Front end vibration 60+ mph (1 Viewer)

[shtbrwn86]

Short version, truck drives great below 60mph. Once I hit 60+ I start to feel a vibration in the front end as I am accelerating. As soon as I let off the gas pedal it stops briefly and then vibrates again for a second or so and then stops again...Just trying to narrow it down and didn't see anything that matched these symptoms. I purposely went with almost all OEM (except TRE) because I didn't want to second guess whether the $8 CV axle was the problem or maybe it's the cheap poly bushings or something. I also don't want to keep driving on it if I didn't get something done right.

Full version: Noticed this coming home from some snow camping in February. I already knew all the ball joints and tie-rod ends were toast so I decided to replace them. When I was in there I noticed the passenger side CV was completely torn from the clamp for who knows how long. Probably a long time.

Here is what I have done since. Between kids and work this took me like 3 1/2 months.

• All new OEM upper and lower control arms and new OEM frame bushing.
• Replaced the PS CV axle with a complete new OEM unit. Also replaced the axle seal on the front diff with OEM.
• Replaced the PS drive flange, cone washers and snap ring.
• Changed the front diff fluid to Valvoline synthetic 75W90.
• Replace tie-rod ends with 555 from Cruiser Outfitters.
• Took it in for an alignment and they said it was pretty far out of spec but they had no trouble getting it back into spec.
• Tires are new Falken Wildpeaks, installed in January I believe. Didn't notice an issue at first. Drove around with them for a while before taking them to go snow camping.

What I didn't do:

• Did not address the DS CV. It's leaking a little grease but not much. Pretty sure the axle is original.
• Did not do any bearing service. I had to draw the line somewhere and I figured I can do all the bearings at a later date. Maybe when I do the brakes?

 

[SHIfTHEAD]

Feel the vibration in the steering wheel? How does it manifest?

 

[shtbrwn86]

I feel it in the pedal and kind of like the seat of my pants. Steering wheel doesn't vibrate or shake or anything.

 

[SHIfTHEAD]

Then I would start with confirming tire pressures, esp in the rear. If they look good have the shop check their balance. If there is no vibration in the steering wheel then I don't think it's the work you've done on the front end. I would expect that you'd feel that in the steering wheel. The other thing that comes to mind is the driveshaft, but you didn't mention working on it. Have you ever greased the splines or ujoints?

 

[UncleJakeNZ]

Driveshaft was my first thought too

 

[SemperRex]

My first thought is also driveshaft.

Troubleshooting steps:

1. Lubricate (I use and recommend Mobil1 synthetic grease)
   1. U-Joints
      1. There are two on each axle, pump grease until you see clean grease coming out.
   2. Slip Joints (you'll see a grease zerk on the shaft itself, near the part that slides)
      1. There are two schools of thought on lubricating this:
         1. Lube until grease flows out of the seal (what I do).
         2. Lube just a bit so that it doesn't out pressure on the differential gears.
2. If that solves it, cool, if not let's start eliminating driveshafts from the possible problem:
   1. Remove front driveshaft
   2. Lock center differential
   3. Drive
   4. Still have problem?
      1. Yes, it's something else, maybe the rear
         1. Grab the rear shaft and move it up and down, side to side, does it have a lot of play?
      2. No?
         1. Cool man, it's you front DS
         2. OR IT COULD EASILY BE THAT CV YOU DIDN'T change...
         3. OR, how about your front differential mounts?
3. Front diff mounts
   1. Use a camera under the car, or a friend who you trust with your life and you get under the car... (I used my wife... I have very good life insurance... maybe that was a mistake... but, I digress...)
   2. Go from drive to reverse and back and forth with the camera pointing at the mounts for the front diff (you can do the same for the rear as well)
   3. What you're looking for is movement, if it moves, it changes the angle of the CV and can cause vibrations.
4. Tires / Wheels are also a possibility
   1. Get them rotated and balanced. It's probably free wherever you have yours installed.
5. Wheel Bearing Play
   1. You can lift a wheel and see if there's any play, but it can be hard to diagnose with the brake calipers attached.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Another thing to look for is tires out of round. I've had it happen to me on a set of General Grabbers. My mechanic put the truck on a lift, put it in first gear, and let the tires spin. You could visually see them out of round as they spun. Damndest thing.

