,