Summary: 2002 TJ Sahara, front end vibration coming from the front passenger side between 60 and 70mph. Smooth ride below and above that range.
I've replaced: track bar, passenger-side axle u-joint, passenger-side wheel bearings, passenger-side ball joints (holy crap -- THAT was an ordeal), sway bar, sway bar links. New springs, new shocks. The tie rod is solid and not loose. I've had the tires balanced. I've even put other wheels on there to make sure that wasn't the problem.
And the vibration, while a lot less than before, is still there.
I'm out of moving parts, and almost out of money. Any other suggestions other than "drive it off a cliff"? :)
How do you know it is coming from the front passenger side? That is about impossible to test for when driving.
Due to the solid front axle, the vibration could be coming from either side or even the driveshaft u-joints.
I had one harmonic front end vibration that I swore was coming from the passenger side and I went after parts like you did 'except' I tested the parts before changing most and only changed parts with obvious play. My Jeep had 295K on it at that time.
Well even after some new parts like the track bar, it got worse to the point I thought my tire was going to fall off or it almost felt like the 'death wobble' so I stopped and checked my wheels.
When it got this bad, the failed part finally showed up by taking a piece out of my fan shroud. It was the damn clutch on the radiator fan!
The amount of vibration that came from this failed clutch was amazing!
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
I'm almost positive it's coming from the front passenger side because that's the side that things keep breaking on. I had the passenger side sway-bar link self-destruct, and the passenger side shock (Rancho) literally fall apart. The track bar mounts on the passenger side were also mangled and had to be replaced. The lower ball-joint on the passenger side was jammed crooked into the yoke so badly that I had to drill it out to remove it (drivers side looked nothing like it).
I'm not 100% sure, of course. :) The vibration is almost definitely coming from the front, as it does seem to hit the steering (it almost feels like I'm about to lose control -- and it vibrates up into the steering wheel)... but in such a short wheel base, it could be coming from the back .. I guess this is wishful thinking, since (to me), the front axle is a hell of a lot simpler than the Dana 44 rear.
I've also put the manual transmission in neutral and coasted down a hill at 65 mph, and the vibration remains, so I'm sure it's not a motor mount or something related to that. I also have coasted down a hill with the transfer case in neutral, and once I reached 62-63, it started a rythmic bouncing until I hit 72-73 and then it smoothes out. If I drop to around 65, it stops. If I get below 60, then back up to 62-63, it starts again. (yeah; super unsafe, but I was getting super frustrated).
Of course, I don't know if putting the transfer case in neutral actually isolates anything important or not. I suppose I could completely disconnect the front diff from the transfer case to test the drive shaft u-joint..
Tonight I'm going to do a tire rotate and move the front to the back, back to the front, and also swap the brake rotors on the front to see if it changes the vibration...
After this, I guess I'll be swapping parts on the driver's side (u-joint, bearings, ball-joints)... if that doesn't work... the inner axles are just about the only thing left.
If anything, these parts are all nearing the 100k mark, so it's not hurting anything to replace them, anyway.. :)
Go have them spin-balanced. most tire shops static balance them. You know the little air bubble in the center hub of the tire mounting machine. If you loose a wheel weight it can cause a shimmy. maybe not noticeable at all speeds either. Could be only in the 45 to 60 mph range.
Have you checked the motor and transmission mounts?
formatting link
What about the harmonic balancer (lowest pully on engine) make sure it's not walking off. Those can make vibrations if they start to separate and rotate around the rubber isolator.
Did you check the fan on the radiator for clutch play? It will wiggle if bad.
It is amazing the vibration that can come out off that little sucker like I mentioned. It got bad enough I thought my passenger front wheel was going to fall off and I had to pull off the highway to check it.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: N>
Years ago, we had a vehicle with the same problem, I was managing an alignment shop at the time, and we sold the customer his tires, did the balance, and alignment on the truck. We ended up taking 4 tires and rims off of another truck and test driving the truck, it stopped vibrating. What the mechanic had to do was (oddly) brake the bead on the tire, rotate the tire 180 degrees on the rim and reinflate/ rebalance. The tires and wheels were in balance before doing this. ANyway it fixed the problem. I dont know if you have the same problem, but figured I'd bring it up.
I'm almost positive it's not an engine component: this happens even when both the transmission and transfer case are in neutral and the engine is running at 600 rpm. The vibration only happens between 65mph and 70mph -- it smooths out above and below that.
I'm starting to think that's the only thing it could be. I've pulled the front axles, but not the rear (the Dana 44 is new to me). They look straight to me, and I've put a straight edge on them and there's no distortion. There are no visible weld spots where a weight would have been...
Tonight I replaced the rear brake drums. Same thing.
I'll pull the rear axles tomorrow to see if they're okay.
After that, I'm out of options, and I've got to find a Jeep friendly mechanic in North Atlanta who will look at a lifted Jeep. The dealer's service department won't even talk to me because of the lift.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.