Need Help diagnosing vibration (possibly bent rim)

[davis449]

Story is that I 've had the tires balanced three times in the last month, the alignment has been done and redone and the car drives straight, and I had the dealer check the suspension and they say it's fine. I still have a vibration coming through between 60 and 75 mph. Anything above or below that smooths out. I was doing above or around 90 coming back from Houston and it was glass smooth, but if I slowed down to the aforementioned sweet spot, there it was. The only conclusion I can come to is a bent rim. This car did have a wheel bearing freeze on it when my sister owned it and the entire suspension on the wheel that locked up was replaced. Anyone have any ideas?

[Under Pressure]

My father's CLK did that once when they front tires were coned (he can't rotate the tires on the staggered set-up).

[stox]

I have never had that problem on my 202, but I did on my 201. In my case it was a ball joint starting to wear out.

[davis449]

Thanks guy, I am going to take it in today and get it looked at. I am going make them have a tech ride with me.

[stox]

If the ball joints check out OK, check the driveshaft. That could be the culprit, too.

[Under Pressure]

Please let us know what ends up being the culprit. I had this situation twice and both times it was coned tires.

[davis449]

God, this is rediculous. I called the dealer and they sent me BACK to Discount Tire where they had me have them run a road force test and check my rims. As far as I can tell right now, it's poor balancing that's giving me the vibration, mind you this the FOURTH time I've had it there to be balanced! Anyway, they seem fine, for now, but I'll give it a week and see how it goes. If not, Discount told me to bring it back and they'll replace all four tires for free and we'll see if that solves it. SOrry for having wasted the thread on this, but I really though there was another problem. Thanks again so much guys.

[sanf]

Do you have stick-on weights on the inside of your rim? That stuff would come right out if the installer didn’t clean the brake dust/dirt clearly prior to taping the weight on. It happened to me and I found the weights on my driveway lol. and the car would vibrate between 65 to 70. I took it back to the installer, rebalanced and good to go.

[davis449]

The weights were staying on. The back one fell off the car while I was driving from Chicago to here and that's why I had to spend over an hour in Sprinfield, MO to get them rebalanced. But these last couple times that was the first thing I checked and they were there.