Still having vibration at or above 65 mph

[Dr.Manhattan]

I posted a little while back in regards to my car shaking and that I had replaced my wheel, but not properly torqued em. I've since put in new bearings, greasing em with a grease gun. The car seems to run a lot nicer, however I am still experiencing vibration at higher speeds. I made sure to tighten the bearings to 30 ft lbs and then loosened a half turn before tightening to 6 ft lbs (rough approx of a conversion calculator for inch pounds) and yes I rotated the rotor while doing this.

Would the lack of a wheel alignment be another cause for this issue? Should I try rotating my tires? This wouldn't happen if the bearings were a little tighter than they ought to be would they? I ask this only because I'm getting a lot of mixed opinions from different sites on the tightness of the bearing. I'd say it's maybe a little bit tighter than hand tightened.

 

[waskly]

is the vibration at cruise or braking?

few things can cause it at cruise, one wheels (lugs) on too tight warpping the rotor, since the rotor is the wheel hub.

un balanced wheels, bent rims, wheel weights fell off.....

tires can cause a vibration.

lose front end also.

 

[ranger-93]

possible driveline vibration?

 

[pickupman6]

drive shaft out of balance, worn u joint, broke belt in tire, and of course what waskly said

 

[Mettler]

Tire split in the tread

 

[Dr.Manhattan]

Cruise referring to cruise control, or driving in general? It happens when driving. The rotors are fine as I just had them serviced. I tighten my lugs by hand. I know the gun is a no no on wheels. I guess I'll try rotating the tires to see if it is any of the issues that Waskly mentioned, because if it is any of these other issues I may cry.

But just to clarify, my bearings are ok right?

 

[burning_soul07]

My X Vibrates or shakes at 58 MPH and up. Just below 58 drives perfectly and alignment is strait. I am pretty sure its the right wheel bearings, I haven't gotten around to replacing them yet.

I plan on doing the u-joints and when I do that I am going to put on new rotors and wheel bearings and also the locking nuts that your talking about that need to be torqued. Inner to 35 in lbs loosen then to 16 in lbs, the middle ring and making sure the pin is there and lined up properly, then the outer to 150 ft lbs.

I am SURE mine are overtightened and thats whats causing the wobble. The guy who had the truck before me didn't do anything right.

BTW, I found lots of these locking rings ( inner and outer) at the U pull it yard.

 

[ranger-93]

My X Vibrates or shakes at 58 MPH and up. Just below 58 drives perfectly and alignment is strait. I am pretty sure its the right wheel bearings, I haven't gotten around to replacing them yet.

I plan on doing the u-joints and when I do that I am going to put on new rotors and wheel bearings and also the locking nuts that your talking about that need to be torqued. Inner to 35 in lbs loosen then to 16 in lbs, the middle ring and making sure the pin is there and lined up properly, then the outer to 150 ft lbs.

I am SURE mine are overtightened and thats whats causing the wobble. The guy who had the truck before me didn't do anything right.

BTW, I found lots of these locking rings ( inner and outer) at the U pull it yard.

he will only have inner and outter lock rings if he has manual hubs, if he has auto he'll have the auto hub nut and little lock key. regardless of which hubs iv always tightened bearings by hand- while spinning rotor crank down as much as possible to seat the bearings, back off till its completely loose than tighten again until you can spin the rotor kinda hard but not killing yourself and it still making one complete revolution without going past. i like mine a lil tighter than specs but once you start putting oversize tires nothing is by the book anymore lol

 

[waskly]

Cruise referring to cruise control, or driving in general? It happens when driving. The rotors are fine as I just had them serviced. I tighten my lugs by hand. I know the gun is a no no on wheels. I guess I'll try rotating the tires to see if it is any of the issues that Waskly mentioned, because if it is any of these other issues I may cry.

But just to clarify, my bearings are ok right?

if you dont hear them, and the wheel is not too tight or lose correct, they are fine.

i would say that they are fine.. the noise is gone right?

 

[Dr.Manhattan]

What noise specifically? I've always heard some kind of a sound with this car, but I figured it was the friction of the tires on the road? I know with bad bearings you hear a grinding which I don't hear. My bearings were oozing out of every hole with grease, so i can't see how they'd make a noise. It is only maybe a little tighter than hand tightened.

 

[ranger-93]

What noise specifically? I've always heard some kind of a sound with this car, but I figured it was the friction of the tires on the road? I know with bad bearings you hear a grinding which I don't hear. My bearings were oozing out of every hole with grease, so i can't see how they'd make a noise. It is only maybe a little tighter than hand tightened.

if they grind replace them, if they squeal replace them, if you can drive for 10-15 minutes at a relatively consistent speed get out and grab your hub and its heated replace them. when mine went bad i had a high pitch type squeal in intervals and when i got home i got out and grabbed the hubs, they were warm not quite to where i couldnt hold them but on the way.

 

[Dr.Manhattan]

No grinds or squeals. It's more like a hum which I think is just the rubber on the road. I had the hot hubs, which is why I replaced em in the first place. Turns out I suck at packing bearings by hand, so I had to get a bearing packer and grease gun. Nice and packed now. I guess it has to be something with the wheels. Truthfully I've snatched a few curbs and I do have the aluminum wheels. I just keep wanting to not think it's that because I like my wheels.

 

[Dr.Manhattan]

To the person who said my wheels could need balancing. Could my wheels being out of balance cause my hubs to get warm? I really can't stand to do a third bearing job in one month. Is there any other cause for hot hubs?

 

[ranger-93]

To the person who said my wheels could need balancing. Could my wheels being out of balance cause my hubs to get warm? I really can't stand to do a third bearing job in one month. Is there any other cause for hot hubs?

Out of balance tires should not cause warm hubs, it'll just ride rougher. Buddy of mine has 40's on his 86 k5 and it was PITA to get them balanced, in the end they were not all balanced but as close as possible, and he doesnt have warm hubs unless its bearing related. Idk of another cause for warm hubs.

 

[corkey]

okay,. a question,

when was the last alignment done ?

if the alignment is off at that speed you would get the shopping cart effect, and the wheel would shake a bit,,

 

[Anime]

Vibration could be the wheel bearings, but usually only if they are too lose, overtightened, or damaged from having been overtightened or loose while driving.

Hot hubs (and wheels) usually come from sticking/running brakes. Usually this is a caliper issue, and could lead to some vibration if it distorts the rotor since the bearings and front drivetrain are in the center of the rotors.

Usually though, vibration is wheels/tires being out of balance. Even if the tire shop does a perfect zero/zero balance when new, once tires break in, or as they wear, the balance can go off and cause it. After that, you're looking at driveline issues, like worn u-joints, which are common on vehicles with the stock joints after 200-300K or 16-18 years on them. Bad alignment will of course do it as well, toe and caster will cause vibration if the tires are trying to go in different directions at once or just angled funny.

I've also found that the steel driveshafts all around on Explorers tend to rust pretty bad, enough to where it affects the balance. Taking a wire brush on an angle grinder or sanding them down so the scale and rust is taken off usually restores the balance if you take care not to damage the shaft weights that are on there. Of course it's always worth checking out the little things too, like lug nuts, driveshaft fasteners/brackets, and of course the whole wheel/tire/driveline/brake system for any kind of damage.