I didn't HEAR a rattle, more like a grinding noise, but only when the brass bushing was grinding away.
Only if the needles of the spindle bearing are gone.
Inconsistent Front End Vibration
- Thread starter Kigiin
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- Thread starter
- #22
I took the truck to my independent who uses a tire guy, asking for them to road force balance. According to the tire guy, the front tires could not be balanced. When I ask why, he said the quality of the tires coupled with their current wear (maybe 50%) made it impossible to balance. Further, he said the tires have inordinate hard spots, and when each front tire synchronizes their hard spots, the vibration would be worse - potentially explaining the inconsistency in the vibration.
Lastly, he thought maybe the overall weight of the truck, 7,700 unloaded, combined with the quality of the tires, was too much. I asked about E rated tires and he definitely recommended them.
I am using Nittro TG, after previously having great success with Bridgestone Duelers (over 120K miles on two sets). In fairness to the Nittro's, my truck was stock during the Bridgestone period.
In the end, he re-balanced as best he could, and moved the fronts to the rear. I haven't been on the highway yet to see if there is a difference.
I am not sure about all of this. Thoughts?
Lastly, he thought maybe the overall weight of the truck, 7,700 unloaded, combined with the quality of the tires, was too much. I asked about E rated tires and he definitely recommended them.
I am using Nittro TG, after previously having great success with Bridgestone Duelers (over 120K miles on two sets). In fairness to the Nittro's, my truck was stock during the Bridgestone period.
In the end, he re-balanced as best he could, and moved the fronts to the rear. I haven't been on the highway yet to see if there is a difference.
I am not sure about all of this. Thoughts?
Sounds plausible, but what really matters is if anything changed or not 
Looks like your focus has been on the tires which is reasonable since it all started with your rotation.
However if you keep chasing the issue and no resolution, it's probably time to be more methodical and narrow it down one possibility at a time. Perhaps you have a single issue, or perhaps there's a confluence of factors.
Either have someone inspect your front end or do it yourself.
Have your alignment checked - some places will do it cheap (like $25 and that goes towards the alignment if you need one). Check suspension components (shocks, ball joints, ahc), bearings, steering linkage (tie rod ends etc), bushings all around etc. If you still have AHC perhaps that's a factor (if height control is inconsistent while driving it could be causing issues) - is the AHC all working properly? Is vehicle height consistent left to right?
Anyhow - if I were you and still having issues after the new tire balance/rotation, I'd start getting methodical about it.
Looks like your focus has been on the tires which is reasonable since it all started with your rotation.
However if you keep chasing the issue and no resolution, it's probably time to be more methodical and narrow it down one possibility at a time. Perhaps you have a single issue, or perhaps there's a confluence of factors.
Either have someone inspect your front end or do it yourself.
Have your alignment checked - some places will do it cheap (like $25 and that goes towards the alignment if you need one). Check suspension components (shocks, ball joints, ahc), bearings, steering linkage (tie rod ends etc), bushings all around etc. If you still have AHC perhaps that's a factor (if height control is inconsistent while driving it could be causing issues) - is the AHC all working properly? Is vehicle height consistent left to right?
Anyhow - if I were you and still having issues after the new tire balance/rotation, I'd start getting methodical about it.
- Thread starter
- #24
The re-balancing and moving front tires to rear made a big difference.... so suspect it is one or more of the tires. Given it's much better, going to see how it goes as I am not in a hurry to replace tires that only have 30k miles on them and at least 50% tread left.
Had this same issue right when I purchased my '01 PO said he'd only had it bubble balanced. So I took it in to get balanced now I haven't had the issue at all (800 miles since) I'm still going to repack the bearings and lube everything up this weekend to be in the safe side
This thread seems to be mostly relevant to the problem I'm having right now:
Had new UCAs (SPC) installed and the truck was aligned and it tracks great. Same shop also repacked and adjusted the front wheel bearings. Roughly 150 miles into a 700+ mile round trip to Montreal this past weekend I noticed a new "humming" sound from the front end while cruising at 70 mph. The sound turned into a more noticeable rumbling from the front (hubs, diff?) at 20-30 mph mph as I exited to check it out, almost as if I had mud terrains on the front. Additionally, the sound changed to a pulsating whirring noise when turning at speeds 20-30 mph.
Here's the kicker: after worrying all weekend about whether my LX would leave me and my gf stranded in Quebec many miles from home, the sound dissipated on the way back. By the time I got home it was nearly gone. I can now only faintly hear noises when turning.
Plan is to take it back to them to check it out but it's hard to pinpoint a problem with no associated noises. Did they fail to grease the spindle bearings? Reused c-clips? Front diff going out? Maybe my truck just doesn't like Canada lol.
Any advice/wisdom is appreciated before I bring it back to them.
Had new UCAs (SPC) installed and the truck was aligned and it tracks great. Same shop also repacked and adjusted the front wheel bearings. Roughly 150 miles into a 700+ mile round trip to Montreal this past weekend I noticed a new "humming" sound from the front end while cruising at 70 mph. The sound turned into a more noticeable rumbling from the front (hubs, diff?) at 20-30 mph mph as I exited to check it out, almost as if I had mud terrains on the front. Additionally, the sound changed to a pulsating whirring noise when turning at speeds 20-30 mph.
Here's the kicker: after worrying all weekend about whether my LX would leave me and my gf stranded in Quebec many miles from home, the sound dissipated on the way back. By the time I got home it was nearly gone. I can now only faintly hear noises when turning.
Plan is to take it back to them to check it out but it's hard to pinpoint a problem with no associated noises. Did they fail to grease the spindle bearings? Reused c-clips? Front diff going out? Maybe my truck just doesn't like Canada lol.
Any advice/wisdom is appreciated before I bring it back to them.
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