On my way home from school last night, I got some nasty vibrations in my ex whenever I went over 80. Particularly bad ~85. Now I had had a VERY bad alignment for a while which chewed up my front tires pretty good.
(http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101323&highlight=alignment). I just got it aligned a week or so ago, but hadn't gone that fast yet since.

Now there are two variables as to why my ex was vibrating so much. Either:

A. The front tires wore unevenely, and now that they are properly aligned, the uneven wear is causing the vibration.

B. I recently installed wheel locks on all my tires. 2 per wheel. I dont have the locks next to each other, but I'm thinking that they could be throwing off the balance. Not sure tho.

Let me know what you think. And I dont need a lecture on my driving speed thank you very much :p

Your tires need to be re-balanced... Anytime you have uneven tire wear the tire's balance will suffer...

I rebuilt my front end and waited a few months to get it aligned. Driving chewed up the driver's side tire on the inside causing it to get out of balance...I had a lifetime balance from sears and no more vibration...

It's very possible that the bad alignment screwed up your tires so much that now you're screwed. Happened to me once with the X.

And keep in mind that without beadlocks the tire can rotate independently from the rim, messing up your balance.

Is it safe to assume that only the front ones need to get balanced?

Also, since I only get the vibration at ~80mph, I definetly think it is a solvable problem. If I got heavy vibration at 40mph, I think that is when I'd have to look into new tires.

The alignment being off should only affect the front tires. Mine vibrated @60mph and was horrid over 65mph..

i know the max speed limit in VA is 65 mph..... you shouldnt be going that fast and you wont have that problem!;)

hahahahaha!! oh man. Stop speeding = vibration gone!

Have you tried putting the rears on the front?

The wheel locks should not effect the balance of the tire, they are in the very center of the wheel, if they are get some new locks because those suckers are too big!!!!...

vibrations from unbalanced tires usually starts after 55 mph,

i would suggest getting the tires re-balanced, and then having suspension parts checked over along with drive-line components

Originally posted by MattStarr
i know the max speed limit in VA is 65 mph..... you shouldnt be going that fast and you wont have that problem!;)

Then what would be the point of the V1? And yes, I know they are illegal too.:p

you might have to just buy new tires. I am about to buy tires for mine since the tread is wore out at an angle because of alignment. I went to www.onlinetires.com and they have some pretty good prices. I'm getting Mickey Thompson Baja Claws, 35.12.50's for $143/piece.

A is the problem. re-balancing may help some, but they have a wear pattern set in now and will never be right again.

Dude! Your camber is off by -1.3! Of course it will vibrate at 80 mph. You are lucky it doesn't vibrate at 70!