Helping minimalize the super vibrations (60-80mph)... you know whats up

[Creager]

Like all of us that own First Generation explorers, there seems to be an issue with an excess amount of vibrations associated with speeds around 60-80 mph on the highway.

This Sunday I took my truck in to get aligned at Tire Kingdom, it was the technician there brought up something interesting. He was mentioned a 'Death Wobble' associated with Ford TTB. I wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about at first, but he was cool and told me he had something I should try, if I didn’t like it I could bring the truck back in a couple hours and get it realigned for free.

What he did was set the toe out slightly by .10? I’m not sure what that translates into, I’ve never worked on an alignment machine. Immediately after he pulled my truck off the rack I hopped on I-485 where the speed limit is up in vibration zone (65).

I was quite impressed. I didn’t except the vibrations to completely disappear, but it sure decreased more then I expected it too. I only feel the vibrations between 65-70 mph; after 70 mph the vibrations completely smooth out.

So it might be worth a try… its up to you, I’m quite happy with it. Maybe it will wear my tires an excessive amount, or maybe not. We'll see.

As a side note, my driver side toe was ‘in’ by .60, completely off the charts! So that might be why I noticed such a nice decrease in vibrations…

 

[etc]

You know, that's weird, After I changed the inner tie rods, it tooke me a couple days to get an alignment, in those days there was barely no vibrations. had .10 and .60 on toe. Get it aligned and the vibration was back. heh.

My last alignment on my other set of tires/wheels had gotten rid of my wobbles, but when I took them off the truck I noticed the inside of one of the front tires was worn out.

 

[Jason94sport]

Sounds to me it was just way out & you noticed it more. I don't think the slight toe change did anything. I've read 100's of posts on this vibration & I haven't seen anything that has worked.
I had a good theory up untill a few weeks ago. My driveshaft was what's called "out of Phase" That's when the U-joints on each end do not line up with each other in a straight line. They are supposed to line up. Mine was off. I had thought that may be the cause of these vibrations, & why some have it & some don't. Certinly not all driveshafts are like this. It sound plausable......However turned out to be no different after re-phasing it.

 

[Rhett]

One thing I have seen with TTB trucks vibrations, and aligning: putting 2 washers, instead of just 1, on the radius arm seat; this has the effect of pushing the whole beam forward. For some reason, this has really helped with the vibration on some of these trucks. Others not.

 

[Longjohn119]

My vibrations decreased dramatically (and unexpectedly) after removing the OEM shocks (57K miles) and replacing them with Pro Comp ES 3000's along with an ES2000 steering damper ... it isn't all gone but it is at 65 and above 75 with a little left right around 70 ...

It reminds me a lot of a Twin I-beam with a wheel that threw a weight, it must be really picky about balance (and not just tire balance) ... that is the main drawback of a Twin I or TTB, any imbalance is magnified due to the fulcrum effect

 

[BP_93explorer]

Mine has this killer vibration! I was hoping to find an answer. I thought it was really going to Xplode going down the highway today. Kinda weird how sometimes its not as bad though. I know this is an old thread but I was wondering if anybody else has been able to fix this problem.

 

[unclemeat]

I got it too. The best thing I have found to reduce it is to inflate tires to max pressure 35 to 40-psi. A new set of Bilsteins has helped.

I want to try replacing the sway bar mounts. My mechanic connections have determined that it is an alienment issue.

Other things I have heard are tire balence and rotation. A bigger sway bar.

But generally speaking I have not found a solution to the problem. Toe in sounds like a possible solution.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

Don't foget the tranny mount. The biggest improvement I had was with a new one and stuffing some pieces of poly bushing material in it.

Other than that, the next best thing was the James Duff stage 1 2-1/2" lift.

I trried just about everything;
Bearings front and rear
New drums and rotors
New tie rod ends
New shocks
New tires
New Radius Arm bushings
New U joints
New tranny mount

I wonder what effect caster has. Think of the shopping cart at the grocery store. Remember how the front wheels always wobble??

 

[Creager]

Interesting Albino, i wonder if a bigger sway bar would help?

Im thinking that this problem might actually have more to do with the size of the spindles, and the spacing of the wheel bearings on the dana35. The only way to know for sure is to swap dana44 knuckles on. =)

No worries, if i ever get the 6" skyjacker kit i want, dana 44 knuckles will be going on too.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

I don't think it's from the front end. I expeirenced no difference at freeway speeds with the hubs locked. There would've been a lot more things rotating that would've affected any vibration generated there, it I didn't notice any change.

