Stearing judder at about 65 Mph

[ianstaley]

Hi all i need help, i have just replaced the brake pads (front) on my 97 w202 estate, (left hooker) it feels just like the tyres are out of ballance, but i had the wheels balanced the day before i changed the pads. now when the wheel is off the bround i have tried rocking the wheel verticaly and horazontaly, the bearings have no or very little play and no binding when the wheel is turnd by hand. however, when rocked horazontaly the is a slight clunk or clik sound from behind the wheel. On having the car MOT'd last year they said that there was some play in the stearing box? could this cause the judder, just like out of ballanced wheels you can drive through it at about 68Mph it stops? if it is the stearing box is it possable to adjust it or would this be caused by maybe a bush that is on the way out or allready gone? I bought mine new in 87 and have done 259 thou Kilometers and i jus love my Merc and don't want to part with her, i amstill running the origonal exhaust except for the cat and she still only uses about 1/2 a pint a year in oil. can anyone point me in the right direction please.
Ian

 

[Ian B Walker]

Check all the ball joints on the suspension. You may have one that is worn and failing.

 

[BlackC55]

What about the rear?

 

[ianstaley]

Hi both thanks for the replys, i thought it may be a bal joint of some sort, my bigest problem is i cant jigle and look at the same time, my wife is to be friendly Homer Simpsons sister, so if it concerns instructions forget it. However fromblack camr the question what about the back? now i can't in al lhonestyu see that a rear wheel out of balance would cause stearing wheel judder, but more of a judder in the bum on the seat, My Toyota Supra did this when the rear wheels were out of balance in fact with hard suspension (you need new kidneys over hobble stones) it became apparant very quickly.it is a pain, cause just yesterday i changed the pads on the front, on the offside the pads had detatched from the backing plate and were all of 4mm thick when they droped out, seriously the only thing holding them in was the design of the brake caliper, was i lucky or what. But this problem is a bugger to tie down. so i will be jacking up the car tomorow and giveing the wife a ot of instruction on how to jiggle the wheel (dont laugh I'm serious) and take a gander under the front to see if anything moves that shouldnt. However, a question on Ian (name sake so should be good for a good answer) can the stearing box be adjusted?
Ian

 

[BlackC55]

If it occurs when not braking and the vibration can be "driven through" the it must be a wheel and tyre issue.

BTW please use some punchuation. You post is difficult to read and understand

 

[franey]

If it occurs when not braking and the vibration can be "driven through" the it must be a wheel and tyre issue.

BTW please use some punchuation. You post is difficult to read and understand

What do you expect from Pontefract?

'Where Men are Men, and sheep are worried'

 

[Sonny Burnett]

What do you expect from Pontefract?

'Where Men are Men, and sheep are worried'

never even herd of the place lol

 

[ianstaley]

Hate to agree with Franey, but I aint from Pontefract I just live here and there aint no sheep in Pontefract. They were nicked by peeps from Dony Still to get back to the point I tend to agree that any vibration that can be driven through should point to a wheel/tyre problem, the fact is that the problem was not there or should I say not as pronounced befor I changed the front pads yesterday. As I said in my first post, I had the front wheels balanced before I fitted the new Pads. Could this be due to a slight warp in the disc itself? I would have thought that if this was the case the vibration would be permanent. Bearing in mind that I am useing new pads on old (relativley) discs that maybe the pads will need longer to bed in. Right now I am thinking down the lines of there may be a ball joint problem somewhere in the stearing linkages, also maybe the stearing box itself could cause this sort of vibration. Ah well I have some things that I need to check out in the morning so I will get back to this if iI discover anything. Oh by the way want some sharp priced discs and pads check this ebay seller out Mercedes C-Class W202 vented brake discs + pads front on eBay (end time 29-Jul-10 21:36:26 BST) I know its long but at this price but at £58.50 inc postage from Germany can't be bad.
Ian