Community Forums

Dan Thatcher · 07-18-2019, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabb E

Just purchased a new 2019 Jayco Melbourne 24L.
Have noticed that at about 60/65 mph I'm getting a shimmy that I can feel in the steering wheel. Had tires road balanced, no change. Tire dealer even install new different brand tires, no change. Changed back to original's. Sometimes the shimmy goes away but always comes back. Has anyone else had this issue and if so how did you correct it? Love this rig except for this issue. Upside is it keeps me from speeding.
Thanks for your help.

I would try new rims, sounds like the rims are bent or not true, but 1 st a good tire shop can check them out for you. Hope this helps you , Dan

Frank_RV · 07-18-2019, 04:37 PM

Could be a rim defect as others state but could also be as simple tires and rims need to be balanced....

edegenhart · 07-18-2019, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabb E

Just purchased a new 2019 Jayco Melbourne 24L.
Have noticed that at about 60/65 mph I'm getting a shimmy that I can feel in the steering wheel. Had tires road balanced, no change. Tire dealer even install new different brand tires, no change. Changed back to original's. Sometimes the shimmy goes away but always comes back. Has anyone else had this issue and if so how did you correct it? Love this rig except for this issue. Upside is it keeps me from speeding.
Thanks for your help.

My son is a certified Chrysler mechanic and the dedicated mechanic to work on Sprinters when Dodge was owned by Mercedes. He said to the tires "Road Force Balanced". When I asked how you do that he said: "It's a tire machine that measures the radial runout in the tires". Hope this helps. Also Mercedes directs all sprinter work to Freightliner which they own.

Ed Degenhart

StageCoachDr · 07-18-2019, 06:53 PM

I had a similar shimmy in a class C many years ago. It was the front brake rooters just a bit out of true. Have your front brakes checked.

Bowler · 07-18-2019, 07:52 PM

I have a 2017 forester MBs with the cab over. Presently has around 9.5 k miles, have never had any shimmy. Did rotate the tires once at about 5 k miles. Tires have worn great at this point. They are the original Continental brand. If shimmy comes and goes, assuming you mean at same speed at different times, sounds more like a suspension problem than tires. Any time I have had front end shimmy problems, my first step was to rotate tires, if shimmy stops, it’s the tires. If it is still there, it is more likely something in suspension. Good luck, curious to hear the outcome.

shootist · 07-18-2019, 09:32 PM

This is a common issue and been covered on many sprinter forums, the wheels need to be balanced on the vehicle or at least with the proper centering jig as has been said. Could be soft suspension bushings are what make it so susceptible to this condition. If aftermarket polyurethane bushings show up in the aftermarket it may offer a permanent solution. Until then balance the tires on the sprinter and see if it cures it.

Johnynorthla · 07-19-2019, 12:50 AM

I had the same issue with my 2016 sprinter/Thor Siesta. Had continental tires, had them balanced 3 times. First 2 were done incorrectly, 3rd was done by a truck shop called Elpex. They road forced balanced them and found one tire to be very close to out of round and recommended replacement. Not all balance machines are created equal, neither are the shops that use them! Ask what the specs were when they were balance. Anything near 30+ Lbs might never balance out correctly.

stevenab · 07-19-2019, 05:24 AM

I have a 2019 Wayfarer. I’ve had it over 70 once and I th k it’s the shimmy you are talking about. I try to keep it are 65 max. What tire pressure are you running?

Flarpswitch · 07-20-2019, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabb E

I wonder if people with Sprinter motorhomes without the cabover have the shimmy issue. That might give us a lead on the problem.

