[CJ0920]

It's highly likely that it's your passenger side half shaft. The inner c/v joint wears out and starts to vibrate over time and just gets worse and worse until it's replaced or comes apart. You would feel a vibration as soon as you start to accelerate and it would be the worst between 65 and 80 mph. It should subside some if you let off the gas. The axles transmit much more vibration under load, unlike unbalanced wheels.

Understood. Already swapped out both front axles...

 

[CJ0920]

I've now rotated the front to the rear, and vibration was even worse! It was so bad between 60-80mph that the sunroof was rattling . I ended up taking the car yesterday to get all the wheels road force balanced. Did the research and found a shop with the Hunter 9700 machine. They said tires were good, no wheel issue however balance was definatley off where I could have been seeing the vibration. Drove home feeling good, however, as soon as I get up to speed, the vibration was back! Less than before but back! Shimmy in the wheel, passenger seat rocking a little.

What now, could it be a bad wheel bearing/hub? There is no noise or anything as far as suspension goes.

 

[JRL]

As I PM'ed you, until you remove the aftermarket wheels and install a known straight, set of PEGS WITH a known set of good tires you're spinning your wheels.
60-70 mph is classic wheel balance issue speed.

 

[CJ0920]

What about a rocking at low speeds...I'm close to believe the wheels/tires are not the issue as it did the same with my set of Pegs. I recently just sold that set which is now on a friend of mines Focus ST and he doesn't have any vibrations. I'm starting to think front wheel bearings going.

 

[JCN]

What about a rocking at low speeds...I'm close to believe the wheels/tires are not the issue as it did the same with my set of Pegs. I recently just sold that set which is now on a friend of mines Focus ST and he doesn't have any vibrations. I'm starting to think front wheel bearings going.

Similar experience here. Also replaced w new pegs / tires and had em' rebalanced multiple times. Vibration much less over the life of second set of conti DWS's but not 100%. Am thinking possibly front rotors (used to get the howling coke-bottle noise) but not irritating enough yet to justify $$.

...and I replaced all 4 wheel bearings before I got the new pegs. 3 out of 4 were screamers

 

[musterdbom]

My vibration comes and goes while maintaining the same speed on the highway. Doesn't really correlate with load but does seem slightly more pronounced when off the throttle. Turns at speed make no difference, still vibrates randomly and then smoothes out.

Wonder if worn shocks just can't damper slight bumps on the highway and they reverberate through the car's springs.

 

[BryanO'Blivion]

i have the same issue and have noticed two (i feel) large factors. i notice the severity is directly related to weight load on the vehicle. with one person its slight and easy to live with. with two or more people it become severe and feels somewhat dangerous. ive also noticed the grade of the road has a big influence. vibration on a flat highway is not nearly as bad as driving up or down a mountain pass. the problem is always between ~55-~70 mph, 4c setting has no effect.

ive been wondering how many people that have this issue have fully functioning Haldex systems? i know for sure my angle gear has been stripped for some time. ive wondered for a while if it could be originating from the transmission or drive-line. oh and i just replaced my passenger side half axle about 6months ago. problem has been around to some degree for the 1.5 years ive owned the car.

 

[CJ0920]

Interesting...I've replaced my collar gear about two years ago, so mines got about 20k one it. I was also thinking if shocks could also cause this, as I didn't see this before swapping out the springs to IPD lowering springs...

 

[BryanO'Blivion]

Interesting...I've replaced my collar gear about two years ago, so mines got about 20k one it. I was also thinking if shocks could also cause this, as I didn't see this before swapping out the springs to IPD lowering springs...

had similar thoughts. passenger side front strut is weeping. although if it were strut related, i would think the 4c settings should have an impact.

 

[musterdbom]

had similar thoughts. passenger side front strut is weeping. although if it were strut related, i would think the 4c settings should have an impact.

This is just me hypothesizing, but if the struts are worn, short range damping could be non-existent on the strut no matter what setting we select. I go back and forth trying to decide what to replace next to see if it helps. My PS axle inner joint has a TINY amount of give when I try to wiggle the joint, like 1/32". Not sure I want to fork out the $$ for an axle if it doesn't fix the issue.

The OTHER guess is that the hubs are out of wack and the shocks ARE trying to damper the imbalance, but are selectively successful?

