70 MPH "Shimmies"

[Flip4ford]

My ex shimmies going between 70-76 MPH. I have new tires, rims, tranny, whole front end is rebuilt, (ball joints, u joints, bearings, bushings, everything) front end alignment, Xfercase, all new (used) within the last year. These shimmies just don't change.

I am going to rebuild the driveshaft next... and if that doesn't work I'll check rear axels...

I read the post (using the search engine) about ford putting weights on the xfercase and rear....

Has anybody had any luck getting rid of the Elvis shakes?

It's right where I like to drive too

 

[esploder224wd]

could be driveshaft vibration but that dosent normally happen with a stock drive shaft unless you nock it out of whack. it can be front d-shaft if its a aftermarket driveshaft that you made and if you dont have manual hubs. i had the same problem with my xlt and it turned out to be a little bit of mud covering one half of the inner wheel and once i washed it it stopped and it was also happening at about 60-75 mph so check it

 

[chetzar]

This was probably done when they installed your new tires, but, how long has it been since they were balanced?

 

[cmhaah06]

Same Issue here!

I just bought my 91 XLT w/5-speed tranny, E-transfer case and automatic hubs. The only thing i noticed during the test drive was that it shook a little at highway speeds (55-65 mph)

After I bought it I took it to Pep Boys, had them check the brakes, steering, tires, alignment, ETC. There were only 2 problems they found with it.

One was one of the tires tread was "seperating". I was not worried, just gave me a reason to buy new tires (31x10.50 M/T Pep Boys brand, what can I say buy one get one free).

The second was the wheel bearings needed to be repacked. Well, needless to say the tires were replaced/balanced and the wheel bearings were repacked and it still shakes, but not as much.

Feels like its coming from the front end. Theres no mud in the wheels, I engaged the transfer case and then disengaged it, and I still have no idea what could be causing this. The truck drives great, even though it shakes at highway speeds it still tracks straight when I let go of the steering wheel. I've read other threads like this but still have no answer/ideas...Any help would be great, thanks.

 

[91exploreron37]

Bent wheels?

 

[cmhaah06]

I do have the stock wheels and they are pretty badly beat up...could be. Need to finish my backyard before I get new wheels.

 

[Flip4ford]

New wheels, new shocks, new tires, ?????????

 

[91exploreron37]

New wheels, new shocks, new tires, ?????????

Whoops I didnt see that, what kinda tires are you running and did it start after they rebuilt the tranny? Might not have lined the driveshaft back up correctly the way it was removed.

 

[dansnyder22]

my friends 91 did this at about the same speeds, we replaced the sway bar bushings, front and BACK and it went away, check your bushings

 

[doonze]

I get this too, from about 65-70, it comes and goes. It might shake a bit, then stop to nothing for a few miles, then shake like hell for a bit, then calm down again. I haven't really figured it out yet. But on my trip to work in the north bound lane it's never really bad, but on the trip back in the southbound lane it sometimes gets really bad. I can't figure if it's hills, or something about the road itself. It also seemed worse when I had the 4 of us in it one day. Course my wife is 93 lbs, daughter is like 63 lbs and son is like 40 lbs, so they didn't add much.

I think I'll start cheap, balance and rotate the tires and see what goes from there.

If you get it fixed post up, going to keep my eye on this one.

 

[dansnyder22]

if you get it fixed post up, going to keep my eye on this one.

my friends 91 did this at about the same speeds, we replaced the sway bar bushings, front and back and it went away, check your bushings

check your bushings on the sway bar!!

 

[corkey]

i took all the weights off my rear end and t case to see if that made a difference as i have a shake too,, it didn't help,, i have narrowed it down to the driveshaft , or rear axles, on mine, but i also have warrior type shackles, so it could be the pinion angle,, as they lower the rear attachment points a bit, maybe a degree or 2 ,,, ,

 

[Flip4ford]

Well I have a totally new balanced driveshaft.. new SOA swap so pinion angle is a little different but not much from what a stock exploder is. I have new tires all the way arouns new tranny and xfer case.... I am going to try the "unbolt the motor mount thing" and try to maybe incorperate a gas shock like the 95's and up have.

 

[dllb]

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

From what I've read around the forums... this "shake" in the First Generation Explorers was do to the vibrations of the body and the vibrations of the drivetrain (which part though I'm not positive) matching around the speed specified... When these "vibrations" matched they added to each other, which is when it starts to shake pretty bad... In my experience when I've past this 65-70mph (give or take) and get to the 75-80mph mark the shakes go away...

I've read that Ford changed the setup of things in the 95 and up Explorer to alleviate this problem, starting with the "5th Shock" on the rear axle to damper these vibrations. Search that term and see what you come up with.

Again, this is from what I have read from various sources, I've tried searching to find them but so many people post about the shimmy/wobble/shake problem that it's almost useless searching for it anymore... Good Luck.

 

[deamon3]

Yea , these explorer shook when they were brand new. Your literally 10mph away from it's top speed so I don't blame it. lol

 

[dkchrist]

shimmy can also come from alignment.

With all those parts replaced, that may be the cause.

I had it happen with my truck and i had replaced a tierod end. My toe in was too far in and making it shimmy at around 70 with a slight steering input.

 

[Flip4ford]

I have had 2 alignments done by 2 different "good" shops. I am going to add my 6" lift brackets in when I put on the extended radius arms in a couple weeks and have another alignment done... then I will unbolt the engine from the mounts and tranny and xfer case -- drive forward and backward a few feet and see what happens--- if it still shimmies-- I'll probably look into fabbing up some extra shock mounts like later models have.