Wobbly and Shaking at Highway Speeds

[waaitforit]

Hey Guys let me get started

Two weeks ago I got my tires rotated on my 06 Explorer XLT 4wd 123k miles and I noticed my alignment was bad (as it was pulling left) and uneven wear on my tires. Got an alignment done this Monday the 14th and the shop told me I have a bad tire due to a radial pull. After driving the Ex for a few days I noticed at Highway speeds it starts to "wobble/shake" left and right pretty bad. Yesterday I get new tires put on. Went bigger with 265/75/16 Cooper Discoverer At3s to see if the old tires was causing it (needed new tires anyways) and I'm still having the "wobbling" problem. Took it back to the alignment shop this morning and they told me the alignment is dead on.

The car drove fine before I did anything to it and now I have no idea what could be causing the problem. I think I ruled out tires and alignment. The shop told me it could be a loose or bad motor mount. Also with some googling I've seen that a bad bearing hub can cause some of the problem as well.

If anyone can help or has had these issues I'd appreciate the help!

 

[Eric0508]

how do your front sway bar bushings look? That's a cheap place to start, and on a 9 year old vehicle, may be worn and ready for replacement.

The alignment shop should have noticed any play with the tie rod ends, but maybe either upper or lower ball joints may be loose.

Jack the front of the car up and grab each tire at 12 & 6 and see if you can rock the tire/rim at all.

 

[waaitforit]

Thanks for the quick reply!


Looked under the Ex and 99% sure found the culprits and snapped a few photos. Going to drop it off at my shop in the morning and get some new bushings for the tie rods and front sway bar. Hopefully the bars and rods are still good

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1r3doq1sqok1c81/Photo Sep 18, 11 59 59 AM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/88c5xfj6b0eshy9/Photo Sep 18, 12 00 47 PM.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfpuyfi8xda5h6k/Photo Sep 18, 12 02 46 PM.jpg?dl=0

 

[MotorCityFats13]

those pics do not look bad to me... what did the swaybar end links look like... I vote for this being the problem... was there any play in those places you took pictures of

 

[wharriso]

I had a problem like that before, I replaced my tires but they tried to balance them by putting the weights on the outside, visible part of the tire. It looked kind of ridiculous because I have he 18 inch plastic/chrome rims. I noticed the vibration would kick in at around 60 MPH. I took the car back and they re-balanced the tires, and moved the lead weights to the inside. I guess someone was still in training.

 

[Tech By Trade]

That sway bar bushing (to frame) is toast, but that wont cause a wobble. Not sure about the tie rod ends though from a picture. Need to give them a shake. Usually they wont do an alignment if they are buggered.

 

[waaitforit]

Update...

Got new sway bar bushings and it fixed about 90% of the "swerviness" at highway speeds. My mechanic and alignment guy says the sway bar links and tie rods look good and are not loose. After some research I've come to the conclusion that its tramlining. My mechanic says to drive on them for a little bit and wear the tires in and see if that helps with the problem. Thats kind of where I'm at with it right now....

I know nothing about alignments but here is a picture of the spec sheet where I got the alignment done before I got the new tires put on.

 

[wharriso]

I remember a friend of mine had that problem with his motorcycle. After several visits to the dealer, he finally took the bike to another shop and they discovered the problem, deflated tires.

 

[NickSantagataa]

Dumb ass question but are they on tight ?