Vibration at Hiway speed

[Dave D]

Had a decent vibration at hiway speed. Only mod ive done is the 3/4 inch daystar lift back in July, had a jeep shop put it in. I dont get on the hiway much so not sure if thats when it started. Had the tires balanced and it has improved but still a small vibration.
I can feel it in the seat.
Could that 3/4 small lift cause it?
Carrier bearing has some play but its tight in the rubber gasket.
Should there be any movement there?

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[Stan H]

Had a decent vibration at hiway speed. Only mod ive done is the 3/4 inch daystar lift back in July, had a jeep shop put it in. I dont get on the hiway much so not sure if thats when it started. Had the tires balanced and it has improved but still a small vibration.
I can feel it in the seat.
Could that 3/4 small lift cause it?
Carrier bearing has some play but its tight in the rubber gasket.
Should there be any movement there?

That carrier bearing is encased in a semi soft rubber sheath with carrier clasp around it . It is designed so that when you start moving it will flex up. It will move when you force your hand against it. 3/4 shouldn't have caused the vibration. My bet is on the rims and tires.
I know you said you rebalanced. I had a vibration like that 2 different times. Both times it was from a slightly bent rim.
The factory rim got bent on a rock sticking up out of a dirt road ( like a big underground rock shelf peeking out. )
The second a metal rim I hit down in a wallop of a hole and it bent it . Now mind you did not mess up the sealing bead as they both held air but they was bent and it made it vibrate. No amount of balance will fix that . Some shops won't tell you just so happens one shop did .. and then showed me . They took me back in the shop and I watched it for myself. Have a passenger get in the truck go down the road and have them look in the mirror at the rear tire and then at the front and you can see your side . Thats my bet.

 

[Dave D]

Thanks for the info.
I will have a closer look at the rims For any damage.

 

[Mad Mac]

My local tire shop
attempted to balance my wheels
three times with two different technicians
without success.

I took it to my local Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat Kawasaki dealer.
(I can't make this up.)
They balanced the wheels
without a problem.

The local shop's Hunter balancing machine
must have needed service.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

If regular balancing doesn’t do the job, take it to the dealership and have them road force balance. If there’s a problem doing that, they’ll tell you which tire can’t be balanced.

 

[Dave D]

I thInk I will book a trip to the dealer..
Its still under warranty so if its not the tire balance it should be covered.

 

[willys 41]

Had a decent vibration at hiway speed. Only mod ive done is the 3/4 inch daystar lift back in July, had a jeep shop put it in. I dont get on the hiway much so not sure if thats when it started. Had the tires balanced and it has improved but still a small vibration.
I can feel it in the seat.
Could that 3/4 small lift cause it?
Carrier bearing has some play but its tight in the rubber gasket.
Should there be any movement there?

I have been balancing my own tires for over 50 years with my old Coats balancer. About 15 years ago I got lazy and paid to have my new tires balanced on my tundra.
The next day on the way to work the truck shook like crazy all the way to work.
When I got to work I re-balanced the tires and took the weight back to the tire shop and got my money back for the balance.
The last time I got tires for my tundra I told them NO balance but they insisted put would not charge me for the balance. The hole truck shook on the way to work.
All the tires where way out of balance some as much as 3.5oz.
Last year I updated my tire machine and balancer to handle my 38'' tires on my jeep.
If you feel shacking around 60 to 70 mph first thing to check is the tire balance.
Just because you just paid to have them balanced doesn't mean they are properly balanced.

 

[Janster]

I know you said you rebalanced. I had a vibration like that 2 different times. Both times it was from a slightly bent rim.

It can happen……. Granted, the situation we had, was a cheap steal rim and rock crawling was involved. We were running ‘Equal’ in the tires, so there wasn’t a ‘balancing’ issue. Rotated the tires a couple times to find ONE tire was the problem. Remember those WD-40 spray cans with the little red straw?
Jacked up the rear end, got everything as ‘level‘ as we could. Got the red straw setup to just ‘touch’ the rim edge. Rotate the wheel - watch the straw…….. Yup…..Found the wheel was slightly ’out of round’.