 

[shtbrwn86]

Another thing to look for is tires out of round. I've had it happen to me on a set of General Grabbers. My mechanic put the truck on a lift, put it in first gear, and let the tires spin. You could visually see them out of round as they spun. Damndest thing.

Man I’d be so pissed! These have less than 1,000 miles on them. I don’t recall noticing the issue for the first few trips in them. But maybe it was there…

 

[jahawk]

Every time my truck/s have done this it was a tire balance issue.

Jim

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Man I’d be so pissed! These have less than 1,000 miles on them. I don’t recall noticing the issue for the first few trips in them. But maybe it was there…

I'll admit it's not likely. My brain says tire balance issue.

Since there is no vibration until you get over 60, that suggests a tire balance problem. Most tire shops have balancing machines that spin the tires up to 60 or 65 mph to find the unbalanced spots, so often when the discrepancy happens in that region, you've got a balance problem. I'm also more inclined to think you have a rear end issue rather than front. You'd be more likely to feel it in the steering wheel if it was a front end problem.

 

[shtbrwn86]

Every time my truck/s have done this it was a tire balance issue.

Jim

Well that's a really easy thing to check! Just need to get time to take it in to a shop!

 

[shtbrwn86]

I'll admit it's not likely. My brain says tire balance issue.

Since there is no vibration until you get over 60, that suggests a tire balance problem. Most tire shops have balancing machines that spin the tires up to 60 or 65 mph to find the unbalanced spots, so often when the discrepancy happens in that region, you've got a balance problem. I'm also more inclined to think you have a rear end issue rather than front. You'd be more likely to feel it in the steering wheel if it was a front end problem.

Thanks for the input. Like I said, the rear tires were on the ground for 3 1/2 months in one spot. I wonder if they might have gotten a flat spot? Not sure what that feels like. But I swear I noticed it before I touched anything on the front end. So that might point to something other than what I have touched.

 

[shtbrwn86]

My first thought is also driveshaft.

Troubleshooting steps:

1. Lubricate (I use and recommend Mobil1 synthetic grease)
   1. U-Joints
      1. There are two on each axle, pump grease until you see clean grease coming out.
   2. Slip Joints (you'll see a grease zero on the shaft itself, near the part that slides)
      1. There are two schools of thought on lubricating this:
         1. Lube until grease flows out of the seal (what I do).
         2. Lube just a bit so that it doesn't out pressure on the differential gears.
2. If that solves it, cool, if not let's start eliminating driveshafts from the possible problem:
   1. Remove front driveshaft
   2. Lock center differential
   3. Drive
   4. Still have problem?
      1. Yes, it's something else, maybe the rear
         1. Grab the rear shaft and move it up and down, side to side, does it have a lot of play?
      2. No?
         1. Cool man, it's you front DS
         2. OR IT COULD EASILY BE THAT CV YOU DIDN'T change...
         3. OR, how about your front differential mounts?
3. Front diff mounts
   1. Use a camera under the car, or a friend who you trust with your life and you get under the car... (I used my wife... I have very good life insurance... maybe that was a mistake... but, I digress...)
   2. Go from drive to reverse and back and forth with the camera pointing at the mounts for the front diff (you can do the same for the rear as well)
   3. What you're looking for is movement, if it moves, it changes the angle of the CV and can cause vibrations.
4. Tires / Wheels are also a possibility
   1. Get them rotated and balanced. It's probably free wherever you have yours installed.
5. Wheel Bearing Play
   1. You can lift a wheel and see if there's any play, but it can be hard to diagnose with the brake calipers attached.

This is super helpful. Thank you! I have not greased the driveline yet. It was on my to-do list. The order of troubleshooting for this is great!

 

[SemperRex]

Thanks for the input. Like I said, the rear tires were on the ground for 3 1/2 months in one spot. I wonder if they might have gotten a flat spot? Not sure what that feels like. But I swear I noticed it before I touched anything on the front end. So that might point to something other than what I have touched.

A flat spot will manifest as a one per rotation (of the tire) vibration. You would likely notice it at lower speeds and the frequency of the vibration would increase.

