2001 Sport Rear Wheel Vibration

[hiwatt357]

I have had some sort of vibration around 65 - 70 MPH in my 2001 Sport pretty much ever since I have had it. It was given to me by my father last year (it was my younger sister's), and he had kept it maintained since he bought it new.

The tires are Goodyear Wranglers, and the wheels are the stock alloys.

I have had tire rotations, and I had the alignment checked back in March, but the vibration remained.

I have looked for odd tire wear, but I haven't seen anything that looks odd.

However, today, my fiancee and I had taken separate cars somewhere, so when we were coming home on the highway, I called her and asked her to look at both sides of my vehicle and see if she noticed any odd vibration or movement of the wheels while I was holding steady at 70 mph and feeling vibration in the steering wheel.

After taking a look at both sides, she said that my left rear wheel wasn't spinning "as smoothly" as my others. She said that she noticed it when she looked at and compared the center caps of the wheels on the same side (as well as the wheels on the opposite side).

I did a search on here before I posted, and I saw that alignments and balancing were mentioned frequently (obviously), but I've had both done.

I did see mention of shocks, and I suppose that could be a possibility as well.

But something that I noticed maybe a month ago while my car was in the parking lot at work was that the left rear wheel looked like it had a positive camber to it. Then there are some days since then when I look at it, and it looks fine. I don't know. I'm sort of stumped.

Except for the possibility of shocks. That kind of makes sense, but again, I've seen no weird wear on the tires.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[my pos mounty]

I would have the balance checked, then have a good look at the rear shocks and the rear sway bar links. Might have a bad link on the drivers side rear.

 

[hiwatt357]

I would have the balance checked, then have a good look at the rear shocks and the rear sway bar links. Might have a bad link on the drivers side rear.

Thanks for the reply. The tires were rotated and balanced just a couple of weeks ago, but I will take a look at the shocks and sway bar links.

Could be a good idea to do shocks all the way around since I have no idea how old they are.

 

[ranger-93]

Take the tire off. Than take off the drum of disc dont know which you have and than spin just the axle by using the studs. Look for the axle to be rotating in a perfect circle. If it does than its not a bent axle shaft. if it does not rotate in a perfect circle replace your axle shaft. Had a bent axle shaft in my 93 ranger and my buddy behind me said it had a side to side wobble and I was feeling it a little in the steering wheel. Dont forget that if you have limited slip or any locker in the rear diff to make sure both wheels are off the ground. If it is a bent axle shaft I bought mine from Nationaldrivetrain.com. Hope this helps.

 

[hiwatt357]

Take the tire off. Than take off the drum of disc dont know which you have and than spin just the axle by using the studs. Look for the axle to be rotating in a perfect circle. If it does than its not a bent axle shaft. if it does not rotate in a perfect circle replace your axle shaft. Had a bent axle shaft in my 93 ranger and my buddy behind me said it had a side to side wobble and I was feeling it a little in the steering wheel. Dont forget that if you have limited slip or any locker in the rear diff to make sure both wheels are off the ground. If it is a bent axle shaft I bought mine from Nationaldrivetrain.com. Hope this helps.

Oh, good Lord, I hope it's not that.

I will add that to the list of stuff to check, though. I have no idea whether I have a limited slip diff or any locker. It's a stock 2001 Sport, so it has whatever those came with.

I appreciate the reply.

 

[ranger-93]

no problem but its actually not to bad after pricing everything 100 or so for shaft plus bearing and seal and diff fluid and gasket or rtv whichever you prefer. but from your fiance's description of hub cap spinning differently i hate to say it but it sounds like a shaft. keep us posted.

 

[hiwatt357]

no problem but its actually not to bad after pricing everything 100 or so for shaft plus bearing and seal and diff fluid and gasket or rtv whichever you prefer. but from your fiance's description of hub cap spinning differently i hate to say it but it sounds like a shaft. keep us posted.

Thanks again. I'll check that out and update here.

And, of course, if anyone else has any additional suggestions, I'm all ears.

 

[ddarko]

I get a lot of vibration in my Sport at about the same speed. I think it's always been there but seems to have gotten worse lately. I've also been wondering about the camber, except in the front wheels. Think I'll ask someone to check my tires on the highway too. Please post if you figure yours out!