Vibration

[tubular031]

In the past few weeks I have noticed a vibration in the truck that has gotten worse. I had the tires rotated and balanced and that helped a little bit (hardly). Then 4 days later I greased the slipjoint, replaced the carrier bearing, and all 3 u joints (from the ford dealership - spicer parts, not the cheap stuff) A little better but still there. before the wobble was bad at about 25-35 mph then would almost go away till you get up to 60 ish. This has gotten better with the ujoints and carrier bearing but still there a little. Then when you get up to 65-70 there is a very noticeable vibration vibration that seems to be coming from the rear. I know its not just in my head. Went on a 200 mile trip yesterday with a buddy and he even asked if I noticed the vibration in the truck. I said, yes I have been chasing it for some time now!!

I am thinking the next step is to take the drive shaft into get it balanced.

Can I pull the rear drive shaft(s) (long bed so there are 2) and drive the truck in 4wd to see if anything changes?

[DHUNTER58]

I went through the same thing some years back. Started with the obvious tire & wheel balance/rotation.... spent a lot of money drive shaft rebuilding and balancing.

The problem was not solved, continued to get worse.
Put the truck on jackstands at all 4 corners, locked hubs, and ran it in gear up to 80mph. NO Vibration at all.

Put it back on the ground, drove it and it shookeven worse.

Cut to the chase it was the friggen tires that were less than a year old
The tires were breaking down internally.
so just maybe................... goodluck hope this helped

[tubular031]

Did the problem go away when you balanced the tires but came back shortly since the tires were failing? I just put on the 2 coopers (now on the back) about 4k miles (before the issue started) and the 2 Michelin (now on the front) have been on the truck for 25k ish.

Do you think it would be ok to remove the rear drive shafts and drive the truck in 4wd to see if the symptoms change?

[DHUNTER58]

I wouldn't try to drive it with out the rear drive shaft in place, once you remove it all of the tranny fluid will drain out then you will have worse problems.

In answer to your question, NO the problem did not go away when the tires were balanced.
It didn't even help at all.

[carazola]

same problem and action taken, buddy thinks mine is pinion bearing. cant stand the bassy rumble

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[CarportMechanic]

Originally Posted by DHUNTER58

I wouldn't try to drive it with out the rear drive shaft in place, once you remove it all of the tranny fluid will drain out then you will have worse problems.

In answer to your question, NO the problem did not go away when the tires were balanced.
It didn't even help at all.

You do not have a rear slip yoke, there is a drive flange so you will not loose any fluid from your tranny when you remove your rear drive line.

Yes you can remove the rear drive line and drive it around to see, i wouldnt take any sharp turns on concrete but you should be ok either way. These axles are strong, wont break unless your beating on your sh*t.

I also believe you may have a rear pinion bearing problem, or your backlash could be off, if you have excess play between your ring and pinion you will notice a good vibration mainly at decel but might feel it cruising. Usually wont feel it on acceleration if its backlash tho.

Hope this helps.

[adams01]

i have same problem but only at 42 mph. to 45. did u- joints carrier bearing and so on.i think its the tires because certain roads wont do it at all and some do?my tires have 2k on them.they put them on when i bought truck.didnt notice vibration with test drive on the old wheels and tires.

[tubular031]

I am almost in the same boat as you adams01. My vibration is the worst around 35 to 45 then seems to go away till about 65-70 where is is very slight. On some roads its MUCH worse than others. My new tires had about 4k and I thought I was feeling a vibration in the front so they rotated and ballanced them and now they are on the back and I am now thinking the vibration is in the back (pass side I am almost sure....). These tires have less than 5k on them.

[tubular031]

I found a shop that said they will balance the drive shaft for $60. I am thinking I am going to take it in and have it done. $60 is nothing vs what I have been spending on this truck since the first of the year! and sadly none of it has been spent on fun stuff

[Turbostang500]

I would have the tires check with the newer technology called road force balancing or something like that. It seems more expensive but can show a lot more problems with tires that just spin balancing.

If you rotate the tires and the vib follows, you have a bad tire or wheel.