"Solved" Exhausted and dont know where to turn - vibration

[OR VietVet]

Yes, as @Fless said, check those mounts. Also, like @FrankU said, check the driveline balance. What looks great under the vehicle and not moving is way different going at speed down the road. I am of the tire and wheel group because I too had a bent wheel once that did not show as a wobble or vibe till hiway speed and did get worse as I went faster. I would also get the tread looked at and check tire balance and check for a slipped belt.

You said you just bought this rig. Did you roadtest it and notice the vibe and bought anyway? Go highway speed? Any test drive at all?

What is the vehicle info? Year, make and model?

 

[east302]

Tires need balancing?
Wheel bent? I have one minorly bent wheel and I start to notice it about 70mpg and it gets increasingly worse with speed but not so bad I care to do anything about it.

Adding to the above, how do the tires look?

Have you rotated the fronts to the back to see if it changes anything or rules anything out?

 

[MeansNMethods]

I have had multiple mechanics look at this and no one can pinpoint where the problem is.

The drive shaft looks solid as well as the u-joints. They look newer and driveshaft appears to be replaced. ( I just bought this vehicle )

I have a whole body shake starting about 65 MPH and increasing as you go faster. Sometimes at 80 it seems to go away.

I have changed the following parts.

pitman and idler
tie rods
upper control arms
front brakes

The vibration is better now because I replaced all of these but still it is there.

Shocks are only 5 years old and work great.

The steering wheel steers straight with no wobbling back and forth when the vibration starts.

But I have a whole car vibration at about 70. And if you have a continuous bumps on the road and the vehicle resonates with the spacing of the bumps, it gets ugly. We have bridge where I live and the concrete has bumps every several feet and at 70 it is crazy over those bumps.

I have read everything so far and I can't put my finger on it. Please help.

I am going through this exact same thing right now (03 Tahoe 4WD Z71). Sounds and feels almost like rumble strips starting at 70 and gone at 80. Kept driving and after about 700miles it got worse and noticeable at lower speeds.
I Put the rear up on jack stands and let it idle in 2wd. Can now visibly see a wobble in the rotation of the rear drive shaft and a clunking noise in rhythm with the rotation. Can’t find play in the u joints while stationary and the shaft “looks” fine stationary too.
I’m going to replace the drive shaft and U joints. (Just did the front one thinking this was it) Unfortunately I think I have to remove the shaft and measure it first because it looks like there are 3 different lengths within fractions of an inch of each other.


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[Fless]

In an early post you said that the steering wheel doesn't wobble when this happens. To me that seems to indicate a possible problem in the rear suspension, or a bent wheel, or a wheel that doesn't have a clean connection to the hub (rust jacking behind the wheel), or perhaps a worn or torn bushing.

Have the tires been rotated front to back to see if there is a change?

How's the rear diff fluid level and condition?

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum @MeansNMethods from Oregon.

That is why I latched on to the "looks" ok statement. Looks don't mean anything. My first thought was a driveline/pinion problem and then the tires. He will get it figured out and when you do yours, post here with results but also start another thread with the info you just posted and your results and pics is always a plus.

 

[Rocket Man]

Ditto on rotating tires front to back. I had an out-of-round tire do this.

 

[Just Fishing]

I had that issue on my old s10, for years it would let me know when i hit 80.
finally i noticed the input/pinion in the rear end had a bunch of slop.

I ended up tearing apart the whole rear end, replaced all of the bearings but left the pinion alone.
Pretty much put it back together exactly as it was.
even down to where the pinion bolt was, I counted threads and made a mark on the bolt and pinion.

it worked great, and it fixed the leaks at the axle shafts.
Pretty much every bearing in the rear end was toast, this was something like @ 180k
(years of backing into a lake with a boat)

It's still running like that, and super smooth past 90mph.
my bfg's hated me afterwards.
I think those are only rated for like 75mph...
(wore out the middle)

 

[dmhscorpio]

Have the motor mounts and transmission mounts been checked / stressed for excessive play or torn rubber?

My buddy has a 1962 Bubbletop 409. It had this problem. He spent many dollars and a lot of time to find the transmission mount was cracked. It was a $5 Rock Auto fix, but a long time getting there ..

 

[tjfish]

I have had multiple mechanics look at this and no one can pinpoint where the problem is.

The drive shaft looks solid as well as the u-joints. They look newer and driveshaft appears to be replaced. ( I just bought this vehicle )

I have a whole body shake starting about 65 MPH and increasing as you go faster. Sometimes at 80 it seems to go away.

I have changed the following parts.

pitman and idler
tie rods
upper control arms
front brakes

The vibration is better now because I replaced all of these but still it is there.

Shocks are only 5 years old and work great.

The steering wheel steers straight with no wobbling back and forth when the vibration starts.

But I have a whole car vibration at about 70. And if you have a continuous bumps on the road and the vehicle resonates with the spacing of the bumps, it gets ugly. We have bridge where I live and the concrete has bumps every several feet and at 70 it is crazy over those bumps.

I have read everything so far and I can't put my finger on it. Please help.

I have a 2016 Yukon Denali that had the whole body shake and the dealer could not figure out the problem. All the stuff mentioned in the reply were done and finally, a service bulletin came out saying the Torque Converter oil needed to be changed. That was done and it was nice to drive without the body shake.

 

[Douglas Friedberg]

I bought a 2006 Yukon xl last October. 2020 240,000 miles Cal. Trip miles family miles not worried so much not like it’s city miles with short trips
Had all theses vibration problems crop up like dominos
Shifted belts on the tires changed them. Still various speed vibration problems
Missing cylinder bad plug misfire code. Took awhile fir that one to trip a obd2 code because it comes and goes. Then stabilizer links up front and tore front wheel brake hose from bar bearing up hose. Then rear u joint needles gone and replace both u joints but that length of time shaft was spinning out of balance took out pinion bearings. As now it’s growling noises. Makes you swear it’s in the middle of the vehicle and time
To check transfer case. Well doesn’t hurt drain oil to check that add fresh never hurts. so I finally got to use a lifting do some maint and spun drivetrain in 2 wh drive sure as shit rear end vibrating and noisy. Removed drive shaft and found sloppy pinion. So I decided to crush the sleeve some more nothing to loose I tighten to just zero no preload and it did the trick changing the whole noise outcome so now I’ll have to change all the pinion and carrier bearings soon. Sound travels through every way it can when you have more then one scourge of noise and vibrations makes things harder to find. So u joints took out old tired pinion bearings so when you see new U joints pinion may not be far behind it. So I have a G80 in mine another learning curve I been doing 10/12 gm bolts and Dana 60,s in race car but laying on the ground has it’s disadvantages and sucks at 70.