UGHHH Please advise.... Unsafe Vibration @65 and around bends & curves

[nole99]

Okay so the rattle and clunk turned out to be the lower ball joints all fixed ...
details here http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=102474

So now I am left with this vibration @ 65 that is horid ....

When I am going around a tight curve or bend the truck vibrates and shakes like crazy ... and wants to jump all over the road ...

When I am driving staight all seems to be well. until I hit 65 ish ... after that anything goes

I am soooo frustrated all ideas are welcome ...

 

[Robb]

Tire rotation and balance.

 

[boominXplorer]

Alignment, shocks, tires balenced, front end bearrings. I would start by getting the tires rotated and balanced like rob said. Then if that doesn't help get an alignment then if that doesn't work they will probibly not the problem to you if the shop notices anthing they can make money off of

 

[nole99]

Thanks for the replies guys ...

Tires only have about 600 miles on them and they were just balance staticly and dynamicly along with a road force test on the gsp9700 machine. So I can rule that out

Shocks are rancho 9000 set at 3 in front and 4 in the rear and only have 600 miles on them as well. I have checked to make sure they are all still nice and snug and they are.

I took some measurements as it appears my front passenger side has a toe out scenario ... my front measurements were all about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch wider than the rear measurements

To me that is toe out when it should be toe in ... the front pass side looks real off ...

guess the shop never realigned after they did the lower joints ball joints

looks like it is back to the shop ... again

ughhhh

I think maybe I will do my tie rod ends to just becasue it's getting up their in miles and it has to be aligned anyhow.... shop said they are worn enough to be covered under warranty...

 

[holter95]

Just thinking out loud....

First off, who did the ball joints - you? Ford Dealer? other mechanic?

Did they touch the upper ball joints? Typically the OEMs can only be replaced with the whole UCA assembly (or a section of it on the pass side). The fore-aft placement of the control arm extension on the pass side dictates the caster and ultimately can change the toe... I had to have an alignment immediately done after my uppers were replaced, as it exhibited the exact same characteristics you described.

If they didn't touch the UCA, second thought would be how the lower joints were replaced... Did you press out and replace the ball joint, or did you replace the entire LCA (factory recommended, but not wholly necessary)? Possibly the LCA bushings were worn, and the new ones may have a different static position, affecting alignment. If you replaced the ball joint only, make sure it was the correct size to fit the LCA (I've seen some joints sold at Murray's that were undersized).

Other things to check... Make sure the spindle is correctly attached to the upper ball joint (make sure the joint shaft isn't tweaked inside the spindle). Make sure your tie rod ends are correctly installed (not tweaked).

Best of luck

 

[holter95]

As for your toe measurements... keep in mind that front and rear track may be different widths....

 

[etc]

Sounds like you need and alignment. They should have given you a printout with the specs if they did the alignment.

 

[nole99]

Thanks for the replies guys ....

2.5 weeks ago the upper driver side ball joint was replaced along with the upper control arm...

A week ago the sway links and bushing were replaced

Then yesterday both lower ball joints were replaced; just the joint not the contal arm

As far as tire track goes I assume you mean the width of the tread. The tread widths were withing 1/16 inch at the measuring point ... In the day light it is obvious that the front pass has serious toe out ... and the front driver slight toe out ... the difference in distance is almost 3/4 of an inch larger in the front ... the tread width variation does not account for that much diff ...

Shouldn't the front tires tires be toe in in the front so that they open up to staight at speed ... what is a good toe in measurement???

All of the work was done by a local shop under my extended warranty ... I am also not sure if I have aftermarket camber adjusters or not is there a way I can tell by looking?

Also How would I tell if the tie rods or spindle are tweaked or installed wrong? They appear okay

Should I take a picture tonight and post it?

How could I tell if the ball joints were the wrong size other than they would rattle?

 

[springtensi0n]

when i replaced my ball joints and tie rod ends i got a horrid vibration too. i went and got it aligned and it seemed to get worse so i brought it back (pretty po-ed) and they told me i need a new power steering rack. i called my friend whos a mechanic and he said 95's had this problem with some valves (somewhere in steering). they are one way valves and when you have the truck off and you move the wheels back and forth it lets fluid the wrong way into the valves, causing a terrible shudder while you steer. the fix was simple, turn the truck on and turn the wheels, lock to lock, to get the fluid out. sure enough it worked. he said this was a problem on 95's only, but the symptoms sound similar. i hope this helped, even a little bit. ( i know you have a 99)

 

[nole99]

had her re-aligned today and my death wobble and shake is gone.

Is am still however getting a vibration and shake around the curves on the highway and it is starting to become more noticable on acceleration esspecially when I accelerate at highway speeds., their also seems to be a steady pacing sound I am getting on the highway as well. If I accelerate hard on the highway is vibrates hard then as soon as I let off the gas it goes to a very faint vibration that I get while maintaining speed.

I can feel it but can also see the back of the pass seat vibrating along with my travel mug in the console.

My sterring wheel now has no noticable movement or vibration

I made an appt for mon morning at the dealer to see if they have more insight to this and I also still have a rattle in the front when going over a stretch uneven road.

 

[etc]

Sounds like maybe driveline(ujoints / slip yolkes.)


edit - The acceleration vibration, not sure about the curve ones.