Vibration at 50-55 MPH

Fxrscotty · 04-25-2006, 04:56 PM

I am getting a vibration that starts at 50 and stops at 55 mph. It is very smooth on either side of that speed. Any ideas before I bring it to the dealer? It is a four Winds 24T with slide. E450 chassis. Less than 5K miles. Thanks. Scotty.

Fxrscotty · 04-25-2006, 04:56 PM

I am getting a vibration that starts at 50 and stops at 55 mph. It is very smooth on either side of that speed. Any ideas before I bring it to the dealer? It is a four Winds 24T with slide. E450 chassis. Less than 5K miles. Thanks. Scotty.

**Gary RVRoamer** · 04-25-2006, 06:44 PM

You've got a tire & wheel out of balance, which any tire shop can easily remedy [unless it is really far out of whack]. Not a warranty issue unless it has been like that since day one. You probably hit a pothole or curb and knocked it slightly out of balance. Or maybe one of the original balancing weights simply loosened and fell off.

I'd just go to a tire shop and have them balance the front wheels again.

Fxrscotty · 04-26-2006, 12:31 PM

Thank you, wil do.

pzalos · 05-21-2006, 12:35 PM

Several years ago we had a Gulfstream 29' on the E450 chassis. I had the same issues as you and each dealer told me it was the tires. I had them balanced many times and never resolved the 55mph vibration.

My solution was to have the drive shaft balanced. The mechanic thought I was throwing my money away but that solved the problem. We both learned something that day.

It appears that Ford does a poor job of weigting and balancing the shafts. I strongly recommend looking into that.

Roger Kneeland · 05-22-2006, 09:39 AM

Fxrscotty,

I would definitely check out the wheel bal first, as Gary suggested, but I had the same problem with my 89 Pace and it eneded up being the driveshaft balance / angle phasing. I would think that you would have a single piece driveshaft, so the angle wouldn't be an issue.

Roger

alvinc · 05-22-2006, 10:06 AM

Why do vibrations show up at certain speeds? Because the vibration is masked until the mounting point or carrying structure harmonically vibrates as well.

Common causes related to vehicle speed:
a) out of balance tires
b) out of round tires
c) driveshaft balance
d) pinion angle

Probably others I can't remember. We Jeep owners who lift and put bigger tires on deal with these issues all the time. We don't see the driveshaft issue too often, but the others are regular issues.

Fxrscotty · 05-23-2006, 02:18 PM

I have an appointment for the dealer to test drive and then will fix what ever it is. i will let you all know what it turns out to be. scotty.

TXiceman · 05-23-2006, 03:49 PM

I had a similiar problem witha 1999 E450 on a Minnie Winnie. Ford truck dealer insisted it was either front end alignment or tire balance. So I let him balance and align and it still shook, and he agreed finally to check the drive line. Shaft was balanced OK, but it was out of alignment and had a bad u-joint.

Ken