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gambita · 10-04-2014, 05:03 AM

I brought her to an sprinter MB dealer for alignment ,although it improved a little bit , I can still feel the steering wheel shake/ vibrate when doing 65 mph or above.
It is just normal to feel that due to the size of this motorhome?
Thanks.

Protagonist · 10-04-2014, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gambita

I brought her to an sprinter MB dealer for alignment ,although it improved a little bit , I can still feel the steering wheel shake/ vibrate when doing 65 mph or above.
It is just normal to feel that due to the size of this motorhome?
Thanks.

I've never felt it on mine at any speed. Other Airstream Interstate owners have reported the same phenomenon, however. I don't know what their solution was, but if tires are out of balance it can contribute to vibration.

r carl · 10-04-2014, 05:21 AM

Jack the ft tires just off the ground and spin them to check if they are true. Next would be to get them rebalanced.

Ron_CA · 10-04-2014, 07:40 AM

It is weird. Mine does it sometimes....Seems as if the road surface is a contributing factor. I am starting to think it has something to do with the steering dampner, if these have one. On some roads smooth as can be, others, shakes.

Protagonist · 10-04-2014, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron_CA

It is weird. Mine does it sometimes....Seems as if the road surface is a contributing factor. I am starting to think it has something to do with the steering dampner, if these have one. On some roads smooth as can be, others, shakes.

Do the road surfaces where it shakes have a high crown as opposed to being more-or-less flat all the way across all lanes? On roads with a high crown, in order to travel straight you need to add a slight bit of left rudder so that not only are you going ever so slightly uphill all the time, but the tires are "crabbing" a bit to the left rather than tracking completely straight. That can also contribute to uneven tire wear.

Ron_CA · 10-04-2014, 08:15 AM

Not sure. Maybe. Tires appear to be wearing even and at 12,000 miles have a lot of tread left.

David M · 10-04-2014, 08:49 AM

May be a flat spot on the tire. This happens sometimes when the vehicle sits in one spot for a while.

gambita · 10-04-2014, 08:56 AM

Service manager told me that initiaI drove it for > 1,600 miles already.
Bringing it back to the dealer next week.

73shark · 10-04-2014, 09:43 AM

Mine did that when I first got it at ~4K miles and they rebalanced the fronts and all good since. Then after I had rotated and rebalanced, it's back. So back to get rebalanced again.

Teamaron · 10-04-2014, 04:04 PM

Mine does it at first drive when tires are cold. Then goes away

Or you could just drive 64mph

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ben322 · 10-05-2014, 03:19 AM

Not a normal situation. I would check tire balance and possibly go for a road force balance or even better is balanced on the vehicle. Any shop that does high performance/racing tires most likely has the equipment.

MILATV · 10-06-2014, 07:08 PM

Rebalancing the tires fixed mine. Weights fall off sometimes.

Mike

gambita · 10-09-2014, 07:31 AM

Thanks to all, I will mention this tips to the service manager when I bring her on oct 13th

kaylorsan · 10-13-2014, 10:25 PM

I had shimmy/vibration issues for a long time. Balanced and rotated the tires many times to no avail. It was also accompanied with outer edge front tire wear. I ended up getting an alignment and setting the camber to 0 degrees. It solved my problem. No wear or shimmy, no vibration for the last 8000 miles. The thought is that the EXTs (which I have) carry a lot of weight in general, particularly beyond the rear tires. This weight 'unloads' the front end and causes the issue.

There's lots of opinions on this one way or the other. I did it; it worked for me. Maybe you can give it a try.

Below is a post that I put on the Sprinter-Forum. I wish you success In figuring out your problem.
--------
Re: Left front tire wear
Thanks to this board,I believe my front tire wear problems are now fixed. An alignment to zero degrees camber seemed to do the trick. At 10K miles, I had bad enough wear on the outside edges that I bought new tires (Michelin LTX M/S2) to replace the Continental Contis.

I went to a local shop in San Jose, CA (Ross Truck and Equipment Repair 408.292.1464). I took with me a set of camber adjusting bolts from Upscale Automotive. The team at Ross really liked the functionality or the bolts. They said it made the job super-easy.

My pre-alignment figures were 1.5 degrees (drivers side) and 1.25 degrees (passenger). Post alignment was 0. I can't recall what the Toe was, but it was reset. I have since put about 1000 miles on tires (we are on a road trip). I'm getting even, consistent wear across the treads.

I should also note that I installed Sumo springs (front and rear) before my trip. They have made a big difference and I am quite pleased with them. In the past, I put adjustable Konis on the rear as well as a bigger sway bar (both from Upscale). They made a big difference, but the front end was still a bit soft. The front sumos seemed to fix that. The rears seemed to address rear end sag (I have the extended sprinter, 24+ feet). Overall, the ride is much more dampened over bumps, in high winds and taking off-ramps. I was going to go with Koni struts in the front, but couldn't get them installed in time for my trip. The sumos are super easy to put on; especially the front. About 5 minutes per side. The rear installation is easy also, however there is just more stuff in the way to deal with (ie, my generator and lower ground clearance).

Once again, thanks for everyone's input on the alignment specs.

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73shark · 10-13-2014, 10:58 PM

I had mine aligned as close to zero as they could get it without the optional camber bolts after I read your post on the Sprinter forum. Did you have to use the optional camber bolts to get to 0° on yours?

kaylorsan · 10-13-2014, 11:01 PM

No. The tech said he could of have done it without the special bolt, but that having the bolt made the process MUCH easier.

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73shark · 10-13-2014, 11:08 PM

Well if my alignment change doesn't reduce the wear on the outer edge of the front tires, I'm going to get the special bolts and redo it closer to 0°. My suspicion is that the alignment specs are for the unloaded van. They don't compensate for the additional weight, especially in the rear, that Airstream put in there. Causes the rear end to be lower than standard and raises the front end causing the camber change to go more positive.

PSchw · 10-14-2014, 07:50 AM

I had the same problem and my MB dealer installed special bolts and realigned as warranty. This was after the 30k service and they send me off with unsafe tires.

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I already purchase the special bolts so I have a set left over.
Peter

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Boxster1971 · 10-14-2014, 07:58 AM

After my front tires were showing outer edge wear I replaced tires at 30,000 miles with a set of Michelins. Also had the alignment set by Sun Motors in Mechanicsburg, PA. They asked me to bring it in with the normal load I carry so they could get alignment set correctly.

Now after another 15,000 miles wear is even and van runs true and smooth.

- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

Protagonist · 10-14-2014, 08:02 AM

Quick question— Does everyone who is having alignment problems own an EXT model? On my non-EXT model, I've just had my 20k service done, with no evidence of uneven tire wear.

I did get a front-end alignment done after having the Koni shocks and struts installed concurrently with my 10k service, but no special bolts were required for the alignment.