Driveline Vibration with 37’s

[Mxjunky9]

Ridge Grapplers installed and they went ahead and swapped the fuel wheels out with new ones just in case it may of been a wheel.

STILL VIBRATING

At the end of my rope here.

Still no results yet? I’m having vibrations in mine also after I installed Metalcloak lift.

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[Gem1n1]

Still no results yet? I’m having vibrations in mine also after I installed Metalcloak lift.

This has been the longest and most time consuming project chasing this vibration.

So, they gave me a brand new set of Fuel wheels and Tires. After installed it still had the exact same vibration.

Frustrated beyond belief I took it to a 4x4 shop an hour away to get a fresh set of eyes to inspect everything. They of course start with checking tire balance.

After 30 minutes the tech comes to the front and takes me back to the tire balance machine and says to stare at the wheel as he spins it. The brand new wheel was bent. For grins we put another one of my new wheels/tires on it. Spun it and boom, it’s bent too.

So i went back to where i got the wheels. They ordered me a completely different brand of wheels.

Fast forward a week. Install them and although better it still has a vibration.

Pissed beyond belief and ready to get rid of the gladiator all together i take it to discount tire to have the tires road force balanced as a last straw effort.

3 tires ran out extremely well with a road force rating of 11 pounds and below. The 4th tire is on the machine cranking 41 pounds of road force!

My new replacement tire will be here mid next week. For grins I’ve put that tire at 3 different positions on the Jeep and the vibration moved with the bad tire.

So long story short, over 2 months, 1 driveshaft, 2 front lower control arms, 1 steer smarts track bar, 1 Fox steering stabilizer, 12 wheels and 14 tires later i might, just might have a smooth riding Jeep next week.

 

[Bacon]

This has been the longest and most time consuming project chasing this vibration.

So, they gave me a brand new set of Fuel wheels and Tires. After installed it still had the exact same vibration.

Frustrated beyond belief I took it to a 4x4 shop an hour away to get a fresh set of eyes to inspect everything. They of course start with checking tire balance.

After 30 minutes the tech comes to the front and takes me back to the tire balance machine and says to stare at the wheel as he spins it. The brand new wheel was bent. For grins we put another one of my new wheels/tires on it. Spun it and boom, it’s bent too.

So i went back to where i got the wheels. They ordered me a completely different brand of wheels.

Fast forward a week. Install them and although better it still has a vibration.

Pissed beyond belief and ready to get rid of the gladiator all together i take it to discount tire to have the tires road force balanced as a last straw effort.

3 tires ran out extremely well with a road force rating of 11 pounds and below. The 4th tire is on the machine cranking 41 pounds of road force!

My new replacement tire will be here mid next week. For grins I’ve put that tire at 3 different positions on the Jeep and the vibration moved with the bad tire.

So long story short, over 2 months, 1 driveshaft, 2 front lower control arms, 1 steer smarts track bar, 1 Fox steering stabilizer, 12 wheels and 14 tires later i might, just might have a smooth riding Jeep next week.

Wow, this is nuts. I’m speechless.

 

[Mxjunky9]

This has been the longest and most time consuming project chasing this vibration.

So, they gave me a brand new set of Fuel wheels and Tires. After installed it still had the exact same vibration.

Frustrated beyond belief I took it to a 4x4 shop an hour away to get a fresh set of eyes to inspect everything. They of course start with checking tire balance.

After 30 minutes the tech comes to the front and takes me back to the tire balance machine and says to stare at the wheel as he spins it. The brand new wheel was bent. For grins we put another one of my new wheels/tires on it. Spun it and boom, it’s bent too.

So i went back to where i got the wheels. They ordered me a completely different brand of wheels.

Fast forward a week. Install them and although better it still has a vibration.

Pissed beyond belief and ready to get rid of the gladiator all together i take it to discount tire to have the tires road force balanced as a last straw effort.

3 tires ran out extremely well with a road force rating of 11 pounds and below. The 4th tire is on the machine cranking 41 pounds of road force!

