Steering wheel vibration @ 70mph

[dogs162910]

I recently picked up my new 2014 Winnebago ERA with the Mercedes diesel 3500 chassis. It drives and handles fine, but once I get up to around 70 mph or higher, the steering wheel shakes. This was on a 2,100 mile trip over various types of roads. I took it to a Mercedes dealer and the service people said it was normal and it was caused by the extra weight of the van due to the Winnebago addition. They checked tire pressure, balance, front end, etc.

I researched a few other sites and it appears the only remedy is to change out the stock Continental tires with another brand such as Michelin, Firestone, BF Goodrich, etc.

Has anyone out there had similar problems???

[deSanford]

Do you have "wheel balancers"? deSanford

[DieselTech39]

:welcome:

Glad you're aboard Bob. May want to check two things. One the date code on the tires to make sure they are as new as the rig. Second, if the tires are ok date wise, others have had their tires shaved to cure out of round conditions. Check the thread below for that info. Enjoy your adventures and be safe.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/help-...on-217670.html

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by dogs162910

I recently picked up my new 2014 Winnebago ERA with the Mercedes diesel 3500 chassis. It drives and handles fine, but once I get up to around 70 mph or higher, the steering wheel shakes. This was on a 2,100 mile trip over various types of roads. I took it to a Mercedes dealer and the service people said it was normal and it was caused by the extra weight of the van due to the Winnebago addition. They checked tire pressure, balance, front end, etc.

I researched a few other sites and it appears the only remedy is to change out the stock Continental tires with another brand such as Michelin, Firestone, BF Goodrich, etc.

Has anyone out there had similar problems???

Well Sir,
Your rig is fairly new and, so "should" the tires. But, as others have suggested, just make a check on the DOT date code to really make positive I.D. on the date of manufacture. Now, "Out of round" tires, while in the past was not that common but did appear from time to time, is even less prevalent here and now. That doesn't mean it can't happen. While many techs will yank off the tires and throw them on the "computer controlled spin balancer" for a check, many do not check them for out of roundness.

The last time I spoke with a Discount Tire rep, he claimed that, if a tire has more than .060 run-out, it's an out of round tire. A simple test can reveal if you've got any out of round conditions. First, run the coach down the road, at around 60 mph for about 10-15 minutes. That gets the tires warm and makes sure there's no flat spots from sitting overnight etc.

Then, upon getting it back home, jack up one front tire or, if you like, get the entire front end up, just enough to make the front tires spin freely. Now, get something to use as a reference point, anything, that will sit very close to the treads on the tires. Now, slowly spin each tire, while moving that object, closer and closer to the point that, the tire "Just" touches it. Then back it off to the point that it's just clearance it and then as you spin the tire you can check the farthest point away from your object to the point where it almost touches it.

If you've got a noticeable difference, you've got an out of round tire. Now, you can balance tires all day long but, still have an out of round tire. An egg is an egg, PERIOD! So, just something to ponder.
Scott

[Old Scout]

Over 70 MPH?????.....maybe it is "telling" you to slow down [smile]......

[Slate Run]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Well Sir,
Your rig is fairly new and, so "should" the tires. But, as others have suggested, just make a check on the DOT date code to really make positive I.D. on the date of manufacture. Now, "Out of round" tires, while in the past was not that common but did appear from time to time, is even less prevalent here and now. That doesn't mean it can't happen. Scott

I'm the OP on the "extreme tire vibration" listed above. If you read that thread, you will note that you are the second member who stated that most new truck tires are well within spec. from the factory. While having all the tires trued on my rig, I had several techs. and a shop manager tell me that MOST new truck tires are out of round to some degree, and will benefit from being trued. It might be easy to dismiss this as a sales technique, but this place was swamped with work and certainly didn't need to be making very little money to be correcting the grossly out of round Goodyears on my rig.

Just curious? are you, or anybody else that's in the heavy tire business, of the opinion that, for the most part, truck and big RV tires are built to extremely tight specs. and typically end up well within your .060 tolerance?
The reason I ask this is that every professional I discuss it with seems to be in agreement that there are QC issues, and they are getting worse. Two of these guys also claimed that the problem is even worse in RV specific tires. When I speak to a pro about the problem and he says, "let me guess, Goodyear RV tires, right?" I wonder how aware some of the members here are, regarding how poorly made some of these horribly expensive tires really are?

