Severe Shake Starts at 47 MPH

[Grump Fish]

I finally got the Mopar TPMS sensors for the Rubicon takeoff wheels & tires (~15K miles Falken 285 70 17) I bought for my wife's Sport Max Tow. Took them to a reputable tire shop in Alexandria La to have the sensors installed and the tires balanced yesterday. I installed them this morning and made a test drive. At 47 MPH, you can feel the truck start to shake and when you get above 50, it shakes severely with the steering wheel going back and forth.
I assumed the shop had botched the balancing job, though they've always done a great job for us. Took it back to them and they gladly re-balanced the tires and said they balanced perfectly. I actually watched the guy and he took his time to get it right. They test drove it and said they could still feel it a little, but didn't get it up to speed since the shop is in town. On the way home, same thing; shakes like crazy at 50+ MPH.
Took it back home and swapped the front tires, same thing. Swapped the rear tires, same thing. Each time I made sure the wheels seated correctly on the hubs and screwed the lugs on by hand and hand torqued to 130 ft Lbs.
Put the originals back on and it drives fine again.
I think I have a bad tire, but the tire shop said they could not see anything and it should show up when they are trying to balance it. Not sure what speed they balance at or if there could be something un-bonding in the tire that is changing with speed. I am thinking I need to just buy some new tires, but I'm a little concerned if it could be a wheel issue. Probably less likely since they balanced good though.

Any of you super smart people have any advice?

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[Lunentucker]

Death Wobble, DW, Death Wobble, DW, Death Wobble, Shimmy, Wander, Drift, Bump Steer | Jeep Gladiator Forum - JeepGladiatorForum.com

 

[Grump Fish]

Death Wobble, DW, Death Wobble, DW, Death Wobble, Shimmy, Wander, Drift, Bump Steer | Jeep Gladiator Forum - JeepGladiatorForum.com

Thanks, the wrangler in the video is a lot worse than what Im seeing. My wife's Sport only has about 600 miles on it so I would hope all of the potential wear issues wouldn't be a problem. My friend suggested we swap the tires from my Mojave over to her Sport and drive it.

 

[WK2JT]

I finally got the Mopar TPMS sensors for the Rubicon takeoff wheels & tires (~15K miles Falken 285 70 17) I bought for my wife's Sport Max Tow. Took them to a reputable tire shop in Alexandria La to have the sensors installed and the tires balanced yesterday. I installed them this morning and made a test drive. At 47 MPH, you can feel the truck start to shake and when you get above 50, it shakes severely with the steering wheel going back and forth.
I assumed the shop had botched the balancing job, though they've always done a great job for us. Took it back to them and they gladly re-balanced the tires and said they balanced perfectly. I actually watched the guy and he took his time to get it right. They test drove it and said they could still feel it a little, but didn't get it up to speed since the shop is in town. On the way home, same thing; shakes like crazy at 50+ MPH.
Took it back home and swapped the front tires, same thing. Swapped the rear tires, same thing. Each time I made sure the wheels seated correctly on the hubs and screwed the lugs on by hand and hand torqued to 130 ft Lbs.
Put the originals back on and it drives fine again.
I think I have a bad tire, but the tire shop said they could not see anything and it should show up when they are trying to balance it. Not sure what speed they balance at or if there could be something un-bonding in the tire that is changing with speed. I am thinking I need to just buy some new tires, but I'm a little concerned if it could be a wheel issue. Probably less likely since they balanced good though.

Any of you super smart people have any advice?

Where the tires completely removed to install the sensors or did they just pop the bead? I would suspect these are factory tires, so they would have been road forced balanced at that time. If the shop completely removed the tires, did they road force balance them when they reinstalled them? Unless there is damage to one of the tires, like an internal separation, this is my best guess. I hope you get it figured out.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Put the originals back on and it drives fine again.
I think I have a bad tire, but the tire shop said they could not see anything and it should show up when they are trying to balance it.

You have a bad tire or bad wheel. There's nothing else to it if it's fine with the stock tires and wheels.
The wheel could be bent as in egg shaped or off laterally as in hitting a curb.
A tire may also have a belt shifted or other issues.
Road force balancing may show the issue.
I'd spin each wheel and take a dial indicator to them to check for round and out of lateral or true.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Where the tires completely removed to install the sensors or did they just pop the bead? I would suspect these are factory tires, so they would have been road forced balanced at that time. If the shop completely removed the tires, did they road force balance them when they reinstalled them? Unless there is damage to one of the tires, like an internal separation, this is my best guess. I hope you get it figured out.