I had a set of stock 17 pegs on and had them re-balanced, no change. Put an aftermarket set of 18's on with new tires road force balanced, no change. Lower control arms are not torn or loose, no clicks or clunks over bumps with the exception of a random (once in a blue moon) rear shock thunk/crash over slow speed bumps that sounds like the exhaust is trying to clunk through the floor.

Has anyone replaced their shocks and had the "random" vibrations stop?

 

[CJ0920]

I don't think its a strut issue. Reason I say so is no matter the 4C setting my vibration is consistent. I don't have any issues with weeping struts or any fluid leaking out of mine. And I'm almost 95% sure its not my wheels either. Had the same vibration with my set of 17 Pegs with DWS tires and now a complete brand new set of wheels and tires road forced balanced TWICE. I did notice this morning coming in that sometime depending on how I'm driving the vibration may be different at the same speeds +60mph. This morning, I accelerated onto the interstate to overtaking a few cars in the process up to around 85ish and coasted back down to 65ish, and vibration was so bad, my keys in the ignition was bouncing around loudly. If I accelerate normal and up to the same speed, the vibration is not as harsh.

Also at low speed at 20mph the car is hopping or bouncing. I can look in the rear view mirror and see the side of the car bouncing and it feels like I'm sitting on a suspension bridge while trucks are driving over it.

My suspect now is possibly a bad wheel bearing/hub.

 

[musterdbom]

UPDATE - For my car at least.

Cliffs: Poly lower control arm bushings fixed my shimmy!

Long version: I'm pretty sure I could have fabricated an entire exhaust in the amount of time it took me to swap out stock rubber bushings for poly inserts in the control arms. What a huge pain in the neck! Little did I know, until delving into this project, that you need OEM front bushings with the tapered bar to properly use the aftermarket Powerflex bushing. One side of my car had a scantech lca, the other side had no casting marks but you could tell it was aftermarket. After burning all the bushings out, seeing the pins, searching the forums, the verdict was in. I had the wrong front bushing/bar that wasn't tapered in the middle. Out came the bench grinder and custom tapering commenced. Finally, after dark, and a lot of struggle I got both sides back together and tightened down. Took it out for a spin and cautiously accelerated to normal wobble speed, nothing. A little more speed, slow down, speed up throughout the normal erratic vibration range, nothing. Smooth as silk!!!

I will say, after having both wheels off prior to this and inspecting the lower control arms, I wasn't convinced that I needed new ones. You couldn't see any tears in the either bushing and prying with a bar on the joints didn't expose any excess movement.

So I'll throw this out there. If you have a RANDOM shimmy/shake through a small RANGE of speed that comes and goes unpredictably irregardless of LOAD, put in poly inserts or new OEM lower control arms.

I'm giddy that it's finally gone and excited to put on the new IPD anti-sways that have been sitting in the garage for 6 months.

 

[shaun]

Congrats and well done.

 

[CJ0920]

Good for you. I wish mine were that simple...Already have new LCA/ball joints etc. Everything pretty much new.

 

[musterdbom]

Good for you. I wish mine were that simple...Already have new LCA/ball joints etc. Everything pretty much new.

Which brand LCA's did you put on?

 

[CJ0920]

Myle from FCP

 

[djkronik57]

Which brand LCA's did you put on?

2 year old OEMs here

 

[djkronik57]

Just an update. Swapped to snows and snow wheels (Pegs and Hakas) and the vibration is still there. The Hakas only have about 3000 miles on them. I took it in and the indy is saying there is a tire with "hop." Meaning one of the tires is bad. Asked if there is anything mechanical that can cause the tire to go bad, and he said no. So is it really possible that I have bad tires from both Michelin and Nokian with the same defect causing a similar vibration?

Seems rather unlikely...

 

[SwedeFuneralServices]

Just an update. Swapped to snows and snow wheels (Pegs and Hakas) and the vibration is still there. The Hakas only have about 3000 miles on them. I took it in and the indy is saying there is a tire with "hop." Meaning one of the tires is bad. Asked if there is anything mechanical that can cause the tire to go bad, and he said no. So is it really possible that I have bad tires from both Michelin and Nokian with the same defect causing a similar vibration?

Seems rather unlikely...

djkronik57, did you resolve your vibration issue? If so, how?

Thanks

 

[Hoenig]

djkronik57, did you resolve your vibration issue? If so, how?

Thanks

Additional bump, have this same issue. Discovered front LCA bushings are torn today, but what this fellow describes is my exact ailment. Ever find the source?