Our 2018 Navion 24G is a low profile one as was our 2009 Navion iQ CL. Both came with Continental Vanco A/S tires and drove as smooth and quite as you would expect. On the 2009 and after 40,000+ miles, we fitted Michelin tires and there was a marked improvement in all aspects of ride quality. For the first 6,000 miles on the 2018 Navion it was a nightmare at any speed over 60 MPH. Two attempts to balance the tires failed. At first, the steering wheel shook side to side nearly two inches. The first balance cut that roughly in half and a second balance on the road improved only slightly. When we returned, the Navion went to the Mercedes-Benz shop where they have a state-of-the-art machine. They found that the tires were, for the lack of a better description, lumpy. They could not be balanced. The vibration nearly crippled my hands; a touch of arthritis. I had all six tires replaced with the same type of Michelin tires as the 2009 Navion and it is smooth as silk all the way up to 85 MPH. They checked the wheel alignment and that was right on target. However, the MB dealer did suggest that from their experience with motor homes on Sprinter chassis is that the manufacturers pay little attention to how the chassis is affected by loading at near capacity. I did experiment with the Navion completely empty and then fully loaded with gear, fuel and water; no change in the front end shake. So, in our case, the problem was entirely the fault of the defective tires. The low profile RVs on Sprinter chassis may have an aerodynamic edge, but I do not believe that any change in lift or downforce has an effect. Another thing, the 2009 Navion had stock steel wheels and the 2018 has Alcoa alloy wheels on the front and outside rear; not even part of the equation for our shimmy problem.

Flarpswitch · 07-20-2019, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnynorthla

I had the same issue with my 2016 sprinter/Thor Siesta. Had continental tires, had them balanced 3 times. First 2 were done incorrectly, 3rd was done by a truck shop called Elpex. They road forced balanced them and found one tire to be very close to out of round and recommended replacement. Not all balance machines are created equal, neither are the shops that use them! Ask what the specs were when they were balance. Anything near 30+ Lbs might never balance out correctly.

Our Mercedes-Benz shop has a road-force machine and that is how the problem was found. Three of the six tires were impossible to balance and two more could be made acceptable. Only one tire could be balanced properly. Must have been a bad lot of tires from the factory in the Czech Republic. I have heard from a number of people that the tires develop a 'set' from sitting too long waiting for the next step in the production of the RV. Our 2018 Navion sits on a 2016 Sprinter chassis built in the last quarter of 2016. The start date for building the RV was at the end of the first quarter of 2017 and we took delivery in the second quarter. No way that the Sprinter chassis stood still long enough to mess up the tires. I think the so-called experts were fishing for an explanation.

SteveNSue · 07-22-2019, 07:15 PM

We looked into tires and who manufactured them some years ago. Found that Michelin were manufactured at the same plant as BF Goodrich and another tire of which I can not recall. Long story short, I got some Goodrich tires. When they were balanced I noticed the weights aligned along one side of the tire and realized just how out of balanced they were when built. They did ride smooth and I sold the truck anyway...

Crabb E · 07-23-2019, 12:17 PM

Jayco contacted me and says to get it fixed by whoever I choose. Gave me a ticket # to give them. I think I will go with OEM steel wheels for a couple of reasons. Didn't shimmy with steel wheels. With steel wheels you are able to rotate tires from front to rear with out having them dismounted and rebalanced. Won't look as nice with simulators but I don't care. Now to get MB to install steel wheels. Waiting for a call back from them.

clifford j · 07-23-2019, 12:54 PM

After reading 6 pages of posts that included everything from bad horn's, mold in their bed and who knows what ,,,the original post was about shimmy,, Folks said they swapped tires, no change, swapped wheels, no change, alignment ,no change. The shimmy can be caused by " warped brake rotors " as Stage Coach DR suggested. Warped rotors often is the result of vehicle weight and or driving habits.

CLIFFORD

Crabb E · 07-24-2019, 07:15 PM

After I get my new steel wheels I will post on here if the shimmy is indeed gone. If not it will all be on MB because I am going with their wheels. I sure hope this takes care of the issue because I absolutely love my new MH. Perfect size for our travel style now that we are not full-timers. The MB diesel has more power than I though it would have. Tows our Jeep Wrangler with no problem and drives like a car. We use it as a second car and gets about the same mpg as our Jeep. I have a bad stomach so having a bathroom right behind me is priceless.