Larry Jordan
Member
- Joined
- December 10, 2017
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- City, State
- Waconia
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2013 Explorer XLT
There is an older thread on this forum titled "vibration-at-highway-speeds" that addresses some of what my 2013 XLT is doing, but not many recent posts in reply, so looking for fresh answers and insight.
We bought our 2013 XLT w/40K miles in December 2015 from a Ford dealer. The car was a cream-puff recently returned to the dealer at the end of a 36-month lease. We've had no issues with the car in 2 years and 15K miles, except a vexing vibration. One year ago (at 48K miles) we replaced the OEM tires with a new set of Goodyear TripleTred, with expectation that the "out-of-balance" vibration we'd felt between 62-67mph would disappear with a brand-new set of professionally-balanced tires.
The Goodyear dealer re-balanced and rotated the new tires three times in the past year. He says that the problem may reside in the drive-train, and have nothing to do with wheels and/or tires. He is willing to trade-out the Goodyear TripleTred for full credit towards a set of Michelin Latitude, but based on what I've read, I think he's right -- it isn't the tires causing the vibration.
We don't feel the "washboard-like" vibration at higher speeds (e.g. in cruise at 75mph on long Interstate hwy trips). We don't feel it at 55mph on county roads. But, it feels like a "washboard" or an unbalanced wheel between 62-67mph (which is a very desirable cruise speed on many roads, so this is a real problem, one we're not willing to live with long-term). The smoother the road surface, like fresh asphalt, the more noticeable it is. Also, there's a perceptible, almost subsonic low-frequency noise, not unlike the "beating" noise that one sometimes gets when a rear-window is lowered part-way, that goes hand-in-hand with the vibration.
The vibration is not felt in the steering wheel. It isn't easy to determine if it's front or rear, left or right. We've noticed it less when the vehicle is fully loaded (four passengers and lot of luggage), but it's still present. We've tried various tire pressure settings, rotating tires, etc., and nothing makes much (if any) difference. Based on earlier posts, this problem may be endemic to the vehicle, in which case I'm dismayed at Ford. Anyone have an answer or advice?
We bought our 2013 XLT w/40K miles in December 2015 from a Ford dealer. The car was a cream-puff recently returned to the dealer at the end of a 36-month lease. We've had no issues with the car in 2 years and 15K miles, except a vexing vibration. One year ago (at 48K miles) we replaced the OEM tires with a new set of Goodyear TripleTred, with expectation that the "out-of-balance" vibration we'd felt between 62-67mph would disappear with a brand-new set of professionally-balanced tires.
The Goodyear dealer re-balanced and rotated the new tires three times in the past year. He says that the problem may reside in the drive-train, and have nothing to do with wheels and/or tires. He is willing to trade-out the Goodyear TripleTred for full credit towards a set of Michelin Latitude, but based on what I've read, I think he's right -- it isn't the tires causing the vibration.
We don't feel the "washboard-like" vibration at higher speeds (e.g. in cruise at 75mph on long Interstate hwy trips). We don't feel it at 55mph on county roads. But, it feels like a "washboard" or an unbalanced wheel between 62-67mph (which is a very desirable cruise speed on many roads, so this is a real problem, one we're not willing to live with long-term). The smoother the road surface, like fresh asphalt, the more noticeable it is. Also, there's a perceptible, almost subsonic low-frequency noise, not unlike the "beating" noise that one sometimes gets when a rear-window is lowered part-way, that goes hand-in-hand with the vibration.
The vibration is not felt in the steering wheel. It isn't easy to determine if it's front or rear, left or right. We've noticed it less when the vehicle is fully loaded (four passengers and lot of luggage), but it's still present. We've tried various tire pressure settings, rotating tires, etc., and nothing makes much (if any) difference. Based on earlier posts, this problem may be endemic to the vehicle, in which case I'm dismayed at Ford. Anyone have an answer or advice?