Vibration on the highway

[Craigerz]

Good afternoon,

Took a trip recently to the beach. It was about 300 miles there. Spent the day driving on the beach in HI 4WD. 4406. Nothing hard, no getting stuck no deep water crossings. I didn't even get the tires wet actually. I did air down to about 16 PSI because the sand was dry. Other than that it was an easy day and drove about 35 miles on the sand. Pull onto the highway filled the tires back up and took off. As soon as I got up to speed there was a horrible vibration/noise. My first thought was a tire since that was the only thing I messed with. Played with the pressure and nothing. It feels like its coming from the drivers side floorboard. Now I have it narrowed down to 68 MPH. 68 it doesn't vibrate and 69 it starts and does not stop at a certain speed. 77 is a high as I went.

1. Got home and rotated the tires. Nothing. I didn't have them balanced yet because I figured an out of balance tire would have changed something at least.
2. Checked Diff and t-case fluid both full and front diff is tight.
3. Pulled the front driveshaft and it still does it.
4. The front locker ratchets and engages in 4WD like normal.
5. All front end bushings are new and poly and seem to be tight.
6. New ball joints upper and lower and no play that I can see.
7. All 4 shocks are new with new rear leafs.
8. Both CVs are new although they are the cheaper ones from Rock Auto if I remember correctly. It doesn't have the clicking sound I've always heard from bad CVs.
9. Both front hubs are new but they are the cheaper ones also. Maybe 15-20k miles on all front end parts basically.
10. Have not done the tie rods but there is no play or road walking or pulling nor are my tires wearing unusually.
11. Transmission mount doesn't seem to be torn or broken.
12. U joints were all replaced with the 4406 swap but that doesn't really mean anything now days.
13. You cant really feel it in the steering wheel its more like the floor of the truck is shaking to death.
14. It doesn't seem to have the wha wha wha drone of a rear end bearing.
15. Still have all gears and reverse and shifts smooth. Still shifts into HI Low just fine. No grinding or what not.


I still haven't checked the rear driveshaft.
I guess I can re torque the cross member and check for maybe a broken engine mount?
When it cools off I am going to crawl under it and finish looking for lose or broken drive line things.


Any other suggestions?

 

[rasouth]

I would start by balancing the tires. At certain speeds an unbalanced wheel can start bouncing, creating a vibration through out the vehicle.
I had that happen on a Ford Courier at around 40 mph. Balanced the tires and no more vibration.

 

[C420sailor]

Agreed. Did you sling a weight? Running low pressure can cause some serious sidewall flex, and maybe that could make a wheel weight depart the rim...?

It’s good to rebalance them periodically anyway. They never wear evenly.

 

[Craigerz]

Going to have them rebalanced just to check it off the list. I think I can see where a weight came off but that could just be me wanting it to be lol I’m not a tire expert but to me it just doesn’t make sense about it wearing because it was like it happened almost immediately. But that could be how it works. I’m just needing my baby back road worthy.

I was already planning to do the tie rods and it had quite a bit of play on the inner ones. They were original and the outters had been replaced. So we will see. Guess I’ll know when I drive it to get it aligned and have the tires balanced at the same time probably.

 

[Craigerz]

Well it turns out it was a hub bearing..... how I have no idea. It had to be a bad one from the start because I replaced them when I did the 4406 swap. Replace the front CVs. My fault I cut a boot cutting off the rusted end links. All new poly front end. Upper and lower control arms. Had the front drive shaft balance. Had it aligned. Tires rotated an balanced. Replaced dif bearing cv and hub on passenger side with the spares I have. Put on the tires from my trailer because they are the same as I run on the truck. Replaced inner and outter tie rods before I had it aligned. Last option was the drivers side. Pulled the hub off and it wasn't loose but was grinding noticeably. So left the CV in put in my spare hub and its never been this quite since I can remember.

Come to think of it I replaced the hub about 2 years ago after my lil "accident" which was the same brand and has always been loud. Never the vibration but always just loud. I always thought it was coming from the T case because it was almost like that whiney noise you get in 4 low..

 

[C420sailor]

Who made the hubs? And how much preload?

 

[Craigerz]

Ill try and look for the box if it hasn't been tossed yet. It wasn't a name brand off Amazon that currently isn't being sold anymore if that tells you anything. And all I can say is tight. I don't have a 3/4 torque wrench and all I have is a 3/4 inch socket.

 

[German Engineer]

Ill try and look for the box if it hasn't been tossed yet. It wasn't a name brand off Amazon that currently isn't being sold anymore if that tells you anything. And all I can say is tight. I don't have a 3/4 torque wrench and all I have is a 3/4 inch socket.

Not to criticize or anything, but this typically sounds like 'someone' might have tightened the bearings too much when they were installed. But it could of course also be that they weren't sufficiently lubricated or corroded because dirt or water got inside.

You might want to consider getting a cheap torque wrench this time, or (if you want to be reasonably cheap with it and not go fully 'by the book') just use an adapter on the torque wrench that you have, if that has a sufficient torque settings.

 

[C420sailor]

Yeah, recipe for failure.

A cheap set of hubs with improper preload can have a very short life.

I’m a big fan of ‘buy once, cry once.’

 

[Abramwithda1991fourdoor]

Th

Yeah, recipe for failure.

A cheap set of hubs with improper preload can have a very short life.

I’m a big fan of ‘buy once, cry once.’

At a good saying. There are sayings like that which reach far and wide. I like it it's funny. Here's a good saying...
... Never ask a grown man twice or trust your instincts.

 

[Mbrooks420]

That nut takes well over 200ft lbs, I doubt it was over tightened.

It was probably just a junk bearing.