Feathering or sawtoothing is what its called and it should be visually apparant too (maybe you have to be used to looking at tires).

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Brian Toscano

This was diffenetly visually appearent, but saw or feather sounds like a good description. After I went through all other options I had a Bridgestone rep. inspect the tires. This is what he pointed out to me and no other garage noticed it. These are High End performance tires, Pole Position SO3 and my suspension on my Talon is very stiff, so it maybe more sensitive than standard suspension.

i changed the centre link and its gotten better, but not entirely gone. im thinking about taking it to a 9700 equipped shop to see what they say about the tyres, which by the way are michelin vxrt+ or whatever. that is gonna happen later this week. ill keep you all posted.

ps. does anyone know about a drivers side fender for sale for a 1986-1991 300E or TE? any help is once again appreciated.

i can also comprehend that rotating parts cause a vibration. im hoping though, that i dont have to buy new tyres yet. these ones have a lot of tread left. that being said, i need my highway cruiser back! the s-10 is not the same as the mercedes feel!

does anyone have a suggestion about good tyres? i like the brand michelin, but will try something else if anyone has had better luck with a different brand. what were OEM tyres anyway?

The owners manual actually lists the OEM tires. Michelin MXV4 are probably the highest recommended by dealers & indys for hours of long, smooth cruising. They are $$$ and many have tried alternatives, i.e. Bridgestone Turanza LS-H, Continential, Kumho, ... My biggest complaint with the Michelin's once they wear down some (WAY above the wear bars) they don't handle well in wet weather. A big trade off.

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Brian Toscano

I run Michelin MXV4 Plus V-rated tires on our 1991 300CE and 1992 300E and H-rated tires on our 1998 E320 because I like the ride and handling. On the two 300CE's I inflate the tires to 32psi - front and 36psi - rear. The local indy swears that Michelin is the only company that makes a "round" tire that he can balance and road test without any vibration.

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Fred Hoelzle

You stated in your first post that you already had the tires balanced so I think you are throwing your money away by paying extra for a 9700 balance. That machine only shines when regular balancers can't detect imperfections in the plies of high speed tires. The faster a tire spins the more it wants to expand in diameter due to centrifugal force. High speed tires have like a band around them that prevents this from happening. If there is a problem in this band, a regular balancer win't pick it up, because it doesn't spin fast enough. The tire will balance fine on the machine, but go out of balance at high speeds. A 9700 will pick this up. One of the balancers I use is a Snap-On that you spin the wheel by hand. The other machine is a big old Sun that I bought about 20 years. Both machines do an excellent job for speeds up to about 100 mph. I don't usually drive faster than that. If you want to talk to someone with a high speed balance problem that even a 9700 can't help with, talk to my neighbor about 20 miles up the road. His name is Craig Breedlove, and he gets his car up to around 600 mph on a straightway.

I still think you need to swap another set of wheels or rotate front to back.

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

The Hunter 9700 is not an absolute requirement in my opinion.

It's just an example of the fact that there are computerized systems out there and manual. The newer computerized systems are much more precise along with many other diagnostic capabilitys that may or may not be benificial. I've seen the old manual systems in action and a Hunter computerized system, I would never go back. Not to say a manual machine can't get the job done..

D,

What happened to the front end shake?

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

I have a 190 2.0 automatic (1989). I too experienced vibration at 70-80 mph.

After spending £££ on wheel balancing and 'axle swapping', I finally replaced the tyres. Problem solved. The Pirelli tyres had plenty of tread left on them but were damaged internally so that the tyre was wearing unevenly. Balancing the defective tyres/wheels only lasted for perhaps 800 miles or so before the vibration resurfaced.

If only I had visited this forum before!

i got new tyres. finally. gonna go rotate. new problem. later!1!!!