Very light, intermittent steering wheel vibration at 65mph+

[John94]

Hoping someone truly OCD (or with in-depth mechanical knowledge) see's this post as the vibration I am experiencing is not enough for the average non-car obsessed person to notice, but certainly is not behavior the vehicle was exhibiting previously.

anywhere from 1-60mph the steering wheel translates absolutely no vibration to my hands. steady as a rock. Could perform surgery on it.

however, I have noticed recently that at 65mph and faster, there is a very slight vibration (think original PlayStation rumble packs). Normally I would immediately think about wheel balance.. however, this vibration is intermittent. Perfect for 3 seconds, vibration that waxes and wanes for a few seconds. the perfect again..etc

For good measure I rotated my tires just to try to rule anything out that I easily could. Still happening just the same.

Any ideas?

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[Dingbat]

Had you changed anything on the vehicle before it started?
Does it happen on different roads at the same speed or is it always in the same place?

 

[schlumpj]

Stop crossing the white and yellow lines.

 

[DocBroncoMcLovin]

Had you changed anything on the vehicle before it started?
Does it happen on different roads at the same speed or is it always in the same place?

this, if I can try to read his mind. Many cars (like any material) will have a resonance frequency where they will pick up a slight wobble. It’ll be around a certain speed and a little different depending on road conditions. Totally normal, you’ve just probably noticed for the first time (like I did fairly recently in life as well).

 

[Dingbat]

this, if I can try to read his mind. Many cars (like any material) will have a resonance frequency where they will pick up a slight wobble. It’ll be around a certain speed and a little different depending on road conditions. Totally normal, you’ve just probably noticed for the first time (like I did fairly recently in life as well).

In one of my less proud moments, I went as far as changing hub bearings on a front wheel drive car that I was certain had gone bad, only to find out it was a combination of snow tires on a newer style of pavement they started using on the highways around here. Symptoms were exactly like a bad bearing.
Doh!

 

[ChrisB351]

Changed tires? A front tire out of balance will cause a steering wheel vibration.

 

[Scott R Nelson]

If it comes and goes, that usually means that you have at least two tires that are not perfectly balanced and it will be smooth when they're in sync and vibrate when they're out of sync.

How many rocks have your Sasquatch tires picked up?

Try picking all of the rocks out of the tires and see if it helps. Shouldn't take more than three or four hours.

 

[flip]

Rotational vibrations are a PITA to diagnose. If the normal rotate and road force balance doesn't change anything it might be time for a vibration analyzer. This can pick up multi-order vibrations and help isolate it to the speed at which the offending component is turning.

 

[BroncoSarge]

I would go ahead and rebalance and rotate the tires. might work and it’s never bad to rotate tires and the spare.

 

[flip]

See if your dealer has a Hunter Road Force balancer, if not, find a tire shop that does. Static balancing is not sufficient if you have rotating assemblies that are not properly indexed and matched. If you do find a shop that does a Road Force, they should be able to print before and after readings when they're done. This also helps if you've got a bad tire and have to file a claim with the manufacture for a "ride disturbance".

 

[dadjoke]

comin in out of left field here

it's not the 'keep hands on the wheel' warning is it? my wife kept thinking something was wrong because the original wheel vibration setting was low and it caused her to move the wheel before ever noticing the dash notification. I don't know the minimum speed for that to kick in but i've never seen it on surface streets

 

[rtazz17]

i have found road force doesnt matter. Find a good shop that knows what they are doing and get rebalance. I have had tires road force balance and still had issues and then went for static balance to a GOOD shop and fixed. I think road force balance is way overblown.

Usually its at higher speeds of 50mph plus though. Many things it COULD be. Drive shaft etc. But rebalance is a cheap start

 

[John94]

Update: had them road force balanced at discount tire, guy says only one tire was off and it was off by 3oz

STILL getting the steering vibes.

 

[BroncoSarge]

Probably best to have it checked at the dealership then.

 

[John94]

Probably best to have it checked at the dealership then.

Agreed, in theory, however when I have taken it to Ford dealships recently it has been chaos. Not enough techs, no communication, keeping the truck for ambiguous periods of time. Last time they straight up told me that I didn't have the window rattle - and I had to force them to watch a video I recorded of the issue...

I wish the situation was better.

Anyone think this could be an alignment issue? I have indeed off roaded with it, which I imagine could knock some things around

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