vibrations

Hi All,

Patient: Ford Explorer Sport 1999, 4.0L, 6V, 4X4. 120K miles.
Sumptom: Vibrations, the car vibrates while driving to a degree that I
can hear tire iron ringing in the trunk, the mirror vibrates, the
whole damn car vibrates... It feels like it will fall apart in a
moment. The cause seems to be somewhere in the front end of the car.


Things were done in order to fix it but it didn't help:

- both ball joints replaced
- front drive shaft replaced
- front transfer case replaced
- allignment done to the perfection
- new tires with rimms , balanced


My mechanic, goes crazy over it and me too.

Any ideas?
Thanks a lot!

Shocks?

Ed
"CanusLupus" > wrote in message
...
> Hi All,
>
> Patient: Ford Explorer Sport 1999, 4.0L, 6V, 4X4. 120K miles.
> Sumptom: Vibrations, the car vibrates while driving to a degree that
> I
> can hear tire iron ringing in the trunk, the mirror vibrates, the
> whole damn car vibrates... It feels like it will fall apart in a
> moment. The cause seems to be somewhere in the front end of the car.
>
>
> Things were done in order to fix it but it didn't help:
>
> - both ball joints replaced
> - front drive shaft replaced
> - front transfer case replaced
> - allignment done to the perfection
> - new tires with rimms , balanced
>
>
> My mechanic, goes crazy over it and me too.
>
> Any ideas?
> Thanks a lot!

checked - not this.

any other ideas?

On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:45:00 -0400, "C. E. White"
> wrote:

>Shocks?
>
>Ed
>"CanusLupus" > wrote in message
...
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Patient: Ford Explorer Sport 1999, 4.0L, 6V, 4X4. 120K miles.
>> Sumptom: Vibrations, the car vibrates while driving to a degree that
>> I
>> can hear tire iron ringing in the trunk, the mirror vibrates, the
>> whole damn car vibrates... It feels like it will fall apart in a
>> moment. The cause seems to be somewhere in the front end of the car.
>>
>>
>> Things were done in order to fix it but it didn't help:
>>
>> - both ball joints replaced
>> - front drive shaft replaced
>> - front transfer case replaced
>> - allignment done to the perfection
>> - new tires with rimms , balanced
>>
>>
>> My mechanic, goes crazy over it and me too.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>> Thanks a lot!

Sounds like you are trying things hoping something will work. Maybe
time to get another opinion. The only time I had this problem was
with a 1992 and it was caused by Firestone tires. It drove me crazy
for a long time before I figured that out. It would suddenly start
shaking like the front end was falling apart. The Firestone store
here replaced the tires twice with no improvement. I then changed to
Michelin and never had the problem again. In other words, even though
you replaced the tires, there is a possibility that they are causing
the problem.

"Big_Shoe" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:45:00 -0400, "C. E. White"
> > wrote:
>
> >Shocks?
> >
> >Ed
> >"CanusLupus" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> Hi All,
> >>
> >> Patient: Ford Explorer Sport 1999, 4.0L, 6V, 4X4. 120K miles.
> >> Sumptom: Vibrations, the car vibrates while driving to a degree that
> >> I
> >> can hear tire iron ringing in the trunk, the mirror vibrates, the
> >> whole damn car vibrates... It feels like it will fall apart in a
> >> moment. The cause seems to be somewhere in the front end of the car.
> >>
> >>
> >> Things were done in order to fix it but it didn't help:
> >>
> >> - both ball joints replaced
> >> - front drive shaft replaced
> >> - front transfer case replaced
> >> - allignment done to the perfection
> >> - new tires with rimms , balanced
> >>
> >>
> >> My mechanic, goes crazy over it and me too.
> >>
> >> Any ideas?
> >> Thanks a lot!
>
> Sounds like you are trying things hoping something will work. Maybe
> time to get another opinion. The only time I had this problem was
> with a 1992 and it was caused by Firestone tires. It drove me crazy
> for a long time before I figured that out. It would suddenly start
> shaking like the front end was falling apart. The Firestone store
> here replaced the tires twice with no improvement. I then changed to
> Michelin and never had the problem again. In other words, even though
> you replaced the tires, there is a possibility that they are causing
> the problem.

Hmmm... I could have said the same thing, just about word for word (cept
it's a '91).

