03 Explorer vibration with turning

[devozoo]

Howdy. I think I actually might have had two problems, one of which is now fixed, with my 03 4WD Explorer.

When I turn in my Explorer from a dead stop, either left or right, there is a vibration that seems like it is in the steering or front wheels. I had it about 10 or 15K miles ago, but I couldn't tell what it was. Neither could my local mechanic. It seemed to get worse over time and I ended up replacing my bearing assemblies which were in fact bad. It may be possible that they went bad because the problem I can't identify messed them up, I don't know.

I thought after replacing the bearings, that everything was fixed, but the vibration is back. The longer I drive the car on a trip, the worse the vibration becomes. After 50 miles or so when things are good and heated up, it's really noticeable when you turn at a stop light or in a parking lot or something.

I have new tires, it's in alignment, the tie rod ends and ball joints are tight, and like I said, I've got new bearing assemblies. I looked over everything real good when I had it apart. Power Steering fluid is full too. The transmission fluid has been recently changed, and I did my front and rear diff fluids and transfer case at 100K (I'm at 115K now).

Any help would be appreciated guys. I'm at the end of my rope with this one...

Thanks,

Matt

 

[jcoulter]

Howdy. I think I actually might have had two problems, one of which is now fixed, with my 03 4WD Explorer.

When I turn in my Explorer from a dead stop, either left or right, there is a vibration that seems like it is in the steering or front wheels. I had it about 10 or 15K miles ago, but I couldn't tell what it was. Neither could my local mechanic. It seemed to get worse over time and I ended up replacing my bearing assemblies which were in fact bad. It may be possible that they went bad because the problem I can't identify messed them up, I don't know.

I thought after replacing the bearings, that everything was fixed, but the vibration is back. The longer I drive the car on a trip, the worse the vibration becomes. After 50 miles or so when things are good and heated up, it's really noticeable when you turn at a stop light or in a parking lot or something.

I have new tires, it's in alignment, the tie rod ends and ball joints are tight, and like I said, I've got new bearing assemblies. I looked over everything real good when I had it apart. Power Steering fluid is full too. The transmission fluid has been recently changed, and I did my front and rear diff fluids and transfer case at 100K (I'm at 115K now).

Any help would be appreciated guys. I'm at the end of my rope with this one...

Thanks,

Matt

Yesterday my '02 did the exact same thing except only when I turned right. I also noticed that the resevoir was full. I stuck my finger in and the fluid looked really bad. I sucked out everything in the resevoir and added new fluid. My problem was immediately fixed. I plan to either drain the entire system if I can figure out how or just repeat what I did sucking out the resevoir several more times.

 

[devozoo]

I figured this problem out after reading a bunch on this forum and putting 2 and 2 together. About 9,000 miles ago, I had my front and rear diff fluids changed at a local shop. They did NOT add friction modifier to the rear diff, and I have a limited slip diff in the back. I added the 7 ounces of FM from AutoZone, and miraculously, the problem is solved.

My question now is different -- do you think that driving this way damaged the clutch packs?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[BIGHVM]

Slow turns and vibrations from the front for me has been the power stearing system, take the cap off and with the engine running turn from lock to lock a few times till noise and vibration go- this has the effect of bleeding the system. Top up if required and replace lid. Job Done.

 

[Black92LX]

I have been having the same problem.
I got my wheels balanced and rotated, got an alignment still there.
I just replaced my rear diff fluid with amsoil and friction modifier but haven't driven it much so not sure if it's gone or not.

Hope that fixes it not sure what else could be the problem.