Vibration

[Snakestang]

We purchased our SHO, and we finally took it on a road trip to Flagstaff last weekend. The car has a distinct high frequency vibration that is centered around 67 MPH. You can feel it starting about 50 MPH, but it is worst at 67. The dealer's response is "it's a performance vehicle and it is normal." I can tell you after 4 hours of driving, I was ready to get out from behind the wheel. It is most noticeable in the steering wheel, but you can feel through out the car. To me it feels like a driveshaft is out of ballance.

Has anyone else had the same issue? The car is a 2011 and only has 1400 miles on it...

John

 

[RedCandySHO]

No vibration here, but you might want to find another dealer....

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

Tire Balance would be my first issue to check. Could have a bad tire, or a balance issue. Do a Road Force Balance.

Had this issue with my new wheels/tires that came from TireRack. Turned out one wheel/tire was 1 oz off.

If that isn't it, then it has to be in the drive train, anywhere from rotors, to engine...

 

[Crash712us]

Yeah not normal at all, my car smooth as can be.

 

[itguy08]

Definitely not normal; I'm at 27k and it's smooth as can be. The PA roads means it's not smooth all the time but when I get the rare smooth road the car is smooth!

 

[RonPorter]

Yep, definitely sounds like tire balance.

 

[GigaHz]

I had a set of tires once that were perfectly balanced. I still had vibration. It turned out the tires were out of round. They had to get shaved.

 

[Crash712us]

I had a set of tires once that were perfectly balanced. I still had vibration. It turned out the tires were out of round. They had to get shaved.

Them where bad tires then and should have been rejected. A road force balance would detected and rejected if to far out of round. Had a buddy that had a brand new f150 that the dealer couldn't balance the tires because of.

 

[Crash712us]

We purchased our SHO, and we finally took it on a road trip to Flagstaff last weekend. The car has a distinct high frequency vibration that is centered around 67 MPH. You can feel it starting about 50 MPH, but it is worst at 67. The dealer's response is "it's a performance vehicle and it is normal." I can tell you after 4 hours of driving, I was ready to get out from behind the wheel. It is most noticeable in the steering wheel, but you can feel through out the car. To me it feels like a driveshaft is out of ballance.

Has anyone else had the same issue? The car is a 2011 and only has 1400 miles on it...

John

Are you able to detect any tire wear? if its a balance issue you may have cupping in the tread. With so few miles it maybe hard to see but you should be able to detect by running your hand over the tread. And for the dealer to just right off without a road test checking the balance is just plain wrong. No performance street vehicle I have ever road in has driven like that.

 

[roadhammer]

Road force balance will more than lokely fix your problem, if your steering wheel is vibrating, its in the front tires. My cars are smooth as glass all the way up to the electronic speed shutoff

 

[Snakestang]

Thanks for the input!

A bit more info...

No preceptible tire wear.

The dealer has replaced one tire for a cut in the sidewall. All four tires have been road force balanced twice. Yet the vibration still exists.

I am beginning to believe that it is time for a new dealer.

John

 

[warden]

I had a slight vibration the first time the car got over 80mph. Has not happened since.

What type of a drive shaft delivers porew to the rear wheels? Is it a straight single piece or a (2) piece? 2 piece often vibrate.

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

When they did the RFB, did they index the tires, that is, turn them on the rims to get the best RFB possible? Which brand tire do you have on your SHO?

My son purchased a used STS Caddy some years ago with new tires. 3 of the 4 tires could not be RFB to the minimum 30. New Conti A/S and presto, no problems.

 

[Wardawg]

I was talking to my friend Harry and he said if you get a good set of matched tires it should fix your problem, and will allow you to pass on the outside as well.

 

[Snakestang65]

When they did the RFB, did they index the tires, that is, turn them on the rims to get the best RFB possible? Which brand tire do you have on your SHO?

My son purchased a used STS Caddy some years ago with new tires. 3 of the 4 tires could not be RFB to the minimum 30. New Conti A/S and presto, no problems.

I will have to check if they indexed the tires. The tires are the factory Eagles (19 inch).

Tires are my leading suspect as they had to replace one due to the cut in the sidewall, and the vibration has been there since. (did not notice the vibration on the inital test drive before the purchase of the car).

John

 

[Snakestang]

Tonight I moved the front tires to the rear and rear to the front... took the car out for another drive, and as I was expecting the vibration cleared up in the steering wheel... I guess there is enough mass in the rear to absorb the vibration.

Saturday, I will be going back to the dealer to have a chat, and get the now rear tires either balanced or replaced.

Thanks again for the input. I really appreciate the quick replies. :thankyou:

John

 

[blaine109]

It's 1 of 3 things:

1. Tire out of balance
2. Bent wheel
3. Out of round or defective tire

The reason you don't feel the vibration in the steering wheel when you moved them from the front to the rear is because the rear wheels are not connected to the steering wheel.

 

[Snakestang]

The reason you don't feel the vibration in the steering wheel when you moved them from the front to the rear is because the rear wheels are not connected to the steering wheel.

Yea... that is why I moved the tires to the rear to prove the issue was with one of the front tires... 50/50 troubleshooting... my comment about mass was a poorly veiled attempt at humor...

John

 

[Snakestang]

Still not resolved.

The dealer has replaced all 4 tires and road force balanced them again. All 4 wheels were checked.

The field service engineer will look at the car on Tuesday.

The saga continues....

 

[Snakestang]

Well... the saga continues... the field service engineer stated that they vibration was within the design specs... even stated that he drove an MKS to compare against. He stated that it was actually worse than our SHO. I call BS as this is not my first rodeo. Much less my first car. If the MKS is worse, Ford (Lincoln) is going to have a very difficult time selling them.

The service manager agrees about the vibration being non normal and has agreed to change the tires to something other than the Goodyear RSA's. We will see come tomorrow...

John