Terrible Tire Shake

[NissanTy]

Im so fed up trying to figure out this tire shake. From 60mph and faster my explorer shakes so bad. Faster I go the worse it gets. Had my wheels and tires balanced TWICE changed out my rotors and pads and yet still shakes. Everything in the steering feels and looks good. Im going tomorrow to have the tires rebalanced again and possibly have them check for a bad tire. Im so fed up to the point I HATE driving my explorer. I've been dealing with this pretty much since I bought it and im ready to burn it down. Any advice or tips what else it could possibly be other than a bad tire? Thanks

 

[bob60014]

Ball joints?

 

[08EddieCA]

2nd ball joints.

 

[curlymurt]

Definitely ball joints. I fought for months on another vehicle with the same symptoms and outcome(s).

 

[Tech By Trade]

Have a real good look at the U joints and the carrier bearing. If any rubber is missing from the carrier that's probably your problem. Not common but it happens. The shops will tell you the carrier cant be replaced and try and charge you 900 dollars to replace the drive shaft. The replacement is 60 bucks and it will take you a couple hours to replace yourself.

 

[toypaseo]

If you think it's tire balance related, find the closest business that uses a Hunter Road Force GSP9700 balancing machine.

http://www.hunter.com/gsp9700

I got a pair of used slightly used tires from Discount Tire Direct on eBay. Had them balanced twice, but still had vibration issues. Called them up and told them the problem. They suggest the above advice, and would reimburse the rebalance charges. No vibration issues up to 100MPH after the rebalance.

 

[NissanTy]

I'll check everything in the front end then before wasting more money on tire balancing and what not. Like I said it starts at around 60 mph then gets remarkably worse the faster I go. Its extremely frustrating and all I want is it to ride like the luxury SUV its meant to be

 

[Sonic_Mikey]

2nd the Road Force balancing. Tires in essence are just round springs, a week spot in the belt can cause vibrations that regular balancing wont fix. Ball joints have to be in fairly bad shape to cause a rotational vibration, they will cause a shimmy or a clunk/click on initial application of the brakes long before they cause a rotational vibration. Same goes for control arm bushings.

 

[Partsman109]

Do you know someone or have a friend with an Explorer with the same size wheels and tires? Maybe do a swap and take a test drive to determine or rule out a tire/belt/balance issue.
I agree with the road force balancing suggestions, but if you have one with a shifted belt, it won't help much.

 

[NissanTy]

Thanks for the advice guys, my father in law has been super busy with other repairs in his garage but he said end of this week he should be able to fit me in to see what could be causing this. We're going to look over all the suspension components to make sure everything is okay. I do know the right front wheel bearing might be going out. We put brakes on it back in November and noticed the right front wheel had some play in it but the bearing itself is not making any noise. If everything checks out okay with the suspension I'll have a tire shop check for any damaged belts or what not in the tires. I do want to get aftermarket wheels and tires since my stock 20 inch limited wheels are beyond messed up (tarnished and corroded). I'll keep this post updated if we find anything wrong with the ball joints or anything else.

 

[NissanTy]

Do you know someone or have a friend with an Explorer with the same size wheels and tires? Maybe do a swap and take a test drive to determine or rule out a tire/belt/balance issue.
I agree with the road force balancing suggestions, but if you have one with a shifted belt, it won't help much.

My mother in law has a Mountaineer I can ask if we can swap wheels and go for a test run

 

[NissanTy]

Took it to the dealer today, bit the bullet and overpaid (of course) but they have road force balancing and they found that all 4 tires were unbalanced and the TPMS came loose and was rolling around inside the tire! They did say my tie rod ends need replaced but I'll do that at a later time since they weren't too bad yet. My Explorer FINALLY rides smooth again!