Just note: Bent rims are hard to detect. You won’t necessarily see anything (damage) from the outside. Even a slight ‘bend’ can cause any sort of vibrations.

 

[Stan H]

It can happen……. Granted, the situation we had, was a cheap steal rim and rock crawling was involved. We were running ‘Equal’ in the tires, so there wasn’t a ‘balancing’ issue. Rotated the tires a couple times to find ONE tire was the problem. Remember those WD-40 spray cans with the little red straw?
Jacked up the rear end, got everything as ‘level‘ as we could. Got the red straw setup to just ‘touch’ the rim edge. Rotate the wheel - watch the straw…….. Yup…..Found the wheel was slightly ’out of round’.

Just note: Bent rims are hard to detect. You won’t necessarily see anything (damage) from the outside. Even a slight ‘bend’ can cause any sort of vibrations.

100% been in that situation 2 times.

 

[Dave D]

UPDATE - did a little more investigation with a tip from JENSTER (wd 40 nozzle on wheel) and the rear passanger wheel was off a bit.
Went to pull the wheel off and 2 nuts (beside each other) were very loose.
The other 3 very over tight.
Loosened and torqued all wheel nuts.
Seems ok now.
So I think what happened was the shop balanced tires then missed tightening 2 nuts or they just loosened.
I normally check the nuts after any work but got side tracked this time.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Just note: Bent rims are hard to detect. You won’t necessarily see anything (damage) from the outside. Even a slight ‘bend’ can cause any sort of vibrations.

I've had GREAT luck with shops that balance tires - never ever a failure. However, one wheel/tire caused several shops to fail at getting rid of a vibration.
It ended up the wheel was slightly "egg shaped". It was straight as it turned - there was no run-out as you'd normally think of it, but apparently a really hard hit smacked the wheel straight in and egged it.
A shop repaired it just fine. I was having the wheels CNC machine restored and they detected the bend with their CNC wheel lathe as the guy mounted and set it up.
An axle shop missed it, two alignment shops missed it, and two tire shops trying balancing several times missed it.
I missed it as I was looking for LATERAL runout. The dial indicator on the rim didn't move. It was perfectly fine in that respect. But I never thought of it having taken a hard smack that egged it.
I've bent wheels by smacking into rocks, curbs and other stuff on ice or muddy conditions and the runout was easily enough found, but never dropped into a hole so hard as to bend a wheel that way.

 

[Stan H]

I've had GREAT luck with shops that balance tires - never ever a failure. However, one wheel/tire caused several shops to fail at getting rid of a vibration.
It ended up the wheel was slightly "egg shaped". It was straight as it turned - there was no run-out as you'd normally think of it, but apparently a really hard hit smacked the wheel straight in and egged it.
A shop repaired it just fine. I was having the wheels CNC machine restored and they detected the bend with their CNC wheel lathe as the guy mounted and set it up.
An axle shop missed it, two alignment shops missed it, and two tire shops trying balancing several times missed it.
I missed it as I was looking for LATERAL runout. The dial indicator on the rim didn't move. It was perfectly fine in that respect. But I never thought of it having taken a hard smack that egged it.
I've bent wheels by smacking into rocks, curbs and other stuff on ice or muddy conditions and the runout was easily enough found, but never dropped into a hole so hard as to bend a wheel that way.

Trust me it is possible .

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Trust me it is possible .

I believe it - but this was my EAGLE. On the other hand, well, it's an Eagle LOL

 

[Stan H]

I believe it - but this was my EAGLE. On the other hand, well, it's an Eagle LOL

I tell ya how I bent 2 rims.....Caterpillar Articulated truck tracks.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Trust me it is possible .

Sure, it's possible. Anything is - but my luck over the years having shops balance tires has been great. I've not had tire wear or vehicle performance issues due to tire balance.
Anyone can screw up, and machines can go goofy, but when you have decades of good luck, not a single bad tire balance job - you go in trusting, not the other way around.
I'm only saying that around here, so far, they seem to do a good job, and I let them.
(I used to balance tires, I recall when the boss bought a new-fangled machine and learning to use it. Maybe some just never learn?)

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