2003 Expedition Face Lift Begins

[Vancouver Bob]

Yup, you're right. Sounds like you know a thing or two about the wheel balancers. I've always wondered if you could have a perfectly balanced wheel/tire, but still have a bad ride. Seems like if something were out of round or bent, you could still get it to balance. Maybe that's where the road force balance comes in? Thanks, Moose (hope you don't mind me calling you Moose )

Just to add... I've been on a freeway a fair amount since having it rebalanced and it's riding way better. Even took it up to 70 and didn't feel the vibe. I'll have to give it a good shake down (hopefully not literally) tomorrow.

 

[1955moose]

Everybody these days calls me moose.I Have a friend that also is a mechanic, had 4 new tires mounted in San Jose Ca. The shop that mounted them had a bad balancer. He had them rebalance only to have them still shake. He went to another shop to have them rebalanced, after the second shop, shaking went away. Most balancers work fine, but the one in the first shop definitely needed repair.


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[ExpeditionAndy]

Well, after a long delay due to business travel and just being too busy, a couple of things to share...

Drove up to Kelso to have the bumper worked on again. Doctored up the ends where it ties into the trim. The guy did a really good job and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. I also had him weld the A-frame back on. Tried the bumper in all white but didn't like it so it's now back to two toned. Just need to add a little more beige to tie the two together.

And here's the after...

View attachment 20834

Bob that looks really good. Are you going to have your bumper professionally painted for finish longevity or are you going the rattle can method?

 

[PHIL CLACK]

I just had a road force balance and full alignment done on my 04 EB to try and resolve a vibe I get at about 70mph. I'm at 104k miles on the truck.
This was done by the dealership in San Jose, ca.
No joy.
Still troubleshooting....


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[1955moose]

You might want to have drive shaft balanced. Years back I did a boneheaded thing when changing out a ujoint. I didn't mark the yoke where it attached to the unjoint. It made noise and vibration above 60mph. Swapped out another joint and realigned shaft, problem went away. Vibrations and shakes can be tough to pin down.


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[PHIL CLACK]

You might want to have drive shaft balanced. Years back I did a boneheaded thing when changing out a ujoint. I didn't mark the yoke where it attached to the unjoint. It made noise and vibration above 60mph. Swapped out another joint and realigned shaft, problem went away. Vibrations and shakes can be tough to pin down.


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Good point Moose, I worry about it because these things don't usually improve with age.
I'm going to take it back and have the dealership and see if it can be isolated.
I want to get it dialed in before I add a leveling kit and larger tires.
I don't think that it's a bent wheel as I have had them rotated a couple of times.

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[1955moose]

I figured you or the dealer would have rotated is why I didn't mention it. The fact that it's at 70, and not lower, tends to sound like something out of balance. Loose tie rods, ball joints, and other front end parts, usually have a shaking or noise at a lower speed. Is your vehicle four wheel drive? Other thing if it is could possibly be a front axle having a balance issue. Keep us posted.


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[Vancouver Bob]

Bob that looks really good. Are you going to have your bumper professionally painted for finish longevity or are you going the rattle can method?

Hi Andy, yes, the plan is to have it painted once I finalize the config and color scheme. I'm luke warm about the A frame being back on there. I think I liked the more subtle offroad look. Going to give it a little more time to see if it grows on me.

I need to get the finishing touches done...

• lights mounted (should just be able to swap connectors since the LED lights draw less power than the original fog lights)
• Securing the lower mud/stone guard that protects the radiator as well as the wheel well covers.
• Still need to do a little trimming to eliminate the last of the rubbing of the tires. So far I've only trimmed the end of the running boards. Still hear a slight rubbing when turning/articulating.

 

[Vancouver Bob]

You might want to have drive shaft balanced. Years back I did a boneheaded thing when changing out a ujoint. I didn't mark the yoke where it attached to the unjoint. It made noise and vibration above 60mph. Swapped out another joint and realigned shaft, problem went away. Vibrations and shakes can be tough to pin down.

I had a vibration on my Subaru Forester that I spend months chasing down. Rebalancing, ball joints, tie rods, struts. Tie rods made the biggest improvements but it didn't go away until the final time I had the tires balanced and they told me I had a bent wheel. Then took 3 attempts at buying used wheels off ebay before I found one that wasn't bent. Now she runs nice and smooth.

 

[1955moose]

Hard to believe they couldn't detect a bent wheel, especially when you returned so many times. Problem is 90 percent of tire shops hire kids, or inexperienced older men. For most situations it works fine, but when a tech needs to think a little, their lies the problem. What I can't understand on your Forester when you rotated you still had shaking in the front. It was possible you had more than one bent wheel, causing your issue.


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