It is speed related not RPM and it's a harmonic that sets up in the frame.

When I first put the JD lift on, I noticed a slight buzz feeling at 35mph. Now double that frequency for freeway speed and it'd be pretty easy to set up a vibration in a ladder type frame.

I'm starting to think about the tranny-transfer case connection.

 

[unpredictable1]

When I had the bad wobble in my X when you got up to speeds mentioned, and good tire balance completely got rid of it

Now however, one of my radius arm bushings is on it's way out and I'm slightly out of alignment, so its back. :fire:

 

[FarmageddonNRO]

After new U-Joints and balancing the drive shaft any of my vibrations basically went away. I also replaced my front wheel bearings at the same time. I think everyone has dealt with the vibration, and I also think there are a lot of factors involved, so what fixed mine may not fix yours. Make sure you rotate your tires as well, every 5k. Explorers are notorious for uneven tire wear, which can contribute to weird vibrations. Good luck

 

[arco777]

I must be lucky. I've had 5 Explorers and the only time I've had a wobble from 60-80 was back in 2008 when it turned out to be a defective/damaged wheel. Some wheels may hold a balance on a tire machine but still wobble at speed because of a hard impact in their life.

I've played around a bit with alignment on my Explorers and never had any weirdness. The TTB has been stable for me, the only times I saw it get out of line were with saggy springs. I always replace the front springs on every new to me Explorer now.

 

[SuperKirby]

*Sigh* I got rid of a lot of my vibrations with new u joints, but still have a wobble about 60, seems to go away about 70-72. I thought some new parts up front would get rid of that. Perhaps now it's not worth it. I know I read a lot about a death wobble in B2's when I had mine, but never had any problems with it. I guess now maybe I've just caught a case.

 

[natenkiki2004]

I used to have a nasty shake at just below 60 then I got new tires on another set of wheels (factory alloy) and I've had it up to 80 without any vibration at all, smooth as can be. I attribute it to the horrible tires I had and possibly a mis-balanced tire or weight that came off.

 

[xplorernewb]

i had a vibration from 65-70. it was zerks on the driveshaft u joints, and the tranny mount was bad causing the vibration to be wayyy worse. put new mount on and the vibration is minimal. probably just needs balancing but i barely notice it now so im not worried about it

 

[michaelkacal]

Like all of us that own First Generation explorers, there seems to be an issue with an excess amount of vibrations associated with speeds around 60-80 mph on the highway.

This Sunday I took my truck in to get aligned at Tire Kingdom, it was the technician there brought up something interesting. He was mentioned a 'Death Wobble' associated with Ford TTB. I wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about at first, but he was cool and told me he had something I should try, if I didn’t like it I could bring the truck back in a couple hours and get it realigned for free.

What he did was set the toe out slightly by .10? I’m not sure what that translates into, I’ve never worked on an alignment machine. Immediately after he pulled my truck off the rack I hopped on I-485 where the speed limit is up in vibration zone (65).

I was quite impressed. I didn’t except the vibrations to completely disappear, but it sure decreased more then I expected it too. I only feel the vibrations between 65-70 mph; after 70 mph the vibrations completely smooth out.

So it might be worth a try… its up to you, I’m quite happy with it. Maybe it will wear my tires an excessive amount, or maybe not. We'll see.

As a side note, my driver side toe was ‘in’ by .60, completely off the charts! So that might be why I noticed such a nice decrease in vibrations…

Same thing with me. Cleaned MAP sensor and vibration stopped.

 

[CreepingNet]

Mine oddly has not had that vibration since I put Michelin M/S tires on it in 2007, even with the Firestone Destination AT2s on it now it still does not have the 60-75mph shimmy the 1st gens are known for.

What's really odd is BOTH replacements (2007 and 2018 respectively) said I did not need an alignment, but DIscount in 07' did one anyway, maybe they did what the OP said his shop did. Tires Plus did not even do one. It also did a slight pull to the right until those Michelins were installed back in 07'. I don't even get much tire wear either - when I replaced the Michelins, I still had legal tread with even wear and the main reason I replaced them was they were 11 years old and felt like I was driving on gummy bears.