65 mph Vibration

[Yamaha0219]

I have a '96 XLT AWD, I am the second owner, the first owner took very good care, having everything done at the dealer. I am very handy and like to do my own work. I have a vibration starting at about 65 mph and gets worse as I go faster, it is there when I'm on the gas and when I'm coasting. I feel it more on the floor and through the seats than in the wheel. Car doesnt pull or anything, it just vibrates/shakes pretty bad, especially when going over 70. Anyone have any ideas on what the problem could be? I've heard ball joints and I read somewhere maybe the wheels aren't balanced right. But I'm pretty stuck on this one and it's getting annoying. HELP ANYONE. Thanks

 

[MustangP51]

Get the wheels balanced. That should solve the problem.

 

[kert0307]

I'd guess it's a rear wheel off balance since the steering wheel isn't moving. I would also get under the truck and see if you can move the driveshaft at all, I have heard of some of them getting loose and doign that. Also if you have recently been in mud, if there is mud caked to the wheel it will through the balance off.

 

[Millertime1987]

I agree with both previous posts. The universal joints in the drive shaft can go bad. It happened eventually to both the front and rear ones on my truck. You will need a torch and inpack gun to get the old ones and new ones installed. I took the drive shaft to a Tires Plus and they did it for me for about $80 bucks total i think. That was 4-5 years ago though.

 

[FordTony]

Hopefully its just the tires that arent balanced, but a loose drive shaft or front drive shaft will also do it. I drive a 98 xlt 4x4 and i had a vibration at around 45-50 and it turned out to be one of the front drive axels. I replaced both since I figured if one went, the other isnt to far behind. the problem went away for me. hope that isnt whats wrong with yours because they cost about 250-350 a piece to have replaced, but its another thing to consider. If you can do it yourself you can do it for about 100-150 per side....thats what i ended up doing.