300E, Tire Rod Shot?

[joel]

At highway speed, car felt being wind blown,
and unstable. i suspect my tires needs
balancing, although my steering wheel doesn't
shake much.

will un-balanced tires (one lead weight missing)
caused this "wandering" of the car?

also checked tire rods. rod twists. are my tire rods shot? TIA



[Edited by joel on 07-02-2001 at 12:23 PM]

[Benzmac]

Tie rods are worn if they have up and down free play in one or more of the joints.

If they are loose, they will cause wander, especially in the rear.

Brother of The Benz, joel
One weight can be as little as 1/8 oz. up to 6 oz.
Any vibration in the steering wheel or felt in the floor boards or seat, is too much.
A 1/8 oz out of balance at the diameter of a passenger car tire, has the force at 80 mph of 80 lbs.(simple to remember, all 8's).
This 80 lbs. throws the tread's rubber in a wad in front of rotation and is squeezed between the tire and the pavement.
This is what causes the cupping of the tread due to out of balance.
Now that is static un-balance.
Then there is dynamic un-balance that creates the wobble motion in the suspension.
Either one is damaging to all the suspensions components.
Just invision the reaction and consider your statement, "just one weight.
The out of balance of your tires doesn't cause road wander, but the damaged components from this WILL,DO and DID.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from The Spiderman in Houston!!!

[joel]

thanks donnie, and brother spiderman.
i just noticed the missing weight when my car
acted strangely as it did the other day.

tomorrow i will have the tires balanced, and hopeful
the problem will go away. if not, i have to bite
the bullet and have the tire rods replaced.

any suggestions as to what else to replaced will
be appreciated.

Brother of The Benz, joel
Not knowing the year and model, one of the least expensive front suspension parts to replace is the steering stabilizer. It looks like a small shock absorber mounted horizontally and costs less than $30.00.
Front and rear shocks are always an improvement; but ofcourse you don't replace them when you have vibrating suspension for that will ruin them post hast.
Tires make all the difference in ride and drive quality.
Have it fixed in small steps, the major items first down to the least.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from The Spiderman in Houston!!!

[joel]

Bro, its an 89 300E. it is pretty hard to
tell whether it is the steering or the front end
parts. but definitely, i can twist up and down
the tire rods. question, ball joints and arm?

Brother of The Benz, joel
If it was my 89 300E, and before the shake rattle and roll did any further damage, I would take her to my M/B Dealer for a front and rear suspension inspection and a quote to repair.
Wheither you have it repaired there is up to you; but at least it would have been inspected by someone who knew what was what!
Happy Trails Beep Beep from The Spiderman in Houston!!!

Check those rear links if there worn you will get all
kinds of highway swaying like a old 70 chevy.nova

[joel]

paul - where are those rear links?

[yal]

Check your center drag link as well. I replaced mine when I replaced the two front tie rods.

If Iam not mistaken (am i not) those links Iam speaking
of are located on both left,right sides of the rear
subframe.Look at the bushings on both ends of the links
most of the time when the bushing is worn the rubber
will be coming out on the sides.You can also grab the
rear tires on sides and move them in and out and notice
some bushing wear.It's not as hard as it may look to
replace those links.And not real costly!.If you do end
up replacing the links you will also need to have the
alignment rechecked .