Explorer Shaking at Highway Speed (60 - 70 mph)

[XCAMP]

Here's a follow up...

So I have been living with this vibration for a while now and decided to try another shop yesterday. They had a Road Force Balancer and I figured that before I buy new tires I would take it there for that. So they test drove it and said all they can feel is the brakes vibrating, I was like, they don't and that isn't what I brought it in for, just do the balance. So they have someone else drive it and they say they do feel the vibration and it's the drive shaft (which I have already had replaced). I picked the truck up and my bill was $65 and it said "spin balance", so I have my doubts they even did the road force balance. Truck still shakes. What a royal pain this thing is!

 

[Northern]

Warped brake rotors can cause shaking. But before having a mechanic look at them, have a look yourself and make sure they are perfectly clean. A build up of gunk from dirt and brake pads on the rotor can give the sensation of a warped rotor.

 

[XCAMP]

There's no shaking when I apply the brakes and I just did my pads a month ago. My rotors do look pretty crappy, so I was going to slap some new ones on soon anyway. I don't think that they would cause the whole vehicle to shake at a specific speed when not applied, do you?

 

[Northern]

The rotors on my F-150 were warped so bad at one point that my entire truck would jidder and the steering wheel would shake at almost any speed. They were severely warped which caused them to be unbalanced just like a tire/rim would be. I had them machined/resurfaced and the problem went away.

If you're not feeling it when the brakes are applied, this may not be your problem.

You've checked the ball joints yourself, right? You're not just taking someone's word?

 

[mrau92me]

There's no shaking when I apply the brakes and I just did my pads a month ago. My rotors do look pretty crappy, so I was going to slap some new ones on soon anyway. I don't think that they would cause the whole vehicle to shake at a specific speed when not applied, do you?

Did you ever get this problem fixed? I'm having a vibration in my '02 Mountaineer at and around 70 mph (even goes away somewhere above 75). Feels like it's coming from the right front tire. It started happening right after I had new tires put on it, but I've had that tire rebalanced twice since then, each time the tech said that the wheel/tire balance needed to be adjusted on that tire. But, it's still doing it.

I know I need new upper control arms, but I knew that before putting the new tires on it.

 

[XCAMP]

Nope, and I am assuming it's my tires since nothing else has helped. Curious, which tires do you have and what size?

 

[mrau92me]

Nope, and I am assuming it's my tires since nothing else has helped. Curious, which tires do you have and what size?

Wow, I feel for you. You've been putting up with it for over 2 years now, but I guess you've had to (probably couldn't sell it to anyone). In mid-March, I purchased and installed a set of Hankook DynaPro HT RH12 on-line from DTD . Specs are P245/70R16 106T. I had Michelin LTX M/S of the same size on it prior to that.

I'm going to swap front to back to see what happens, then I'll put on new upper ctrl arms since they need replacing anyway followed by an alignment.

 

[XCAMP]

I love my Explorer except for the shaking, both the highway speed shake and idle shake, and I assume the highway at 65 mph is the tires, but I am waiting until I need new tires to see if that's the problem.

If you have a full size spare, put it on that front right (or whatever tire) and see if it solves anything. I can't tell which of mine it is or I would do the same.

Others have said it might be a bad belt in one of my tires, since others have had the same issue with the same tires (Dunlop Radial Rovers). I went up one size because mine had 235's on it originally from the factory.

I spent over $2K on fixing this issue and had everything possible checked, even road force balanced the tires. I am at a loss to this day.

 

[mrau92me]

I love my Explorer except for the shaking, both the highway speed shake and idle shake, and I assume the highway at 65 mph is the tires, but I am waiting until I need new tires to see if that's the problem.

If you have a full size spare, put it on that front right (or whatever tire) and see if it solves anything. I can't tell which of mine it is or I would do the same.

Others have said it might be a bad belt in one of my tires, since others have had the same issue with the same tires (Dunlop Radial Rovers). I went up one size because mine had 235's on it originally from the factory.

I spent over $2K on fixing this issue and had everything possible checked, even road force balanced the tires. I am at a loss to this day.

OK, I'll do the spare thing. That's a really good idea since I kept one of my Michelins and had it mounted as the spare. If I might suggest, you could try getting a good used tire for yours and have it mounted as your spare and move it around to all 4 locations to see if it makes any difference.

 

[HCCA 250]

I had this problem, before, on other cars. Unfortunately, it can be anything from wheel bearings, to bent rims, to broken belts in the tires, to axles, hubs, drive shafts, brakes rotors, etc.....
It comes down to an imbalance. The unfortunate part is finding out WHICH part is imbalanced!!

I would say, that if you've eliminated the tires, brake rotors, and drive shaft, it might have to be wheel bearings/hubs. But, it COULD BE something else! Sucks to have to go through this. Sometimes, it's best to just get a new vehicle.

 

[XCAMP]

Just to follow up, finally got new tires and the shake is gone, so tires were the issue the entire time.

 

[spwyso]

Just to follow up, finally got new tires and the shake is gone, so tires were the issue the entire time.

Huh? This thread started with the purchase of new tires (...I purchased new tires a few months ago, got a balance and alignment.)

 

[XCAMP]

Yeah the tires I had purchased originally were the issue. But since then I found the ultimate solution to all my Explorer problems (shaking, pinion whine, etc), I traded it in for a Jeep!

 

[Floridaexplorer43]

Feel like my 2004 is doing the same thing. I don’t mud ride. I replaced front upper control arms , sway bar links in front. I paid for an alignment only received a bill/receipt. Today I paid for 4 new tires and steering wheel is still shaking side to side a little and it feels like the car is wobbling. All 4 new wheel bearings.