"Ashton Crusher" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:10:43 -0700, "Ulysses"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>"Big_Shoe" > wrote in message
. ..
>>> On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:45:00 -0400, "C. E. White"
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>> >Shocks?
>>> >
>>> >Ed
>>> >"CanusLupus" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>> >> Hi All,
>>> >>
>>> >> Patient: Ford Explorer Sport 1999, 4.0L, 6V, 4X4. 120K miles.
>>> >> Sumptom: Vibrations, the car vibrates while driving to a degree that
>>> >> I
>>> >> can hear tire iron ringing in the trunk, the mirror vibrates, the
>>> >> whole damn car vibrates... It feels like it will fall apart in a
>>> >> moment. The cause seems to be somewhere in the front end of the car.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Things were done in order to fix it but it didn't help:
>>> >>
>>> >> - both ball joints replaced
>>> >> - front drive shaft replaced
>>> >> - front transfer case replaced
>>> >> - allignment done to the perfection
>>> >> - new tires with rimms , balanced
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> My mechanic, goes crazy over it and me too.
>>> >>
>>> >> Any ideas?
>>> >> Thanks a lot!
>>>
>>> Sounds like you are trying things hoping something will work. Maybe
>>> time to get another opinion. The only time I had this problem was
>>> with a 1992 and it was caused by Firestone tires. It drove me crazy
>>> for a long time before I figured that out. It would suddenly start
>>> shaking like the front end was falling apart. The Firestone store
>>> here replaced the tires twice with no improvement. I then changed to
>>> Michelin and never had the problem again. In other words, even though
>>> you replaced the tires, there is a possibility that they are causing
>>> the problem.
>>
>>Hmmm... I could have said the same thing, just about word for word (cept
>>it's a '91).
>>
>
> I think all of us who had the early Expl with the Firestones could say
> the same. And it continues to this day. One of my work cars had no
> "shakes" at all, it shouldn't have, it was practically new. Then at
> about 20K the shop put Firestone tires on it. Now it shakes. One of
> our Vans had the Goodyear's replaced with Firestones (load range E).
> In less then 6 months two of them blew out for no apparent reason.
> Never had a single blowout in prior 2 years with the Goodyear's.
> anyone who knowingly buys firestones is nutz.

I had those Firestones on my 92. All the balancing wouldn't make a
difference.
A friend suggested they might be out of round. Jack up the front and rotate
a front wheel by hand and use a simple guage to see if that is the problem.

Charlie

tires can't be the problem because they were replaced. Original tires
Wrangler, now I have Michelin and the shaking didn't stop.

shaking doesn't change in any way while braking. Shocks are relatively
old but according to the mechanic they're fine. The rear drive shaft
was checked and it's fine. Wheel bearings? This one I don't know if it
was checked, it may be the next step. In the mean time I called my old
mechanic, from before I moved here, and scheduled appointment. Also, I
found an article online about Explorer rollovers - pretty scary!

Thanks for all input. Still waiting for another suggestions.

Big_Shoe wrote:
> On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:45:00 -0400, "C. E. White"
> > wrote:
>
>> Shocks?
>>
>> Ed
>> "CanusLupus" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> Patient: Ford Explorer Sport 1999, 4.0L, 6V, 4X4. 120K miles.
>>> Sumptom: Vibrations, the car vibrates while driving to a degree that
>>> I
>>> can hear tire iron ringing in the trunk, the mirror vibrates, the
>>> whole damn car vibrates... It feels like it will fall apart in a
>>> moment. The cause seems to be somewhere in the front end of the car.
>>>
>>>
>>> Things were done in order to fix it but it didn't help:
>>>
>>> - both ball joints replaced
>>> - front drive shaft replaced
>>> - front transfer case replaced
>>> - allignment done to the perfection
>>> - new tires with rimms , balanced
>>>
>>>
>>> My mechanic, goes crazy over it and me too.
>>>
>>> Any ideas?
>>> Thanks a lot!
>
> Sounds like you are trying things hoping something will work. Maybe
> time to get another opinion. The only time I had this problem was
> with a 1992 and it was caused by Firestone tires. It drove me crazy
> for a long time before I figured that out. It would suddenly start
> shaking like the front end was falling apart. The Firestone store
> here replaced the tires twice with no improvement. I then changed to
> Michelin and never had the problem again. In other words, even though
> you replaced the tires, there is a possibility that they are causing
> the problem.
My '94 shook like an old lady with gas on the Firestones. Replaced with
Dunlop radial rovers- NO improvement. Replaced the Dunlops with Michelin
and it's been smooth ever since NO shake at all. The way I troubleshot
it was begged my friendly Ford dealer to slap on the wheels and tires
from a new Explorer for a test drive.

Thank you very much Everybody!
I got rid of my Exploder because mechanics couldn't figure out what
was causing the vibrations and the car was simply old. I've got Astra
now, 2008 and I don't expect to have any issues with it for next some
time.

Thanks again,
Pavel