Tires rotated and then a surging/pulsing sensation on the ride home

[Steve McGarrett]

Greetings from Omaha,

I picked up a 2000 4x4 EB w/ the 5.4 and 217k on it for $900 this week. Compared to a lot of the sub $2500 Expeditions I've seen this one is in good shape. No CE lights and everything works including the sunroof.

The previous owner had three original rims and tires on it along w/ the spare as one of the rims cracked (they are the chrome covered steelies). It was on the passenger rear and after driving it about 200 miles this week all was well outside of a lot of wandering from the front end.

I took it in this morning for an oil change to establish a base line and had them replace the idler arm to help with the wandering. They also did a tire rotation and the spare moved up to front on the passenger side.

On the drive home I noticed a surging/pulsating sensation where the car would accelerate with a jerk and the speedometer would jump in 3 mph increments. I did a search and found some old posts where someone else experienced this after rotating tires, but I'm not quite sure how the two could be related.

I haven't gotten a CEL so a bit stumped as to where to begin to fix this. Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[docraymund]

Feel all tire's surfaces for uniform roundness and check the center of the rims for an exact fit with the hub.

 

[1955moose]

What's probably happening is the spare tire being a different size/ tread pattern is messing with your front transfer case. Computer controlled 4x4s are funny that way. 4wheel drive and all wheel drive vehicles need 4 tires of the same size, and tread. I called a couple of tire shops for a friends girlfriends 4 wheel drive Atv. The salesman explained to me how mix and matching tires/ sizes can burn up a differential. He said that customers that insisted on 2 tires only, had to sign a shop waiver, due to all the repairs that had to be paid out by their shop. Until you can get a matching wheel and tire, I'd either park it, or at the least rotate them back. You may have other issues but the wheel/ tire is where your going to need to start. Those wheels are usually available used. New ones are pricey, if available at all.


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[Shawn4c]

What's probably happening is the spare tire being a different size/ tread pattern is messing with your front transfer case. Computer controlled 4x4s are funny that way. 4wheel drive and all wheel drive vehicles need 4 tires of the same size, and tread. I called a couple of tire shops for a friends girlfriends 4 wheel drive Atv. The salesman explained to me how mix and matching tires/ sizes can burn up a differential. He said that customers that insisted on 2 tires only, had to sign a shop waiver, due to all the repairs that had to be paid out by their shop. Until you can get a matching wheel and tire, I'd either park it, or at the least rotate them back. You may have other issues but the wheel/ tire is where your going to need to start. Those wheels are usually available used. New ones are pricey, if available at all.


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I think its the traction control that causes that. My navigtor did the same thing. Even if one tire is smaller it will do it. It thinks that wheel is soinning because its rotating faster than the others. U have to make sure all 4 are the same size thats for a
Sure

 

[1955moose]

Yeah computer controlled traction devices can be dicey even when everything is kosher. According to the guy I was talking with a few weeks back, they had to pay out more than once for damaged differentials/sensors. Can you imagine the trashing a differential goes through climbing and slipping up a gravvely trail or slipping through mud or rocks. Add to that the wrong tire/ wheel combo. Yikes!


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[Steve McGarrett]

Thanks for the insight and the quick replies. It's been parked since then so no worries in regards to further damage. I did however put a new double DIN stereo in it last night to bring it (further) into the 21st century.

Looks like a trip to U Pull It is in my future to source another rim so I can have everything riding on the same size and type. Thanks again!

 

[rjdelp7]

A4wd=automatic four wheel drive. It senses speed changes between axles. All 4 tires must match size and prob, tread depth and brand. You can disable the A4wd, by pulling the under hood fuse, for the electric clutch(104, I think). It will make it a 2wd. Good luck in your search, for a good wheel...

 

[Steve McGarrett]

I wanted to give an update to let everyone know that the problem is fixed and say thanks again! I was able to find an unmolested rim for a whopping $10 and then played the hokey pokey with all my good tires on bad rims so that I now have 4 Goodyears of the same size and depth riding on the same rims. Problem fixed!

 

[1955moose]

Glad you figured it out. Sometimes we chase our tails thinking it's this and that, turns out to be something simple.


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