[dogs162910]

Thank you all for the suggestions on fixing my problem! After reading so many good posts about Discount Tire, I decided to give them a try. I explained the problem and also the solutions others were finding that had the same problem. They put it on a road force balancer and found that the wheels/tires needed minor adjustments. I took it down the interstate and punched it up to 80+ mph and guess what????? The problem was solved!!! Needless to say, I will be calling the manager of the Mercedes dealership and telling him he owes me $50 and 2 hours of my time for doing their work!!!

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Slate Run

I'm the OP on the "extreme tire vibration" listed above. If you read that thread, you will note that you are the second member who stated that most new truck tires are well within spec. from the factory. While having all the tires trued on my rig, I had several techs. and a shop manager tell me that MOST new truck tires are out of round to some degree, and will benefit from being trued. It might be easy to dismiss this as a sales technique, but this place was swamped with work and certainly didn't need to be making very little money to be correcting the grossly out of round Goodyears on my rig.

Just curious? are you, or anybody else that's in the heavy tire business, of the opinion that, for the most part, truck and big RV tires are built to extremely tight specs. and typically end up well within your .060 tolerance?
The reason I ask this is that every professional I discuss it with seems to be in agreement that there are QC issues, and they are getting worse. Two of these guys also claimed that the problem is even worse in RV specific tires. When I speak to a pro about the problem and he says, "let me guess, Goodyear RV tires, right?" I wonder how aware some of the members here are, regarding how poorly made some of these horribly expensive tires really are?

Well Sir,
I don't think I ever said that, 1, I was in the truck tire business, 2, that Truck and RV tires are built to tight tolerances, and 3, end up within the .060 spec that, was given to me by a Discount Tire Dealer. I did say that, out of round tires, was not, in the past, all that common and, are not now days. But, it's a relative statement. Of the zillion "Truck and RV tires" made, I have no idea how many are out of round. I know I've had some and, there's some folks on here that have reported some too.

There's some folks on here that have NEVER heard of "truing tires". They never heard of tires being out of round. Mot likely because they've never experienced any. But, in any case, I was merely pointing out that, if the OP of this thread, has exhausted all balancing attempts and is still experiencing roughness at the stated speeds, then a look at the roundness of his front tires might be another place to check into. But, it appears that, the first techs that balanced his tires, did not approach the procedure correctly and therefore, miss-balanced his tires. He's happy now and that's all that counts.
Scott

[DieselTech39]

Bob, Glad you got it figured out. Enjoy your adventures and be safe.

[HeapBigEngin]

Originally Posted by dogs162910

Thank you all for the suggestions on fixing my problem! After reading so many good posts about Discount Tire, I decided to give them a try. I explained the problem and also the solutions others were finding that had the same problem. They put it on a road force balancer and found that the wheels/tires needed minor adjustments. I took it down the interstate and punched it up to 80+ mph and guess what????? The problem was solved!!! Needless to say, I will be calling the manager of the Mercedes dealership and telling him he owes me $50 and 2 hours of my time for doing their work!!!

So glad you found the REAL problem....that's great. And thanks very much for getting back to us with status.

[terry735001]

Originally Posted by Old Scout

Over 70 MPH?????.....maybe it is "telling" you to slow down [smile]......

its just a van i would be driving it the same
but if it was not i would be thinking the same thing if it was a 30.000 lbs RV

[Ron & Dee]

I guess those of us who drive under 70 will never know if the tires are true or not



Ron

[Slate Run]

Glad you got it all worked out. Another point I picked up on my out of round tire adventure was regarding road force balancing. The truck shop that corrected my issues uses "Equal" brand balancing beads as a default on all tires they mount. They also do road force balancing when they have a difficult tire issue, they will not however, spin balance tires.

[wa8yxm]

Short story may be related:
Bought a new (used) towed last year (about 2 weeks from now last year) and well, a couple months ago it was doing the same thign, You hit 70 it got downright SCARY it was shaking so hard.

Had a tire develop a slow leak, Slimed it till I got paid, Put a new tire on when I got paid.. Vibration ..... vanished....

Replaced it's partner next month

This, by the way, was a REAR tire, but front can do it even easier.

Now have all new (or nearly new) rubber on ride, Did Front back around April, Rear August.