'91 Explorer intermittently shakes like crazy.

[kitra]

A friend who's out of work has a 91 Explorer and she says she'll be driving along fine and then once in a while, the truck starts shaking like crazy. I haven't looked at it yet but am guessing a loose front suspension? I also don't know the mileage but I suspect it's high since it's almost 20 years old. I wish I had more information at this time but I don't. Any thoughts on what I should look for? I'm hoping to get to look at it within the next week or so. Thanks for the help and expertise.

 

[wood1]

Usually a good start is to jack one wheel off the ground (stick a jackstand under the truck) then start moving that wheel and watching and holding onto steering components until you find the culprit. Could also be loose wheel nuts, I wouldn't wait for a week to check for that as it can cause the studs to shear and the loss of a wheel at speed can cause a fair bit of drama to say the least. She can check for loose wheel nuts herself.

 

[turboranger91]

if they've never been replaced (which there's a good chance they haven't), my money would be on a combination of wheel bearings and ball joints. you can replace upper and lower ball joints on both sides for about $80 and the inner and outer wheel bearings for about $50. assuming those are to blame, you'll be amazed at the difference a few fresh parts will make. also, if it's 4wd, check the front wheel joints (not sure if that's what you call them, but they're the u-joints that connect the axle to the hub).

 

[Tony H]

Is she talking about suspension shaking or Engine Missing?

I broke a tooth on a Spider gear in the rear axle. every once in a while when that gear moved enough ( on turns) to need to function, the Jeep would hop and kick. "Shaking" could mean anything. When you look at it, let us know what it feels like and what you find