On my 83 300D, for the last month or so I feel a slight but perceptive jiggling on my steering wheel. Last April, my indy replaced the tie rod assemblies on both sides, the center link, the steering dampener and sent it to an alignment shop. Could this be an out ot round situation with my front tires? Any other thoughts? Thanks.

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85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

Start with the tires, a bad front end part's first toll is on tires. Usually, the first thing one notices when the front end parts are going 'north,' is the way their car handles. It begins to handle, shake, pull one way or the other or hop around because of the tires.

Rub your hand around the circumference of the tires, or rather, the tread. If you feel the tread is running up and down then you have a shock problem. Look for missing balance weights inside and outside of the rim.

Have em balanced and rotated.

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84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

Check the Tire inflation.
When the Tread starts to seperate fromt the Steel Belts the will will pulseate from from side to side due to a blister created by the Tread separation; sometimes it is hard to detect where but it gets worse as time goes on.

You could rotate your Tires from back to Front and see if that changes anything. If it does not change you have a front end or suspension issue.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I too would suspect the tires first. Pull both fronts off and inspect them carefully for any unusual wear. Look for bulges, dimples, flat spots, or odd tread wear. If you find bulges, big dimples, or flat spots get the tires replaced immediately. These are signs of de-laminating tires. Which will result in a blow out. Also look to see if you're missing a wheel weight.

If the tires check out you could also have warped rotors. Try pressing the brakes slightly and see if you feel any pulsing in the brake pedal. If not then they are probably okay. You'd probably have already noticed this. It tends to get worse the harder you brake, and is pretty noticeable.

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Sure sounds like a tire issue. Rotate them and see if its any better.

Thanks guys. Yes, my left front tire is bad. It protrudes and pushes the thread upwards to create a flat spot on the in the 1st picture. It may have also lost a balance weight in 2nd picture. I rotated the front tires to the rear so it will be less problematic. I'll wait for the Costco Michelin summer sale and replace all 4 in a few months.

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

You should check all steering related parts to make sure something is not loose after all that work. The problem though, is more likely a tire with a broken belt.

Hope this helps,
Whip

I wouldn't drive on that tire. If you have a spare I would use that if you are going to wait on new tires.

If you do not find the problem a New Tire is going to wear out faster than the rest.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Yes, thanks for talking some sense into me. I just mounted the spare.

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

And is it better or worse?

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83 300TD (need rear wiper assembly dead or alive)
84 300SD Daily driver
85 300TD almost 400k miles and driven daily.
98 E300D *sold
86 300SDL *sold and made flawless 10 hour journey to new home.

Much better. What new tires should I get?

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

Had a similar steering phenomena, which went away after a tire rotation and small adjustment of the steering box. But the Michelins are gettin' old, so now I am waiting for my new General Altimax HP's. They have been far and away the best tire I have purchased in years, although this is the first set for my SD.
They are inexpensive, sticky, long wearing, quiet and good handling... everything I want out of a tire.
Hope they are as good on my car as they have been on my wife's car and the minivan.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

What are you looking for in a set of tires? Long tread life? Better road grip?

Whip

A continual volume of clean dry air to maintain 28-35psi.

LOL. I couldnt resist.

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83 300TD (need rear wiper assembly dead or alive)
84 300SD Daily driver
85 300TD almost 400k miles and driven daily.
98 E300D *sold
86 300SDL *sold and made flawless 10 hour journey to new home.