Vibration in Seats | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Vibration in Seats

orangesoda123

Well-Known Member
Joined
June 11, 2014
Messages
141
Reaction score
0
Year, Model & Trim Level
2013 Explorer Xlt, 26k
Hey Folks,

Wanted to get some input on a vibration I'm getting in the seats of my Explorer. It will start mildly at 45mph and becomes pretty annoying at 55mph. Around 80 its quite noticeable. The wheels have been balanced a few times in the last 10000 miles, most recently about 1500 miles ago. 1500 miles ago the tires were also checked for roundness and runout as well as rotated with no noticeable difference in vibration. I get 0 vibration in the steering wheel. Its more noticeable if i'm sitting in the 2nd row instead of driving. Also if you are on a rougher road its pretty hard to tell its there but as soon as you get on a nice smooth road its annoying as hell. I tried putting the car in neutral at 60mph and there was no change so I'm assuming I can dismiss engine/tranny problems.

Anyone have any idea what I could be looking at here? I know these are prone to having brakes dragging but would that cause a vibration? I'm assuming its coming from the rear of the car as I get no vibration in the wheel. Driveshaft problem maybe? I'm hoping to get it in the shop in the next couple of days while I still have 3/36 left. I only have about 3k left.

Any and all input is appreciated!
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Could be stuck caliper? Maybe drive shaft? Or it could just be the tires. I found my stock hankooks to be awful...so i changed them. I had some vibs in the seat with those and with the new ones really nothing anymore if at all
 






viberation

Don't over look warped rotor (rear) or U joint.
 






Just an update. Ex goes in on Wednesday to take a look. I'll keep everyone in the loop.
 






Update: Dealer acknowledged the vibration but they said its a little too faint to narrow it down. The car was roadforced about 1500 miles ago and the tires (OEM Michelin) and rims were fine. Actually some of the best numbers I've gotten out of a road force. They are thinking an out of balance drive shaft or u-joint problem but their tests were inconclusive. They actually JUST purchased a "Electronic Vibration Analysis" tool but they said its about 3-6 weeks away from being delivered. They want me to come back when it arrives and they believe that they will be able to narrow it down for sure. They also took note of when I brought it in so it will be covered under warranty if I happen to go over my warranty mileage in the meantime.

Kind of a bummer I have to wait 3-6 weeks but our Ex rarely leaves town so I think I'll make it :). My dealer did tell me of another Ford shop that has the tool (about 2 hours away) if I didn't feel like waiting but I'll probably just wait until my dealer gets their tool. I have a feeling the other dealer will start diagnosis all over again starting with tire balancing :(

I'll try to update this when my Explorer gets hooked up to the EVA.
 






Update:and the tires (OEM Michelin) and rims were fine.


One way to exclude tires and wheels of the source of vibration, is to borrow a set from an Ex that is driving smooth. I faced several years ago also a vibration issue that was hard to diagnose with our previous brand new '13 MKX; in the end it came down to a manufacturing defect with one of the tyres. After several visits to balance the tires, and checking the shafts and suspension, they took the approach of fixing an other set of tires/wheels.... that really helped pinning it down to the wheel/tyre that was faulty. The interesting part was that several times balancing did not reveal a vibration issue at all!

Vibrations are really annoying; all the best with finding the solution!!!
 






How many miles are on your Ex? The shocks/struts only last about 50,000 miles before they're down to about half efficiency and need replaced. If one or more your shocks are worn out you will get a 'seat of the pants' vibration at higher speeds even with a good road force balance.
And you can't tell if you have a weak shock anymore like you could in the old days, by pushing down on a corner and watching rebound.
If you're over 50k miles I would suggest shock/strut replacement to try and fix the vibration ... and even if it doesn't fix the vibration, you should be happier with the firmer ride and increased stability a new set of shocks/struts will provide.

(edit) I see in your OP that you have 3k left on your 3/36 warranty - still, have the shop check out your shocks/struts for wear/leakage when you take it in, it could still be the problem.

(edit again) See This Thread, shock/strut wear/leakage is not uncommon
 












Check out this thread

Seems like a bad CV joint may be causing his issue.

I had already seen that post and didn't reference it for 2 reasons:

1. The Original Post states that there was 0 steering wheel vibration, which led me to believe it could be a shock failure, and the post you reference is for a steering wobble/vibration.

2. The post you reference has not finally determined if the cv axle was the cause of the vibration, they are still waiting on parts to see if it will fix the vibration.

But, after re-reading the post you reference, I got to thinking ... a bad joint or bent axle shaft on the rear could possibly cause a vibration with no steering feel, or possibly the center drive shaft bearing is failing and vibrating, or he ran over something that got knocked up and bent the center drive shaft. Nobody has thought to look at the drive shaft running down the center of the car, and if something is wrong with that, you would Definitely get the kind of vibration in the seat described in the original post. And he says it's worse in the second row, that's right above where the center drive shaft bearing is located. There doesn't even have to be any damage. The main Drive Shafts are index balanced at the factory. If the drive shaft had been removed for any reason in the past and not put back in the exact same position, it could cause an out of balance condition and vibration, and need to be re-indexed. I read this in a paper for calibrating police interceptor speedometers on a dyno, where they have to disconnect the drive shaft from the PTU.

Link: P-002_2013_AWD_Police_Interceptor_Speedometer_Calibration.pdf
 






I know you don't want to hear this OP but... I'm 90% sure it's your tires. My 15' Exp Sport did exactly what you are describing from day one as I left the dealer. Driving down Roswell Rd, @ 45+ MPH, I noticed the passenger seat and especially the head rest had a vibration. My wife was in the back with our daughter and she noticed it. I've also had this same problem with every single vehicle, (all (8) of different makes & models), I've owned unless someone is sitting in said passenger seat. The bigger the tires, the more pronounced the problem. My Wrangler riding on 35' Mud Terrains were the biggest offender. I tossed the tech a 10$ bill and said I need these tires to be balanced to a true 0to0 balance, of which I watched him do just that. The vibration was 50% less than with my old mud terrains but the passenger seat vibration was still there. It's hard to mould a tire to perfect specs with zero imperfections; much less have 4 with the same degree of perfection to be mounted on the same vehicle.

As long as your not experiencing vibration in the steering wheel, feeling vibs in the pedals/floor boards, and not feeling vibes coming from the seat into your legs, glutes, lower back, or teeth; what your describing is normal. You can swap tires brands and such but more than likely it's always going to be there due to what I described above. YMMV.
 






Back
Top