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vibrations, steering wheel, pedals. any help?

4K views 26 replies 13 participants last post by  hawkinsmichael188 
#1 ·
I recently started to notice more vibration than usual. I'm getting feedback in my steering wheel and pedals (auto tranny).
The steering wheel vibrates over rough road much more than it ever did, and I can feel the road on the pedals if that makes sense. Its more prominent at low speeds.

I tried searching here and some other forums. I'm going to crawl under and check torque on the front end. But maybe someone can suggest where to start.

Steering is still pretty dead on. Just rotated my tires 2 days ago, same symptoms before and after.

Any ideas?

14 jkur auto, Teraflex/rancho 2.5" lift, CA correction brackets, stock Rubicon wheels and tires with 1.5" spacers
 
#5 ·
Had wheels balanced today. Still there.
I don't really feel it as much at higher speeds unless I hit a pot hole, its mostly at 25mph-

My gut tells me something in the front end is loose.. Gave everything a quick once over. I guess I'll have to go bolt by bolt when I have a day off.

This is a stretch.. But does this sound at all like a blown shock maybe?
 
#7 ·
Had wheels balanced today. Still there.
I don't really feel it as much at higher speeds unless I hit a pot hole, its mostly at 25mph-

My gut tells me something in the front end is loose.. Gave everything a quick once over. I guess I'll have to go bolt by bolt when I have a day off.

This is a stretch.. But does this sound at all like a blown shock maybe?
Research bump steer. Sounds like that could be the issue. Steering dampener?
 
#11 ·
This was going to be my recommendation as well. Check them for tightness. OP may already have some worn ball joints and tie rods. I was feeling a lot of rattling/vibrations in the wheel and pedals. Once I replaced all the tie rods and ball joints, it got much better.
 
#12 ·
OK, checked all the wheel spacers for cracks, cleaned them, checked torque on all of them. Not one nut out of spec.

Took some pictures of the front end, anyone see anything out of the ordinary?







Sorry some of them are washed out. I checked all my suspension bolts. I originally marked them with a paint pen, none of them moved, but I checked them with a wrench too.
 
#14 ·
How often do you rotate your tires?

I get a vibe like you're describing when my GYMTRs start to get scalloped, which reminds me that it's time to rotate; about every 5k or so.

KM/KM2s have a pretty aggressive tread; may be doing the same thing.
 
#16 ·
I took the jeep in early this morning to the service department.

A tech rode in the jeep with me, said the vibrations are normal because I have mud terrains. They didn't look at anything in the front end just sent me on my way.

I'm thinking I might just go pay for an alignment somewhere and just see if my numbers are okay. It still drives straight, but I swear I've never had vibrations like this, and as much feeback in the steering wheel.
 
#17 ·
I took the jeep in early this morning to the service department. A tech rode in the jeep with me, said the vibrations are normal because I have mud terrains. They didn't look at anything in the front end just sent me on my way. I'm thinking I might just go pay for an alignment somewhere and just see if my numbers are okay. It still drives straight, but I swear I've never had vibrations like this, and as much feeback in the steering wheel.
Typical response.

Did you try rotating tires front to rear?
 
#19 ·
It won't "fix" the problem but might take the vibration away; have you looked at the thread on the steering attinuator? Mine removed the vibration going down gravel roads and the bump steer while turning on rough highways. They have a 30 day trial on them, might be worth a shot if everything is torqued to spec.

Did you say you checked your ball joints and tie rod ends already?
 
#20 ·
I have been reading about the attenuator a lot lately.

I did check the tie rod ends and ball joints, and from my untrained eye it looks like I don't have any play..... However, while I was servicing my differentials, I got in with a grease gun and a needle fitting and greased the ball joints and tie rod ends.

The vibrations seemed to be greatly reduced, but I don't know if its a placebo yet.
 
#21 ·
I have been reading about the attenuator a lot lately. I did check the tie rod ends and ball joints, and from my untrained eye it looks like I don't have any play..... However, while I was servicing my differentials, I got in with a grease gun and a needle fitting and greased the ball joints and tie rod ends. The vibrations seemed to be greatly reduced, but I don't know if its a placebo yet.
There's really no way for grease to work inside the joint cavity that way.
 
#26 ·
This would not be bump steer. Bump steer is caused by faulty steering geometry, usually the result of a poorly applied lift. Is when a lift doesn't take into account the extreme angle of the tie rod that comes off of the pitman arm to the passenger side knuckle. If this angle is too extreme, the act of hitting a bump or compressing the front suspension the tires are force to turn to one direction uncontrolled.

It is not caused by damaging something from hitting a pot hole. You may have bent a rim or knocked off a balancing weight.
 
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