87 260E front end vibration help....

[sjsfiji]

Hi All,

I'm experiencing intermittent vibration at 70-75 mph. I have new tires and all 4 wheels were balanced twice by the tire shop. My mechanic had a look and it appears there's some/minimal play on both L/R tie rod ball joints. He advised to have them replaced. He also suggested that since we're replacing those, to have all the bushings and ball joints in the steering train replaced along with a new steering damper. Is this good advise? I get all my parts wholesale so parts are cheaper. Oh, he also suggested we check balance of both front wheels.

anyone?

Thanks,

[cliffmac]

That doesn't sound reasonable to me. Reason is, this is basically non-evasive surgery.

[throne7]

Originally Posted by sjsfiji

Hi All,

I'm experiencing intermittent vibration at 70-75 mph. I have new tires and all 4 wheels were balanced twice by the tire shop. My mechanic had a look and it appears there's some/minimal play on both L/R tie rod ball joints. He advised to have them replaced. He also suggested that since we're replacing those, to have all the bushings and ball joints in the steering train replaced along with a new steering damper. Is this good advise? I get all my parts wholesale so parts are cheaper. Oh, he also suggested we check balance of both front wheels.

anyone?

Thanks,

Sounds like you have bad tires in the front. Did you try rotating the two fronts to the back.

[Douge]

This sounds reasonable to me. Don't know why you guys would think otherwise.

[jwhughes3]

I think he meant it wasn't reasonable because it was kind of like shotgunning it and hoping that when done it would be resolved instead of pinpointing the problem.

[Douge]

Originally Posted by jwhughes3

I think he meant it wasn't reasonable because it was kind of like shotgunning it and hoping that when done it would be resolved instead of pinpointing the problem.

Yeah I get that but its not really a piecemeal proposition and replacing parts like the tires for example often exacerbates a suspension problem. You certainly don't HAVE to do it all and you can check the joints and have a reasonable idea if they should be replaced. For the mileage, I would say the diagnosis and the recommendation is probably spot on though.

[sjsfiji]

Hi All,

Thanks for the reply. I'll recheck the balance of the front tires and/or rotate them. How does one know if one have bad tires? These were first balanced with clip on weights then rebalanced with stick-ons which were placed only on the inside of the wheels?

Thanks,