Annoying high-speed vibrations

Nathanael Rusciolelli

Nathanael Rusciolelli

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
118
Location
North Carolina, United States
Since having my jeep for a couple months I've been having issues after 50mph with vibrations. It kind of seems to come and go which is weird, the other day it did 60 without really an issue but now it's back to very loud, strong vibrations once I get past 50. I feel them through the steering wheel and accelerator mostly, but also through my seat. The whole dash vibrates too. I just had the tires balanced today thinking it would help, and I've also cleaned all of the dirt that was caked onto the wheels and axles and insured that tire pressure was good. My jeep isn't lifted so I don't think driveshaft angle is a problem either. Anybody got some ideas?
 
Could be a bad u-joint in a driveshaft, especially that you feel the vibrations through your seat. But it could also simply be a bad tire or one that isn't balanced well enough. Regardless if the tires were recently balanced. Few tire shops will allow their mechanics enough time to completely and perfectly balanced tires to the point they won't cause vibrations on a TJ.
 
Ok, we better upgrade this situation to an emergency. Was driving home from work and I went above 55 to see how it felt and after a couple seconds of doing ok, the whole thing started shaking. Now it shakes violently at any speed above 5 mph! My guess is the transmission mount. I don't think it could be the motor mounts because i can rev it up and it doesn't shake at all. I'm trying to get a good look underneath the transmission to see if the mount is the problem. Any tips/ideas? I probably should have payed more attention to that when I bought this thing. It's been giving me nothing but trouble!
 
That latest violent vibration symptom just moved the likely cause into the bad or out of balance tire column. Even if recently balanced.
 
Nathanael Rusciolelli said:
So you think it is an unbalanced tire?
Click to expand...

That's what it's sounding like to me.

This seems to happen a bit and most people always seem to overlook an unbalanced wheel / tire. Oddly enough, it often times ends up being the culprit. Make sure a competent shop does the balancing, that's very important.
 
It doesn't matter how evenly a tire is worn. Once it starts wearing down, many many things can start breaking down and cause vibration. I've seen tires that have 50% tread on them in a fairly even wear pattern that were causing horrible vibration. An easy way to see if that is any problem is have them road force tested at a tire shop. It will difinitively prove or negate them as the cause.
 
I totally missed the part about the emergency vibrations at low speed.

I'm seriously betting that it's your tires. The tires could be flat spotting. Do you know the history of the tires?

How long have you had them, how often have they been rotated, what type of tire are they, etc.?

If the shaking is as violent as you claim, it certainly wouldn't hurt to get under the vehicle and inspect the u-joints just to see if any of them are noticeably damaged. But, my money is still on the tire(s).
 
I'd check the u-joints under the vehicle first and see if any of them look visually toast.

If not, I'd get the tires checked for free. Hell, most tire places would do it for free because they want you to buy new tires from them. I know at least 3 or 4 tire places by me that would check the tires for free.
 
When does the vibration start? As soon as you hit 10 mph? Or does it happen at 50 mph and above, and then not stop until you get down to 10 mph or less?
 
Yesterday when I was driving it I did not feel any bad vibes until about 50-55. But after driving at that speed for a minute or so, I began to feel a different, much harsher vibration which did not stop until I was at about 5 mph. Now the vibes start at just about any speed above 5.
 
Maybe a loose wheel. If it started out at high speeds and is progressively getting worse, I would at least check all the lugs and make sure they are tight. Especially if you are starting to feel a wobble at 5mph. I don't think you would feel an unbalanced tire at such low speeds.
 
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