4X4 Right Front wheel vibration

[lbrown]

91 W250 4X4 with 125000 miles on it. Just ran into a situation where it appears the right front wheel starts to vibrate like I was driving over a washboard road when I put the transfer case into 4 High while going down the road. With the hubs in or out and in 2 HI do not have the vibration. Only when I put it in 4HI does the washboard sensation come in. Just started doing it. Before that it ran great at high and low speeds in 4X4.



Has anyone had a simular experience and if so what was the cause and the fix?

 

[John Martines]

Check your U-joints at the axle. I had same thing happen to me last year.

 

[lbrown]

I need a little help in the how to check the u-joints on the axles at the wheel. There is not much room to do anything with them. I tried by putting the hubs in and rotating the drive shaft but could not tell if they were loose or not since everything was a little loose. Visual inspection did not show anything. Any suggestions?

 

[Paul Herioux]

Jack up the front wheels and lock in one hub at a time with t/case in 2wd. With the wheels turned rotate the locked in tire by hand, it should turn smoothly for the entire rotation. If it binds the u-joint is starting to sieze up. Also check for rust around the seals for the u-joint caps, this is a tell tale of bad things to come.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Paul

 

[Dfeland]

Put a steering stabilizer on it and it will go away.

 

[J DeMaio]

Hi guys:



I'm following this post and the one on shakes very closely. I have quite a shake at 45 miles per hour. New u-joints and the driveshaft has been balanced. You might want to check front axle nuts on 4X4 models. Mine have came loose on two different occasions for unapparent reasons It hasn't happened for a while.



Also, I was looking at my wheels (aftermarket) and they were stamped inside that a maximum tire pressure of 55 pounds was to be used. What do you do when you're runnin E range tires and the tires can be filled to 90 pounds I believe that could cause a problem, especially when towing.



Thanks,



John

 

[lbrown]

Finally got the problem fixed, I hope. It was the two u-joints around the CV joint in the transfer case to front axle drive shaft. And just for the heck of it I also replaced the CV joint and the u-joints on the drive shafts to the wheels as well as the front axle oil seals. $750 later I had a like new front end.

 

[Steve Graham]

Originally posted by J DeMaio





Also, I was looking at my wheels (aftermarket) and they were stamped inside that a maximum tire pressure of 55 pounds was to be used. What do you do when you're runnin E range tires and the tires can be filled to 90 pounds I believe that could cause a problem, especially when towing.

I would suspect that the wheels are not rated for the weight? The weight rating should be at least 3000 lb. per wheel. I had used the "plane white spoke steel wheels" that you can find any where but their weight rating is only 2200 lbs. I got away with this for years untill I started towing a 6000 lb trailer and thats when I started breaking wheels. I don't under stand how companies can sell wheels with a 8 bolt pattern and not be rated for at least 3000 lbs but they do.



Steve