Keep it Simple stupid! 65 MPH shimmies! Fixed!

[doonze]

Ok, so we all know these things can have an issue with shimmies about 65-70 MPH. I've had one since I bought the truck, and have been researching causes. There seems to be about as many reasons as there are Explorers on the road. I'm thinking currenly that these things are just flat out prone to shimmies and if ANYTHING is out of wack it's going to shake. So far, here is the list of reason's I've seen posted on here. (and all of these have been listed as fixes)

Sway bar bushings
RA Bushings
Tranny mounts
Engine mounts
U-joints
Bent Axels
Drive shaft not balanced
Breaks
Rotors
Wheel's out of round
Tires bad/not balanced
Wheel bearings
Shocks
Springs
Alignment off
bad tie rods/etc in front end

I'm sure there is more.... So I've been pouring through all these and looked at everything, checking U-joints, bushings, you name it.

The tires were new when I bought the truck so I had been ignoring those more or less, but went by and had them rotated and balanced yesterday(lifetime), and guess what.... that was my problem. No shimmie now, and it was as simple as a balance of the tires. I had assumed (dumb me) that it had been balanced when the new tires were put on. Seems I was wrong. Some of the weights had been on there so long that it has damaged the wheel with rust!!! Ate right through the coating!! I don't know who would put new tires on and NOT balance them, but there you go.

Just goes to show KISS, Keep is Simple Stupid. I know balancing issues would cause my problem, had it one time or another on every car I've ever owned. But I was just trying to overthink it, couldn't be THAT simple.... geesh... Been driving 63 MPH on the freeway for the last 4 months...LOL And for $30 and 20 mins of my time could have been fixed. (I thought all this time it was RA bushings)

 

[Joe Dirt]

Just like when mine was droning at 30mph and I thought the wheel bearing was going bad on that side. After dealing with it for 2 months and swapping 2 junkyard bearings- it was cupped tread caused by underinflation. Move that tire to the rear- droning gone. DOH!

 

[nitro71]

But now you're front end is as tight as a prom night virgin : )

 

[Robrt32]

ALWAYS start with a rotation and balance, I do anyway.. simple first.. My sway bar isn't even hooked up on the right side and my tires are not balanced. I have no shimmy at all... I'm almost scared to fix it..lol

 

[Robrt32]

oh I read the rest of your post , how I got new tires and not balanced was I mounted them myself because I didn't wanna sit at Wal-mart a half a day while they mounted and balanced. I don't have a balancing machine and since it don't shimmy, I haven't bothered with it