My new replacement tire will be here mid next week. For grins I’ve put that tire at 3 different positions on the Jeep and the vibration moved with the bad tire.

So long story short, over 2 months, 1 driveshaft, 2 front lower control arms, 1 steer smarts track bar, 1 Fox steering stabilizer, 12 wheels and 14 tires later i might, just might have a smooth riding Jeep next week.

Holy crap I had read you got new tires and rims but that’s crazy you had to get two new sets. I have fuel rims also guess I need to check them too. My vibration is mostly at about 25 mph and again at 45. I can feel it periodically at higher speeds but it’s not constant. And I don’t feel it in the steering wheel only through the floorboard. And I can hear a whoo whoo whoo sound. Or however it’s spelled lol!! Was yours constant?

 

[Gem1n1]

Holy crap I had read you got new tires and rims but that’s crazy you had to get two new sets. I have fuel rims also guess I need to check them too. My vibration is mostly at about 25 mph and again at 45. I can feel it periodically at higher speeds but it’s not constant. And I don’t feel it in the steering wheel only through the floorboard. And I can hear a whoo whoo whoo sound. Or however it’s spelled lol!! Was yours constant?

mine is constant. Came on at 50 and progressively got worse. This was with my fuel wheels

i have black rhino wheels but my luck on having a bad tire. I’m 99.99% sure I’m going to be a happy jeeper next week.

i will never put fuel wheels on anything i own again.

 

[Shootist]

Well Gemini I am glad you are finally tracking it down. It sure doesn’t speak very well for tire and wheel manufacturing these days. China junk is everywhere. This is exactly what happens when companies go with the cheapest manufacturer option.

 

[Mxjunky9]

mine is constant. Came on at 50 and progressively got worse. This was with my fuel wheels

i have black rhino wheels but my luck on having a bad tire. I’m 99.99% sure I’m going to be a happy jeeper next week.

i will never put fuel wheels on anything i own again.

Good info man thanks for keeping us updated.
Let us know the final results when you get your new tire.

 

[Alabama Mud Machine]

mine is constant. Came on at 50 and progressively got worse. This was with my fuel wheels

i have black rhino wheels but my luck on having a bad tire. I’m 99.99% sure I’m going to be a happy jeeper next week.

i will never put fuel wheels on anything i own again.

That's some crazy shit! I've never had any bad luck like that with a vehicle. I've always been pretty quick at chasing down gremlins and nailing them on the first or 2nd try.

I've had extremely good luck with 2 different set of Moto Metal MO970 wheels (2 different vehicles: JTR & Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins), Helo wheels (until one broke after 12 years of hard abuse (it was a mixture of my fault and the fact the county refuses to fix the road where it meets a bridge on both sides, and busted one of them at 55 MPH), and of course Mickey Thompson and all the other old school brands have been good to me, as well.

I've also have phenomenal luck and concentricity with Kumho & Nitto tires and a couple types of radial Super Swampers.

 

[Gem1n1]

Literally ready to throw a 5 gallon can of gasoline in the back seat and a box of lit matches.

New tire installed. Roadforced fine (11 pounds). They balanced it and put it on the front. I drove it. Much better but still feel a vibration at highway speed. Took it to another discount tire and they rebalanced taking 1/2 an ouce of weight off. Still a slight vibration so i decided i'd swing it by Big O Tires by my house and simply have them put the front tire on the back and vice versa.

Big O convinced me to let them try to balance that tire before they put it on the back. Reluctlantly said yes thinking i had it to the point of livable now.

Drove it down the highway after and banging my head in a wall it's worse than before i pulled into Big O.

Beyond pissed at this point. I'm ready to dump this P.O.S. Problem is i'm so deep in aftermarket i will take a complete ass beating if i try to get out of it now. So here we are....

Throwing good money at bad i'm thinking about buying a matching wheel/tire and putting the (what i assume the vibration is coming from tire) under the bed as a spare.

