Vibration at 35-60 mph.

[BigMike69]

Hello all! First time poster here, thanks for having me.

I have a 04 expedition with the 5.4 with the 2wd,awd,4wd and 4 low options.

I get a bad vibration starting at 35mph. Things I've done so far as had tires balanced and replaced rear end fluid. I put the ass end up on jack stands and still have the vibration. My next thing I'm going to try is taking the tires off and spin it up and see if it's still there.

What do you all think it is? The drive shaft has a lot of surface rust on it. There is no noticeable play in the ujoints. Wheel bearings replaced with the lifetime warranty ones about 40k ago and it doesn't make that kind of noise. I'm just wondering if anyone has had this problem and could save me a few steps in troubleshooting this.

Thanks!

 

[ChrisOIFdoc]

Is the vibration in the steering wheel or throughout the truck? does your truck have rear independent suspension or is it a straight axle? Were you watching the drive shaft when it was on stands?

 

[BigMike69]

I can feel it from the back feeling it shake the whole truck. It did it with rear wheels off of the ground. It has an independent rear. I don't want to crawl under it to watch the shaft when it was spinning. Afraid of front tires kicking in for some reason...

 

[ChrisOIFdoc]

Put it on the stands, put the tranny in neutral, recheck the driveshaft for "play", then check your rear axles and for any issues. Grab, jerk, wiggle everything and turn the wheels by hand in neutral listening and feeling for grinding, binding and so on. With the tranny in neutral it gives you a better "feel" and keeps the shaft from being bound, making it easier to check for U-joint play etc..

 

[ChrisOIFdoc]

I did have to replace the rear axle in an 05 I used to own. It could hear it try to bind when turning slow around a corner.

 

[juan214]

Torque Converter Shudder????

 

[ChrisOIFdoc]

Torque Converter Shudder....

Could be but I'm leaning toward driveshaft, axles, yokes, diff etc.. Wouldn't torque shudder happen at all times and change throughout different RPM's and gear changes. He stated it's only happening between 35-60 MPH.

 

[SnuffThePunkz]

Seconded the first place to check is drive shaft for speed specific vibrations.

 

[spsfrank98]

I had miss matched size tires on one time and the transfer case started to engage around those speeds and ****** like crazy and stopped around 60mph


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[1997SCEBFEX]

had a similar experience w/ my '88 Bronco II in that the driveshaft itself wasn't properly balanced. replaced under warranty.
hope you figure it out.

 

[BigMike69]

I'll be back home tonight and plan on checking the driveshaft in the morning. Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll post my results when I figure it out.

 

[Habbibie]

I've had a driveshaft bend on me with a previously owned 2003 mach1, but the vibration was worst the high the speed get, I would feel it from as low as 25mph and progressively gets worst the faster I go. There wasn't a speed range cause at 90-100mph I felt like the windows were ready to shatter.

I understand you balanced your tires but this is often over looked, Are your tires perfectly round? As in if you run your hands on the tread of the tire do you feel any bumps and an uneven surface?

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Mike,

I am a big fan of Road Force Balancing. I've had tires balanced the normal way that vibrated a lot when driving at highway speed. I took them to another shop and had the Road Force balance done and the vibration went away. Normal spin balancing just spins the tire and wheel at high speed. Road Force puts the tire against a drum and adds the weight loading of the vehicle and then spins the wheel it allows for much finer balancing. If you haven't tried that you might want to look into it.

 

[SnuffThePunkz]

I had miss matched size tires on one time and the transfer case started to engage around those speeds and ****** like crazy and stopped around 60mph


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That sounds awful...

 

[spsfrank98]

It was. After another set of rear tires and a rebuilt transfer everything is fine


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[ChrisOIFdoc]

Ever find the cause?