2008 Explorer 4x4 vibration/shake in steering wheel and floor board at highway speed

[relentless85]

2008 Explorer 4x4. Was driving on the highway last night and noticed when I would go 70 MPH+ I would get a shake in the steering wheel and I could feel it a little in the floor. Can feel it a little at 60-65 but becomes a lot more noticeable at 70-85 MPH. Could notice it in the rear seats also, my children's car seats were empty and strapped into the rear seats and could hear them vibrating/shimmying,

I tried taking it into the tire shop today but they were booked up and only had one person working. I a made an appointment to have the tires re-balanced but couldn't get it in until next Sunday. I did a brief visual check of the front suspension, the lower ball joints look good, shocks/struts don't appear to be leaking, right and left front hubs have been replaced.

Any other parts to look at before I take it in for the wheel balance? U Joints? Shocks? Something in the rear?

 

[94Eddie]

I had a stubborn vibration with my Mountaineer from around 65-80 mph. Checked all the suspension parts etc. and found nothing amiss. Then I decided to get the tires road force balanced. This solved the problem. One tire/rim combo was out of balance way more than the other three and wasn't being balanced well enough by conventional methods. By spinning the tire on the rim and strategically placing weights on the tire they were able to zero balance all the tires. The cost isn't too bad. I paid $125 for all four tires out the door. Based on the periodic wobble in the steering wheel, I thought one of the front tires was off. Turned out to be the driver's side rear tire and/or rim was the most out of balance.

 

[relentless85]

I had a stubborn vibration with my Mountaineer from around 65-80 mph. Checked all the suspension parts etc. and found nothing amiss. Then I decided to get the tires road force balanced. This solved the problem. One tire/rim combo was out of balance way more than the other three and wasn't being balanced well enough by conventional methods. By spinning the tire on the rim and strategically placing weights on the tire they were able to zero balance all the tires. The cost isn't too bad. I paid $125 for all four tires out the door. Based on the periodic wobble in the steering wheel, I thought one of the front tires was off. Turned out to be the driver's side rear tire and/or rim was the most out of balance.

What is road force balanced? Does a shop like Firestone have the ability to do that, or would I have to take it to a special place? When I had new tires put on, I had the Ford dealer do it. Went from Goodyear Fortera to Yokohama Geolanders.

The rims have the stick on weights on them right now so I’m hoping that the issue is that one fell off. I like the way the stick on weights look but I have had many of them fall off.

 

[94Eddie]

What is road force balanced? Does a shop like Firestone have the ability to do that, or would I have to take it to a special place? When I had new tires put on, I had the Ford dealer do it. Went from Goodyear Fortera to Yokohama Geolanders.

The rims have the stick on weights on them right now so I’m hoping that the issue is that one fell off. I like the way the stick on weights look but I have had many of them fall off.

Road force balancing is where the tire is subjected to a load while it is spinning. This helps replicate the conditions it sees when it is on the vehicle and the machine collects data on imbalance, if the rim is true etc. In some cases the tire is deflated and rotated on the rim to help cancel out tire and rim irregularities. This might be done a few times to find the balancing sweet spot. Then weights are specified for very specific locations on the inside of the rim. Weight might be put on the outer edge, middle or inner edge depending on what the machine reads. I was impressed enough with the results that I road force balanced my 2007 Mustang and my wife's Edge. This will only work if there is a tire and/or rim issue. I had nothing left to check for the cause of the vibration I had which is why I tried the road force balance procedure. One good thing about doing this procedure is it will tell you if you have a bad tire or rim so these issues can be ruled out or confirmed. Do a google search for it in your area and you will probably find a shop that does it.

 

[07EddyB]

How many miles on the vehicle? Have you ever replaced the rear wheel bearings? As counter intuitive as it might sound - I had the exact same issue a few years ago at about 100K - and it turned out to be a rear bearing.

 

[relentless85]

It has about 102k on it. Both front hubs and bearings have been replaced. I used motorcraft brand on the passenger side and timken on the driver side. I have not touched the rear.

Would the rears display any kind of noise or something I would notice to troubleshoot? I hear to replace the rear bearings is harder than the front?

 

[07EddyB]

I noticed a slight increase in noise but not much. Unlike the front, I couldn't really discern a difference in turns either although I finally decided that turning one way was slightly more noisy than the other. Since my front bearings were fairly new and my rears were original I took a chance and replaced the rear on that side. I got lucky and that took care of it. About 5K later I preemptively changed out the other side also.
The rears are much more difficult than the fronts. The bearing is pressed into the knuckle - it's not a simple bolt on affair like the fronts. You will basically have to remove the caliper and rotor - pull the parking brake shoes - and remove the knuckle from the vehicle. Then press the old hub and bearing out and press in the new ones. I had a shop down the street do the pressing for me - I took care of everything else.
Not a horrible job but time consuming and it helps to have air and an impact.

 

[Trainmaster]

Bet it was those stick on weights. Always is.

 

[relentless85]

I had the wheels re balanced and they said that at least 2 of the tires were off. Seems better now after the re- balance.