Would play in wheel bearings cause a shimmy?
 

93 400E, OEM but not stock 17x7.5 AMGs. Has happened on 2 sets of tires, 2 diff brands, wheels checked for bends, has been aligned, rotated, balanced multliple times, indie says all suspension components look fine and also says they never do bearings on these cars.

The alignment guy (separate shop) said there was play in the fronts, and he would replace them.

I don't know what else would be causing this shimmy, steering wheel shaking, at speed

I hit a pot hole with firestones,they are known to break belts,solution moved to rear,until I can buy better brand.

Again, 2 sets of tires, Yokohamas and now Michelin Pilot Sports. It's not the tires but thanks

Check for a bent wheel...or try having the tires balanced again at a different shop.

Jesus people! READ!

Wheels have been checked. 2nd set of tires. Why would you reply to a post without reading it? OMFG.........

http://www.gsp9700.com/index.cfm

I did read, try getting a dynamic balance

Because the same idiot could have balanced both sets of tires..... Your not being very polite to the people giving you suggestions.

I have had cases before where i had to return the car 2 or 3 times before they finally balanced them so i didn't get a shimmy.

Anyways, yes play in the bearings could cause a shimmy, they need to be inspected and if worn they need need to be replaced. If the races and bearings look fine they need to be re-packed and set to the correct tension.

Excellent - thank you. They've been balanced in 2 different shops 6 times - I doubt balancing in the issues. Bearings are the last suspect, so I need to try that next. Thanks for the dynamic balance tip - although I think that's been done. Is that "road force" balancing? If so, I did it most recently.

Well PARDON ME for trying to help.

There's places other than bearings to look. I doubt the bearings are so loose as to cause a shimmy and if they are loose a simple tightening should eliminate or at least moderate the shimmy. First item I would check is the steering damper, then the bushings on the stabilizer bar, the ball joints, and the shock absorbers/struts.

Also, suspension bushings can fool you into thinking they're OK when they're not OK. Check the idler arm bushing again. Check brake rotors for runout.

How many miles are on the vehicle?

Yes wheel bearings can give a shimmy, but it will get progressively worse as the lose bearings destroy themselves. Tightening the bearings up will bring them back into the correct run out but I'd inspect the bearings for wear when you check them. If it's only one, you'll find that hub will exhibit substantially less drag when spinning the hub alone as opposed to the other front.

follow up
 

178k, new steering damper 10k ago, my indie who charges the highest prices and does the most comprehensive repairs of any shop around, including the dealer, says the shocks are fine, bushings are fine, and control arms are fine. In spec. He is the one who recommended doing the steering damper when it was done.

The problem was not noticeable until driving with the 17" wheels for some period of time. Perhaps the extra weight and drag wore something out.

This is an avg-cond car cosmetically, VGC condition mechanically, but it's also 17 years old. So, you can appreciate my desire to fix this issue, but also to not start replacing expensive items by the gross, for process of elimination

So why hasn't your indie adjusted the wheel bearings?

agreed, not economically prudent