Yet another vibration thread

[postwick]

Since buying a 2013 SHO, it has had a strong vibration at around 55-60mph. I have read many other discussions here and in other forums, and I'm still at a loss for what to look at next.

Bought new tires. Found out both rear rims were bent. Had them repaired and balanced. Vibration persists. Had the front and rear tires swapped, vibration persists and did not change.

Having eliminated tires, rims, and balancing as the culprit, what is the next most likely source of the vibration?

Note that while I do feel some of the vibration in the steering wheel, I'm not sure if it is actually something in the front end vibrating as I mostly feel it in my seat.

There is no play in the ball joints or tie rods.

I know there have been many vibration threads, I'm just hoping someone can give me some "next thing to check" advice.

Thank you.

 

[2011TAURUSSEL]

Warped Brake Rotors?

 

[SHOdded]

Faulty RDU (rear differential unit) and/or wheel bearing? Feeling it in the seat usually leads more to driveshaft related issues which could very likely originate from the RDU.

How many miles on your '13?

 

[postwick]

Faulty RDU (rear differential unit) and/or wheel bearing? Feeling it in the seat usually leads more to driveshaft related issues which could very likely originate from the RDU.

How many miles on your '13?

48,000

I considered the rotors, but would that cause a vibration when not braking?

 

[rubydist]

does it happen at 55-60 on all roads, or just some? if some, what kind?
is it more up and down feeling in the seat? or side to side?

 

[13blacksho]

Struts?... I've had a couple daily beater cars over the years and I swear they all have the same vibration at 55 ish and it was always the struts! (After replacing everything else first!)

 

[Pintony]

How many miles?
have you checked your vin with any Carfax type check?

 

[SilverSH0]

Having the rear rims bent would make me think someone hit something. I would look over all the rear end components to look for anything worn or loose.

It might also be the rear driveshaft. It might be worth looking into, but I wonder if one can remove the rear driveshaft on these vehicles w/out damage. If so, you could remove the driveshaft, see if the vibration disappears, and then reinstall. I know on my Jeep I tracked a vibration to the front driveshaft by doing that.

 

[postwick]

It was actually the rims on the front that were bent. One wasn't too bad but I had it fixed anyway. They were put on the back to minimize vibration until I could have them repaired, and they are now on the front. The vibration was worse before the rim repair, but now the vibration still happens and is not affected by changing the location of the tires/wheels.

The vibration is on all roads and always at 55-60 mph. I can't really describe it as side to side or anything else...it's a vibration like driving over those rumble strips they put on roads.

I'm going to take it to a Ford dealer, because I think I've reached the limits of what Tires Plus can do for me.

Also, the vibration does not change if I put the car in neutral. Is there anything that STOPS spinning when in neutral (coasting at 55 mph) that spins when in drive, that can therefore be eliminated logically?

 

[SHOdded]

Driveshaft stops spinning in P and N, but that is when not moving. I don't know what would happen if you shift to N at speed (how do u do that), the driveshaft may not stop spinning.

Rumblestrips sound can also be caused by plugs/coils/injectors not performing, fyi

 

[Pintony]

It was actually the rims on the front that were bent. One wasn't too bad but I had it fixed anyway. They were put on the back to minimize vibration until I could have them repaired, and they are now on the front. The vibration was worse before the rim repair, but now the vibration still happens and is not affected by changing the location of the tires/wheels.

The vibration is on all roads and always at 55-60 mph. I can't really describe it as side to side or anything else...it's a vibration like driving over those rumble strips they put on roads.

I'm going to take it to a Ford dealer, because I think I've reached the limits of what Tires Plus can do for me.

Also, the vibration does not change if I put the car in neutral. Is there anything that STOPS spinning when in neutral (coasting at 55 mph) that spins when in drive, that can therefore be eliminated logically?

Assuming that the sho has Rack and Pinion? Have you had the bushings checked?

 

[SilverSH0]

Driveshaft stops spinning in P and N, but that is when not moving. I don't know what would happen if you shift to N at speed (how do u do that), the driveshaft may not stop spinning.

