Slight vibration at 63-67 MPH

[LIVE2DAY]

Hello all...
Again thanks for all the great answers. I have had a TON of questions answered without even posting.
I have a 2000 TJ Hard top. No real mods.
I have had the tires balanced and the alignment done, but I still get a vibration at 63 to 67 MPH. Nothing below, nothing above.
A friend that has a '97 says, it's just a Jeep. Deal with it. I am looking for an answer a bit more "detailed."

Thanks.

[dillonjm]

Check the U-joints in the rear and front d-shafts. A U-joint with a little play in it will cause a vibration like that and can occur at certain speeds.

Hope this helps.

[olivesta500]

where did you have the tires balanced? its hard to have used tires perfectly balanced. they may be pretty close but its hard to get them perfect. i would bet on the tires being slightly off and finding their resonance frequency right in that 63 to 67 mph range.

dont let anyone tell you "its a jeep, deal with it" that bugs the **** out of me when people say that. im pretty particular about my jeep and if its not right i wont rest till its perfect. obviously if it didnt do whatever it is that is bugging you, it can be made to not do that and you dont have to "just deal with it"

[Linda]

You should expect a smooth ride. What kind of wheels do you have - steel maybe? They can be rough.

[LIVE2DAY]

Thanks for the answers. I have the factory steel wheels, balanced at Sam's Club.

(Okay, I am ready to be skewered now.)

[PJ]

BJ's actually does a better job.

[Linda]

I changed from steel to alloy - Amer Racing Chamber wheels - and my vibration is gone - totally smooth. Steel wheels are great if you're spending lots of time in the rocks but not so good for the street. I did the same as you - had steel installed when I bought the jeep. It was a mistake. I use my jeep as a daily driver and the shaking was driving me nuts. Get a good set of alloy and you'll be pleased.

[Cromwell]

A properly balanced steel wheel should not have any vibes. If they do then the tires were not mounted and balanced properly.

Tony

[99TJMike]

I had a Ranger that the first time I took it on a trip, I felt a vibration in the steering wheel at about 65mph. I took it to NTB and they rebalanced both front wheels. The new wheel weights were about 90 degrees from where the factory had the weights. Take it back and have the balance checked again or go somewhere else.

[Linda]

If the steels are out of round, they're gonna be real hard to balance. Mine were only slightly out of round - seems like that's common from talking to others. You can easily see it when they put the wheel on the balancing machine.

[OhioYJ]

I've seen some tire/wheel combinations were the tire must be rotated on the wheel to be balanced right. Also if you get a tire that needs lots of weights, rotating the tire on the wheel will sometimes reduce the weight needed to balance out.

[Sage]

My '02 TJ started the death wobble thing @ 45mph. It got so bad that my front U joint gouged a hole in my exhaust! (two inchs away!)

I rebuilt the front end, realigned, rebalanced, swapped tires, and read about "just live with it."

And then one day, it just quit......

You've got to understand, they are just mysterious machines!

[MotorSeven]

One of your tires sounds like it may be out of round. Take it to a real tire shop and have them check all 4. The only fix is a new tire or a tire shavng machine(no, really, they do make 'em and us 'em)

RD

[trainbrainmike]

Originally posted by MotorSeven:
One of your tires sounds like it may be out of round. Take it to a real tire shop and have them check all 4. The only fix is a new tire or a tire shavng machine(no, really, they do make 'em and us 'em)

RD I agree with this. I do not like to have a tire "trued", but if it is out of round, even tho' balanced, will vibrate. After all, they can balance a square, but that does NOT make it round....

[HotRod YJ]

Slap a set of Swampers on it and you'll forget about how smooth or unsmooth it is. Just trying to get a Swamper tolerable is hard enough, you'll never get them anywhere near Cadillac smooth.