High Speed Shimmy 08 limited

[bender]

I have had a shimmy (wobble in steering/vibration) at speeds of 60+ for a while, early on I assumed tires out of balance and had my OEM 20"s balanced a couple of times, with the vibration still present I thought maybe they were just having trouble balancing this particular set of tires on these wheels. however, I ran a winter set of 17"s (freshly balanced) the past 4 months and still have the issue. WHat are other causes to consider? Brakes have no signs of warpage (based on hard braking) but could it be rotors, bearings, hubs, axle shaft, sway bar end links? thoughts?

Any ways to eliminate possible causes?

(08 V8 AWD 33k miles)

 

[FordService]

bender,

This is Seni with Ford Customer Service. I am sorry your Explorer is experiencing this issue and not performing to your expectation. I recommend that your vehicle be inspected by a Ford dealership to determine the cause of any symptoms your vehicle may be experiencing, if you have not done so already. Please PM me if further assistance is needed. Thank you.

Seni

 

[1AJeremyD]

Are their any ABS or check engine lights on? Is there any noise with the wobble?

 

[willied]

Someone needs to ban this FordCustSrvc guy. He has no useful info and only tries to get you to waste your money at a stealership.

 

[bender]

(@ jeremy) - no lights on

(@ seni) - I PM'd you.

 

[1AJeremyD]

Is there a noise that happens with the wobble like a grinding or does it sound like something is grabbing?

 

[bender]

No noises at all, feels like something is bent/loose/out of balance, felt in steering wheel and in your seat, water bottles in the cup holder shake.

 

[stevetheelder]

Bender -- This may sound silly -- but I had a sinilar experience w/a Chevy Blazer about six years ago. The stealership tried balancing and re-balancing the tires, different tires, alignment, brakes, etc.. ad nauseum. The vibration was still there. They do not have a dynomometer to test vehicles by computer. The stealership gave up and wished me luck! I finally found a place with a dynomometer (look for a place that calibrates police car speedometers.) As the technician ran my car up to 60 mph he stood beside it with the door open and the door shook all over. This was the first time anyone could actually "see" the vibration. He crawled all around outside the car, while it was going sixty mph, and finally suggested that I may have a loose spare tire. I paid him his $100, drove home, removed the spare tire completely, drove it up the highway at 60 mph (and higher) -- no more vibration!! I went back home, put the spare tire back on, tightened it as much as I could, drove it up the highway again --- NO MORE VIBRATION!!
It is a cheap thing to try (free). Hope yoiu have as much success as I did.
Steve

 

[EX-SV]

Someone needs to ban this FordCustSrvc guy. He has no useful info and only tries to get you to waste your money at a stealership.

For sure, zero value added, like a bad info commercial.