Internal damage to the tire is a distant possibility, but not likely with the vibration only present over 60mph.

 

[shtbrwn86]

Found this thread after posting this one and since it seems to be what I am experiencing I am just going to post on that one instead.

 

[mbusa1]

My first thought is also driveshaft.

Troubleshooting steps:

1. Lubricate (I use and recommend Mobil1 synthetic grease)
   1. U-Joints
      1. There are two on each axle, pump grease until you see clean grease coming out.
   2. Slip Joints (you'll see a grease zerk on the shaft itself, near the part that slides)
      1. There are two schools of thought on lubricating this:
         1. Lube until grease flows out of the seal (what I do).
         2. Lube just a bit so that it doesn't out pressure on the differential gears.
2. If that solves it, cool, if not let's start eliminating driveshafts from the possible problem:
   1. Remove front driveshaft
   2. Lock center differential
   3. Drive
   4. Still have problem?
      1. Yes, it's something else, maybe the rear
         1. Grab the rear shaft and move it up and down, side to side, does it have a lot of play?
      2. No?
         1. Cool man, it's you front DS
         2. OR IT COULD EASILY BE THAT CV YOU DIDN'T change...
         3. OR, how about your front differential mounts?
3. Front diff mounts
   1. Use a camera under the car, or a friend who you trust with your life and you get under the car... (I used my wife... I have very good life insurance... maybe that was a mistake... but, I digress...)
   2. Go from drive to reverse and back and forth with the camera pointing at the mounts for the front diff (you can do the same for the rear as well)
   3. What you're looking for is movement, if it moves, it changes the angle of the CV and can cause vibrations.
4. Tires / Wheels are also a possibility
   1. Get them rotated and balanced. It's probably free wherever you have yours installed.
5. Wheel Bearing Play
   1. You can lift a wheel and see if there's any play, but it can be hard to diagnose with the brake calipers attached.

When removing the front (or rear) driveshaft, do you put the transfer case into neutral first?

 

[SemperRex]

When removing the front (or rear) driveshaft, do you put the transfer case into neutral first?

You don't need to.

But, if you find the clearances too tight, it might make it slightly easier if you have the LC/LX on jack stands with all 4 wheels in the air - you could then rotate the driveshafts to un-bolt them. Mark the flanges so that you can reassemble in the same orientation.

Remember that the car will roll easily (and perhaps unexpectedly) with the t-case in neutral. Be careful if you choose to get under it without using jack stands or with wheels chocked.

 

[Hake]

I think I am chasing a similar only under accelerating at highway speed drivetrain vibration. Already checked u-joints. Have brand new tires. I know each driveshaft needs to be in phase from yolk to yolk. But I was curious, does both of the phases of the front and rear driveshaft need to line up in the same plane installed? I took my front driveshaft off to get rebalanced the other day and when putting it back on, made me wonder if that mattered. Still have same vibration, even after the driveshaft shop said front shaft was out of balance.

 

[Tallenhouston]

I just went through something similar. Lacking the experience and time, I had a local shop that does a lot of work on LCs replace the CV axles. It came back doing exactly what you are describing over 50MPH. Vibration through the pedal when accelerating. Fine at speeds below that. They did not properly install a clip, so the axle was not fully seated. They also had to experiment with lowering the front end lift via the torsion bars. It has more of a rake to it than I wanted, but everything is lined up and the vibration is gone.

 

[Hake]

I just went through something similar. Lacking the experience and time, I had a local shop that does a lot of work on LCs replace the CV axles. It came back doing exactly what you are describing over 50MPH. Vibration through the pedal when accelerating. Fine at speeds below that. They did not properly install a clip, so the axle was not fully seated. They also had to experiment with lowering the front end lift via the torsion bars. It has more of a rake to it than I wanted, but everything is lined up and the vibration is gone.

Good to know. I checked my cv axle c-clips under the hub dust caps, they looked good to me. But I do have one cv boot leaking and I know the previous owner replaced them 3 years ago with aftermarket cv's. Very possible the CV could be an issue on mine as well. Mine is sitting pretty level with a OME 2.5" lift, but will mark and experiment with torsion lowering to see if that changes anything.