My gut feeling as well - it's not a Jeep issue, it's a tire/wheel issue.
And normal spin balancing isn't going to find it.

I have a perfect example in my garage where tires were balanced something like 3 times, 2 alignment shops looked at it, and finally a shop that does wheel restoration on a CNC machine found one wheel was out of round. It was true as far as lateral straight, but it was slightly egg-shaped.

And if the tires are problematic, no shop will find it without doing road force balancing. Normal shop techniques will not find this type of issue.

It's not the Jeep - it's not DW, it's not wear - it's specific to the tires and/or wheels.

 

[Grump Fish]

Where the tires completely removed to install the sensors or did they just pop the bead? I would suspect these are factory tires, so they would have been road forced balanced at that time. If the shop completely removed the tires, did they road force balance them when they reinstalled them? Unless there is damage to one of the tires, like an internal separation, this is my best guess. I hope you get it figured out.

Thanks!
Yes, these are factory tires. I am not sure if they removed them or not. I dropped them off and came back later. They do not have a road force balancing machine though.

 

[Grump Fish]

You have a bad tire or bad wheel. There's nothing else to it if it's fine with the stock tires and wheels.
The wheel could be bent as in egg shaped or off laterally as in hitting a curb.
A tire may also have a belt shifted or other issues.
Road force balancing may show the issue.
I'd spin each wheel and take a dial indicator to them to check for round and out of lateral or true.

There isn't any obious damage to the wheels. I looked when I bought them and we've been looking more today. Could still be damaged though.
I will have to see if I can borrow a dial indicator at work. My friend and I talked about that but neither of us have one.

 

[Grump Fish]

My gut feeling as well - it's not a Jeep issue, it's a tire/wheel issue.
And normal spin balancing isn't going to find it.

I have a perfect example in my garage where tires were balanced something like 3 times, 2 alignment shops looked at it, and finally a shop that does wheel restoration on a CNC machine found one wheel was out of round. It was true as far as lateral straight, but it was slightly egg-shaped.

And if the tires are problematic, no shop will find it without doing road force balancing. Normal shop techniques will not find this type of issue.

It's not the Jeep - it's not DW, it's not wear - it's specific to the tires and/or wheels.

This is what I was thinking too, but haven't seen this specific issue before. Just not sure how to figure out whether its a tire or a wheel. Maybe I should take just one off of my Mojave since they are the same and swap them one at a time to see which one is the culprit. Then I could focus in more on that one. Lots of tire swapping in 100+ degree temps!

 

[bleda2002]

Is all the weight in the center of the rim or is there weights on the outer edges? If they only did a spin balance you need a road force or at least a dymamic balance

 

[Grump Fish]

Is all the weight in the center of the rim or is there weights on the outer edges? If they only did a spin balance you need a road force or at least a dymamic balance

No, the did dynamic balance. There are clip on weights on the back lip and stick on on the inside.

 

[bleda2002]

No, the did dynamic balance. There are clip on weights on the back lip and stick on on the inside.

I'd definitely find a place to do a road force then. I can almost guarantee it's a wheel problem if it shakes consistently at certain speeds on different roads.

 

[Hootbro]

Sounds like you bought somebody else's problem they did not disclose to you at point of sale. I agree with the others on the need for a road force balance to figure it out.

 

[Grump Fish]

Sounds like you bought somebody else's problem they did not disclose to you at point of sale. I agree with the others on the need for a road force balance to figure it out.

Yes sir, sure seems that way. Me and my friend were talking earlier that Im tempted to contact the guy and tell him Im not trying to get a refund or anything, but just want to know so I don't chase my tail unnecessarily. He probably wouldn't fess up at this point though, and Id still have the issue.
Im leaning toward just ordering a new set of 35 12.5 17s and hope its a tire and not a wheel. At worst, Id have to swap them to the Sport wheels, which we don't really like. We were planning to go to 35s later anyway and have already ordered a leveling lift, which should be here Tuesday.
I am planning to do the swap one-at-a-time from one off of my Mojave in the morning to hopefully isolate it to one tire/wheel. At least then, I can know that I have three good tires and wheels!
I did some searching of local shops and found that Louisiana Tire and Lift has a road force machine. If I can identify the culprit, I'll take it there to see what they say.

 

[Hootbro]

If you are looking at 35's, might as well look for a proper 8.5"-9.0" wheel to put them on.

Buying take offs when your end goal is something larger can be expensive. I have been there myself.

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