 

[Gem1n1]

Took it back to Discount Tire today. Had the undo what Big O did to the bad tire and rebalance it. Put the problem wheel/tire back on the front passenger side. It is better but still vibrates at highway speed. What are the chances i have another bad tire???? I'm to the point that when i pull into these tire place i'm sure they're saying "This F'ing guy again". "It's a 37" tire, it's not going to ride like a car".

I'd accept that if the vibration didn't follow this one particular wheel/tire. I know i can have a smooth jeep but damn. How much energy do i want to put in this damn thing before throwing in the towel.

 

[Usethis83]

Took it back to Discount Tire today. Had the undo what Big O did to the bad tire and rebalance it. Put the problem wheel/tire back on the front passenger side. It is better but still vibrates at highway speed. What are the chances i have another bad tire???? I'm to the point that when i pull into these tire place i'm sure they're saying "This F'ing guy again". "It's a 37" tire, it's not going to ride like a car".

I'd accept that if the vibration didn't follow this one particular wheel/tire. I know i can have a smooth jeep but damn. How much energy do i want to put in this damn thing before throwing in the towel.

Man..... hats off to your patience. This may be a stretch, but you sound open to ideas. Are the wheels mounted hub centric or lug centric? They are balanced by the hub. If lug centric, do you have the correct lug taper for those specific wheels?

If you remember, I had very similar issues at speeds you describe. My solution ended up being ditching the balance beads for some stick on weights- more importantly, by a competent shop for bigger tires. It was 2 hours away round trip. The local chain joints were not interested in the bsuiness of 37s and I was not confident in them either.

best
Eric

 

[Gem1n1]

Man..... hats off to your patience. This may be a stretch, but you sound open to ideas. Are the wheels mounted hub centric or lug centric? They are balanced by the hub. If lug centric, do you have the correct lug taper for those specific wheels?

If you remember, I had very similar issues at speeds you describe. My solution ended up being ditching the balance beads for some stick on weights- more importantly, by a competent shop for bigger tires. It was 2 hours away round trip. The local chain joints were not interested in the bsuiness of 37s and I was not confident in them either.

best
Eric

Agree totally on most shops. I’ve become an expert authority on balance machines through this process. Lol. Discount Tire are the only shops I’ve found that use Hunter Balance machines which are the best of the best. They are also the only shop i have found that deal with these large tires.

I’m going to drive it for the weekend and see if it’s something i can live with. The problem is I’m wired to where if something is wrong that i know can be right i have a hard time accepting it as normal or “your on oversized mud tires, it comes with the territory”.

I don’t know if it’s patience or the fact I’m over $10k deep in aftermarket that has me determined to keep this gladiator. Lol. I don’t want to lose all that money if i get rid of it. With that said, if it doesn’t get fixed i may be abandoning ship after the first of the year. That bronco on factory 35’s is looking damn good right about now.

 

[Usethis83]

Agree totally on most shops. I’ve become an expert authority on balance machines through this process. Lol. Discount Tire are the only shops I’ve found that use Hunter Balance machines which are the best of the best. They are also the only shop i have found that deal with these large tires.

I’m going to drive it for the weekend and see if it’s something i can live with. The problem is I’m wired to where if something is wrong that i know can be right i have a hard time accepting it as normal or “your on oversized mud tires, it comes with the territory”.

I don’t know if it’s patience or the fact I’m over $10k deep in aftermarket that has me determined to keep this gladiator. Lol. I don’t want to lose all that money if i get rid of it. With that said, if it doesn’t get fixed i may be abandoning ship after the first of the year. That bronco on factory 35’s is looking damn good right about now.

Yeah, I could not accept a 2020 model year that is not tolerable to rive at 55+. BTW my other jeep has grooved unbalance 43s on beadlocks, so I know what a bad ride is and my 37 km3s were unacceptable. I hear ya bud. Best of luck.

 

[Gem1n1]

Finally! Found the fix to my vibration. Bye bye gladiator. It wasn’t for lack of try. 12 wheels and 15 tires later.

 

[Usethis83]

Holy SH*T

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