Horrid Vibration- 40-46mph. ??????

[MudNurI]

few weeks ago, I noticed a nasty vibration at bout 40 mph, thought it was the stock slipperstones, letting me know it's time to get rid of them. Went and put on Goodyear wranglers- 265's, and guess what. Still have this nasty vibration. It's not in the steeringwheel so to speak, as the steering wheel does not shake..it's in the truck. Regardless of where you are sitting, you shake. Enough that when I was in the passenger seat, John asked me why my pant leg was shaking....it's worse when you have no throttle, but still is there when you are on the pedal. What the heck can it be. NO, I haven't curbed a rim, I really thought it was the firestones, they had almost 18000 miles before I rotated them the first time, and another 12000 on them the day we bought the goodyears, but it's still here.

any idea's,??? not a good thing to have when a friend of mine is a f*rd lover, and rides in my truck with a shake...

thanks guys!
Brandy

[Vincent]

Yep, been there done that.

Check out my thread under this forum by using the search engine. Type in vibrations, then look for "45 MPH Hop/Vibration...anyone had this too?".

It will be easier for you to read it there than for me to re-type the whole thread.

Let me know if my experience sounds similar.

[ 07-07-2002: Message edited by: Vincent ]</p>

[AJDiesel]

I have the same problem. It will start at approx. 46 mph and leaves at 52 or so. I have 285 bf goodrichs w/ centerline rattlers. When I put the stock wheels and tires on, no problems. I read a previous thread about balancing problems with the 285's. Well no luck for me so far with getting them re-balanced. Four tries with no luck. Even tried 3 different shops. One even balanced the whole rotating assembly with the wheels on the truck. No shake in the steering wheel makes me think the rear tire or tires are suspect. Beginning to think a bad belt in a rear tire. Anyone else experience this yet. I bought the tires/wheel combo mail order. I sure that will be a pain trying to warranty. I have had the problem from day one with the new wheels. Just about ready to buy a new tire and use old one for a spare. Any other ideas out there?

[NFLDMAX]

I hate to say this, but my truck does this as well. I am running 285's, had them rebalanced, and no help. I am going to swap some 245's back on to see if it helps. Dealer won't even consider looking at it with the 285's.

[SoCalDMAX]

If you're all convinced that it is a balance issue, this might help.

Call around to the better tire stores and see if they use a Hunter GSP 9700 balancer. Discount tire uses it (they charge more for it than a reg. balance) and it measures high spots on the rim and tire, then tire is rotated to eliminate high spots and the result is very little weight is used to balance tire. Advertised as "ride-matching" the best possible balance job.

Just did the wife's car and less than half of the previous weight was used, one rim has no visible weights. The car had a very slight shimmy, now it's smooth as glass. I just rotated tires on the truck Sat. and got a slight steering vibration, thinking of doing the same to the truck tires.

Hope this helps! Steve

[FirstDiesel]

Hunter has a website with a locator section so you can find a shop in your town with one. Had the tires on the S10 work truck rebalanced the other day. 30k on them and they are as smooth as glass now. BTW, it was my local Chevy dealer that did it. Most of the 9700 machines in this town are at new car dealerships. Must tell you something about the way the tires come balanced from the factory???

[Redhawk]

Mine started to vibrate in front, had a hard time figuring it out. I stopped along the road and checked and pulled everything I could think of under the front end - nothing. I pulled back and forth on the front tires and got no movement. So much for that manuever. I took it in and they found a broken front wheel stud and a loose nut or two. I couldn't see that under those little plastic lug nut covers. It may not be the same problem you are having, especially since you had new tires put on, but it's worth a check. I got rid of those plastic covers right away when I bought forged alum rims.

[ 07-10-2002: Message edited by: Redhawk ]</p>

[mackin]

=&gt;http://www.hunter.com/index.cfm
=&gt;http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/Findgsp9700.cfm

That's all that have them in my area is New Car (ST) Dealers....... I'll have to see this fall if they'll spin my Ultra wheels.......

MAC

[Ironhead]

I've had a harmonic vibration at freeway speeds since day one on my 3500. After reading this post I searched out a tire store in my area that had one of those hunter GSP9700. The charged 12 bucks per wheel and threw in a rotation for free since they had to take them off anyway. Had it done this morning and I can tell a difference. Still aint no caddy but it is better.

[SoMnDMAX]

AJDiesel- same balance problem for me. I had a different shop balance my 285/Rattler combo this spring, and now they are smooth as glass. The vibration I had was more of a bounce.... Felt it more so in my calves and feet, so it was definitely coming from the rear. No vibration what so ever in the steering wheel.

[JimWilson]

Brandy;

You may have lost a balancing weight on the drive shaft. If it's not rotating smoothly you could potentially get the type of problem you're describing. Also, do you have the 1 or 2 piece drive shaft?

You may want to check the rear shocks as well. The leaf springs on these beasts are pretty tight, so if you lose rebound dampening you get a "pogo stick" effect.