Bad Vibration

[taxx]

Hello all. I know this topic has been beaten in to the ground, but it has mostly been on the 91 - 94 model. I have a 1997 with the 2" TT and Shackles. I have a horrible vibration. I am going to spend some time this weekend looking at different parts of my X to look for wear, I only have 80,000 miles, but it has been a rought 80K. I was wondering if this could be caused by the stiffer suspension and bigger tires? But it still seems a little more than what I bargained for.

Has anyone had an cured this problem with a newer model X? If so how?

 

[taxx]

PS:

Where can I get Poly Bushings? Do local shops sell those as replacements or are theirs rubber too?

 

[codewiz]

when do you get it? I get a nasty vibration on my 96 w/ add a leaf, tt, shackle when i hit about 65 (55 indicated w/ 33s) and it begins to lessen around 70 or 72 mph. I softened up the torsion twist to see if that would help but it didnt. Actually, strangely enough... removing the front air dam lessened the vibration a bit ( i think). The next thing i was going to try was to remove the add aleafs... could also be the increased angle of the driveshaft?

-Kevin

 

[taxx]

I get it all the time, but it is most noticible around 60 - 70 mph. I am affraid that it is drive shaft related and am wondering what to do if the shaft is getting in a bind. Anyone out there with a decent hight lift have drive shaft problems?

 

[soupbone]

hey also check your wheel balance. that vibration could be a bent wheel. can do that on rail road tracks, curbs,wheeling.. going over them too fast sometimes.

 

[codewiz]

Well, i've got the M/Ts so they go out of balance fast anyway, but i have been in about 4 times for balancing and once for a rotation already and have only had them about 4k miles... never helps

 

[taxx]

Just about the same situation here. I have the BFG AT's, they have about 6K on them and I have brand new wheels with about 500 miles on them. I just had them rotated again today to see if it would go away or move to the front and it didn't. So I feel pretty comfortable that it isn't my wheel setup. I am goung to check bolts and such tonight and see if anything is loose.

 

[taxx]

Well, last night I changed the U-Joints. seemed to help a tiny bit, but for the most part it is still there. Could this be the drive shaft angle causing this? There are a ton of you out there with lifted X's, has anyone else experienced this and/or fixed it? What are some suggestions?

 

[taxx]

Just pulled out my front end drive shaft, and that is definetaly no the problem. I feel very cmforatable that the vibration is in the rear. Could my pinion angles be screwed up in the rear causing a vibration?

 

[Blaine122300]

Looks like the only thing you can try now is to take off the rear driveshaft, put her in 4X4 and have a front wheel drive ex to see if it is the rear driveshaft. It might be your U-joint with too much angle, and popping each time it turns.

Give 'er a try.

 

[fordkrazy]

do yourself a favor and get the tires balanced at the dealer. i think that their equipment is better or calibrated more often. i had the same problem on my X and thought it was just that known vibration problem but now it is silky smooth. also get an alignment

 

[taxx]

Latest Update:

1) The tires are about 4 months old and the wheels are only about 2 weeks new. I have had them balanced and rotated twice in the last two weeks. That is not the problem.

2) Re-torqued all bolts on the under carage. Not the problem.

3) dropped front drive shaft and tested again. Not the problem.

4) Replaced U-Joints. An adventure, but not the problem.

5) Put in front drive shaft with no rear to determine where problem is. DO NOT DO THIS! It makes the most god awful noises I have ever heard. Quickly ended that experiment.

6) One 4x4 shop recomended turning the shaft around 180. I tried that for sh*ts and gigles. Nothing. (don't know why that was even sugested, evedently it works on toyotas).

7) Last test: Droped drive shaft. Using a level and a protractor (not a cheap one from K-mart, an acurate one from the old man's flight bag), I measured the angles of both the mounting flange at the transfer case and the flange at the pumkin. According to the experts these angles should be within 1 - 1.5 deggrees of each other. The transfer case was at about 5 - 5.5 and the pumkin is at about 9 - 10. So, I feel that is my problem. I am picking up a 4 degree shim tomorow and will update you to how this works!

 

[fordkrazy]

my point with the tire balancing is that some shops dont maintain their equipment. i was going to a well respected tire shop and they wernt balancing the tires accurately. try another shop. i went to the dealer. it solved my problem. if balancing the tires dosent fix it then i dont think you are going to fix it. other have spent great time and money trying to fix vibrations. the problem is that there is no way of telling what is causing highspeed vibrations unless you start replacing parts.

 

[codewiz]

taxxman2k-

How does the shim work to decrease the angle?

 

[taxx]

Codewiz:

Shims - Here is how I understand it:

The angle on my transfer case flange is 5 - 5.5 (pointing down), the angle on the flange of the differencial housing is 9 - 10 (pointing up). This causes a difference of about 4. What happend was when I raised the truck with shackles it pushed the rear of the leaf springs up. Because of this the axle rotated upward causing a greater angle.

The shim is shaped like a triangle with varying degrees. I am going to buy the 4 degree shim. You loosin your u-bolts and place the shim between the springs and the axle. This will raise the back of the axel, while keeping the front at the same place causing the axle to rotate, hence changing the angle.

 

[codewiz]

Cool... hey, I just realized you are in indy too. Let me know how that goes... if it works out, maybe you could help me out w/ measuring the angles?

 

[taxx]

Hey, not a problem. I am going to do it tonight. Look for a post late tonight or tomorrow morning. Are you going to go to the run at Badlands on the 3rd or 4th?

 

[codewiz]

I hadn't been planning on it up to this point... who all from the board is going?

 

[taxx]

Look here for the run:

Dead Link Removed

 

[taxx]

Update:

Well, I went to do the shims last night and the jackasses at discount tire cross threaded a lug nut on each side in the rear. How convenient. So I went to ***** and they said they would pay for it but couldn't do much about it. So I went to another shop and got them busted off. I took the wheels and rotors off only to find that my rear brakse where on the verge and the e-brake shoes were non existant. Went to A-zone to get the parts and got in an argument with the manager, becuase he basically told me I was an idiot for even suggestion that I had both disk and drums in the rear of my X. Needless to say, I bought nothing from him and told him that maybe he should come to my house and take a look at it if he thought it was impossible. So I later got the parts from a friendly advance auto store and this morning spent some time puting on the new pads and rotors. Then I placed the shims, FINALLY! I ran out of time to do the rest and I need the X for a road trip starting tomorrow, so I took it to good year to get new wheel studs and e-brake shoes.

The drive was relaxing, the shims helped although not enough. I am going to measue the angles again and see if maybe the shim was not large enough. I am also having goodyear check out the roundness and balance of my new wheels and tires since those other guys cannot even thread a lug nut who is to say they can balance a tire. They are also going to look over my front end and tell me if anything is worn. I am just runnoing out of time to do this all myself. I have to drive 40 minutes just to get to my folks house to use their garage then 40 minutes back. My wife isn't too keen on that either, I need my own garage. Ok I am donee with my drama. I will update you all later tonight with the latest. And I promise to just stick to the details.