I have heard the same thing said about Continentals, too.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Brian,
Why is this not recommended? During the 80's I purchased tires at a discount tire center that offered lifetime balance and rotation service. When they installed a new set of tires, they would mount them on the wheels and use a lathe type cutter to shave off high spots. Every time they rotated the tires, they would shave them again. I always got more total miles on these tires than without the shaving. I moved so I don't know if that tire shop still operates the same way and I've never seem it done anywhere else. This would also allow for some deviations in the wheels.
To watch them remove the rubber you'd get the idea they were removing miles. But keeping them round really paid off in terms of tread life.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-cars-sale/296386-fs-1-owner-83-mb-300d-turbo-rebuild-parts.html

Do you think that you can find anyone who you would trust with a $100 passenger tire? And, if you did.........what do you have to pay them to do it?

Finally, if you're paying to shave a tire that's not manufactured properly as received...........why bother..........return the tire and get what you paid for.

Sure, it's possible to do it...........but why?

So the "not recommended" comment did not originate from a tire manufacturer or from a safety concern.
When they were done, the tires were cheap and the shaving was part of the free rotate and balance every 5k miles. IIRC the balance and shave was the same machine but I've not seen one in about 20 years.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=296386

Yea, I don't think they do that shaving thing anymore. I asked my grandfather who owned a tire business for 30 years (now retired) and he said that it can't be done to the new tires for some reason.

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Current cars:
2000 ML55 AMG, 174k miles
2003 C240 T-Modell, 202k miles
1995 S320, 207k Miles

Now that I think about it, those tires might have been bias ply and not radial.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=296386

Correct.

I've also had "issues" with Kumhos. After a pretty good experience on my 1st 300E, I tried a set on my 300CE. - Horrible. Never did balance well.

Now, (Like an idiot), a few years back, I bought a set of Kumhos for a set of 15" Winter Wheels on my 98 BMW 528. Again. Horrible. The E-39 (97-2003) BMW's are very touchy and a slight wheel shimmy is pretty common on the cars. The Kumhos will simply not balance properly.

Also, Does anyone notice with their Kumho's that you are constantly having to add air?? It also seems to be a common issue. Everytime you check them they seem to be down 4-10 psi. I will never buy another set.

I believe one of the above comments is right on the mark. For some cars, they may be ok but for certain cars, a cheap tire is simply not an option. (and you know what ????, they are not even that "cheap" any longer). The difference in price now is just not worth it. At least to me.

I'm happy with my set of kumhos from tirerack... On my $750 Subaru. No balance or air problems at all. Now my Benz gets the better tires of course... Yokohamas

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1980 240d
1999 SL500

I installed a set of Kuhmo Solus tires on my wife's Lexus and, since I never really drive the car, didn't know how bad the vibration was until months later. I had the tires road force balanced with the same result, shaking steering wheel, pulling to the right, and it felt like the whole car was vibrating. I had the rims and suspension checked and everything was good. In the fall I put the Dunlop snow tires on and the vibration was gone. The Kuhmo's were the problem.

I have heard about an issue where the tire might be in balance and not out of round but still shake if the rubber was not cured uniformly around the tire. sort of like having hard and soft spots. Regardless of the cause, I will not but Kuhmo's again. Do not trust the ratings, the tires will make your drive miserable.

I "road force" balancer would identify any high spot or "hard spot" in a tire by measuring the force variation in either the tire or the wheel. The offending tire then could be replaced to correct the problem.

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Please, call me to place orders or for more info
use my name for on-line orders

Same wheels?

I've been buying Kumhos from tire Rack for years for my MBs. works well for me, order in the morning, tires are delivered the next afternoon.
Since I have my personal Hunter tire mount machine and dual plane dynamic balancer, Tire Rack has been a great asset for me over the years.

I've used the Kumho Extas on the W124 cars, and lately have bought the Solus tires, most recently for the W202. I've been satisfied with all the sets, they have balanced out well, and do not show any gross out of roundness. Only complaint would be mileage received from the sets, though Kumho is not alone in that respect for my W124s.

Worst tire experience was on W126 560SEL before I had the machinery to do it myself. Bought it with Michelins that were 3/4 of the way out, but perfectly balanced, replaced them with BFGs which NOBODY could get balanced. And I mean nobody. We tried at least six different locations and finally returned the tires for a set of premium Michelins. STILL could not get a decent balance on the tires. I forget how many times we tried to balance those Michelins, including different machines at different locations.

The final solution was to take it to an old rummy who had the ability to balance the tires on the car. Only then, did the tires run smoothly.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles