A few days ago I hit a brick on the motorway and ended up needed a new tyre. Mercedes fitted this since then there has been a slight vibration when driving at motorway speeds. I looked at the wheel with the new tyre and the weights for the balancing are in a different place than the weights on the other 3 wheels. Could this make a difference in handling and be a cause of said vibration? The weights on 3 wheels are placed the same as the 1st pic and the weights on the replacement tyre wheel are as pic 2.

 

Possibly. Tyre balancing machines vary in respect to where they tell you to put the weights. You can have weights on the inner rim, outer or even in the centre. Some work better than others, also the operator needs to know the machine in order to use the correct modes (which can allow for different weight locations, tyre to rim matching etc.).

Also I’ve found with the balancing machines we have had over the years is they can have their quirks...some modes are not worth using, and if it asks for lots of weights, it’s better to rotate the tyre on rim or balance each side of the rim over several runs rather than piling a load of weight on in one go (which the apprentice would do, and then waste a further 15mins adding/removing weights before calling me over).

Of course the wheel could have run-out (bent). Not much you can with that bar getting a specialist to straighten it, but being well balanced helps....To often I’ve had cars with fresh tyres that clearly haven’t been correctly balanced...for example, if there are weights applied 180degrees apart (i.e opposite) they cancel each other out...so it’s clearly been done wrong.

Oh yeah and just to make it more annoying...some tyres can change as they bed in. Possibly due to how they are stored or manufactured.

 

If the wheel is correctly balanced, it doesn't matter where the weights are placed as each wheel will be different. It may be that the wheel itself is damaged and causing the vibration.

I had a set of Sparco wheels with a manufacturing defect, on the balancing machine, they came out fine, but on the road there was really bad vibration. Manufacturer replaced them and all was good!

 

Thanks both

I asked Mercedes to check the wheel and it came out fine. The vibration only started after fitting new tyre,

 

It might be that another component was damaged by the impact. Play in a balljoint for example could cause vibration.

 

Has the alignment been checked if its badly out it could be the cause