Rumblestrips sound can also be caused by plugs/coils/injectors not performing, fyi

I'm not really that knowledgeable about the PTU, but I THINK it's all mechanical. Meaning that as long as the front axles are spinning (ie, car moving) that would cause the PTU gears to rotate. Those rotating gears would cause the rear driveshaft to spin. Unless there's some sort of disconnect in the PTU for the front axle/transaxle and rear driveshaft, the rear driveshaft would spin while moving.

To shift into N at speed you would simply depress the button on the gear selector and CAREFULLY push it into the N location. This Taurus is the first vehicle I've ever had where you have to depress the button on the gear selector to get into N. On every other vehicle I've owned (granted the newest was a 2009), you can simply push the lever forward and it will go into N. Then you must depress the button to shift into R or P. But on the Taurus you have to depress the button to shift into N, R, or P. It might be where the button has 2 levels where a slight depression will allow it to go into N and more depression will allow it to go into R and P.

 

[rubydist]

bent rims cause all kinds of strange dynamics in how the vehicle rides and handles. I would go to another tire store and ask them to balance your tires and see if they are balanced now or not. It does not take much rim runout to make a serious vibration.

 

[postwick]

The saga continues. Ended up going to a Ford dealer. They said the front half shafts were bent. Replaced them under powertrain warranty. Also said left inner tie rod end had play, which I confirmed with it on the lift. That cost me $740 to replace both.

Car still vibrates. Then he says "oh the tech said you have a bent rim on the front." Which is one of the two I had repaired and saw for myself is no longer bent. So I had them move the fronts to the rear and vice versa (like I had TiresPlus do) and just like when TiresPlus did, the vibration does not feel any different.

 

[postwick]

Operating under two assumptions:

- at some point something was hit hard enough to bend a rim (presumably the front because that's where the bent rim was when I bought the car)
- The vibration isn't from rims or tires (brand new) because it doesn't change when they are swapped front/rear

...what else could be bent or out of round? Hub? Bearing? What the lugs thread onto?

 

[rubydist]

PM me the VIN and a real email address, and I'll pull the CarFax to see what kind of information they have regarding any possible accidents it may have had.

Front half shafts being bent is a big red flag to me - that is not easy to do. The wheel may still be bent, even if the bent part at the bead is fixed - a wheel can for sure cause the kind of vibration you are describing. I would have each wheel mounted to the balancing machine and watch to see if it runs true or not, and how the dynamic balance looks now.

 

[postwick]

The CarFax shows one accident, that it hit a parked car but not hard enough for airbags to deploy.

The dealer says they see bent half shafts from transport, because some idiot throws chains over the shafts and cranks it down to secure it. This car was originally from Michigan, and I bought it here in Florida.

The dealer wants me to bring it back Monday morning for road force balancing. I am going to suggest swapping the rims/tires from another car to definitely determine if the rims are the problem.

 

[BlueSHO]

Damn that sucks and I hope you get the vibration found. Sounds like you have eliminated a lot of things. Like it was said those bent halfshafts are concerning. Who knows what else was tweaked just enough to cause a vibration. Good luck

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[r1crusher]

I'm in a very similar situation...still. New brakes and tires installed, vibrations were really bad. Dealership found two bent rims so I had them "fixed". Vibrations were still present but not nearly as bad. Bought all new rims and had tires swapped over...but still have vibrations and they only appear when the car sits overnight and slowly diminish after driving the car for maybe 15-20 min. after which it's just barely perceptible.

I believe my issue is either a bad tire or two....or it's a wheel hub. I suppose it could be something more but the fact that it slowly seems to "go away" after driving it doesn't lead me to think it's in the drive line.

Good luck finding your mysterious vibrations.

 

[postwick]

Your problem is called flat spotting. When you drive, your tires get warm and thus softer. When you stop and park, the tires cool and harden with that flat spot which you feel for the first couple miles of driving. I have the same issue but ignore it because it isn't a big deal. It's just the way some tires work, especially low profile performance tires with softer compounds. There is nothing mechanical causing your issue.

What I am posting about here is a vibration at freeway speeds only, which is not affected by how long I have been driving.