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[richlebaron05LJ]

05 unlimited hardtop, 3inch lift, 33 tires, 20,000 miles, automatic with OD, JB converstion HD TC and JB super short SYE, Drivelines have been balanenced twice by Phoenix rack and axel, adjustable upper arms, Taken front driveline out, taken the rear out and drove in 4 high with just the front driveline in, I have messed with every angle "neg to postive" on front and rear drivelines, Made sure adjustable track bar was correct, I have even put my friends tires and rims on my jeep, thinking my were bad. I HAVE A SMALL VIBRATION AT 40-55 THEN GOES AWAY, AT 65 AND UP THE VIBRATION SHAKES THE MIRRORS SO YOU CAN NOT SEE OUT OF THEM, vibration is still there with acceleration or letting off the gas pedal or put into netural. I have taken this to Desert Rat, Phoenix Rack and Axel and Absolute offroad, they don't know what to do! PLEASE WHO CAN HELP ME??????????:aagh::skull::aagh:

[Cronoh]

uhhhh, welcome to the forum?

[Fire Ball]

How about the motor? are there any sounds along with the vibration? How bad is it shaking? Many jeeps vibrate enough to make the mirrors fuzzy at speed. Try getting the jeep up to the speed it vibrates and take it out of gear and coast.

I would think if absolute couldn't find it then it must be haunted :D

Also what types of tires have you tried? Some tires have a slap that comes into the rig as vibrations at different speeds. If you tried 2 sets of tires the same, then the problem will still be there.

Let me know if the problem still exists after checking a few of these things, I might be able to look at it later today or tomorrow although I doubt I'll be able to do more than the other guys did.

[cdhowell]

Does it seem to be in the steering or in the drivetrain?

[richlebaron05LJ]

The vibration is bad, driving for long periods at a highway speed is very questioable to me. I don't know what will fall off first. I have driven 60-65-70-75mph and put in neutral, and nothing changes, the vibration is constant.
QUESTION- can gears be installed wrong or incorrect and cause a this type of problem? when I had the 4.56 put in it got bad and was told it was because everything is spinning faster now. when I had the drivelines balanced and put in the new TC and SYE with new cv driveline I thought the vibration would go away! THUS my problem since before christmas recheck everything, still vibration. going to network alinement and have them set: minimum caster and max toe in. and see what happens

[GRUNT]

I am confused, does it actually happen when the front line is out or the rear line is out. When you know which line is in and vibration occurs then I would take that shaft to a driveline place to see if the shaft is out of balance. I would even think to perhaps take both lines in to see if out of balance or a bad U-joint. Although I would not think U-joint because this is only at selective speeds.

Have you thought about alignment? I know you mentioned the arms have been checked but if you have toe-in or toe out this may effect it.

My 07 Suburban had a similar problem and the dealer checked it out. The warrantied the tires, said they had flat spots/seperated...

I feel your pain. My 05 Duramax HD2500 did this, and 2 dealers and 2 private mechanics could not figure it out... :(

EDIT -CRAP, you posted while I was typing... You answered half my questions.

[richlebaron05LJ]

I believe the drive train, steering seems fine. The jeep drives perfect untill 45 and then the vibration startes at higher speeds the vibration is constant

[Sedona Jeep School]

uhhhh, welcome to the forum?
LOL!

Your Jeep goes 65?!?! :D

With only a 3-inch lift, you shouldn't even need upper arms. I assume you have aftermarket lower arms, too?

You mentioned that you drove it without one drive shaft at a time--and the vibe went away or not? And it vibrates when you put it in neutral at the same speeds?

Motor mounts, trans mount. Maybe you have over-adjusted your driveline? On TJ's, we put on a 3-inch lift with or without lower control arms (never uppers), drop the T-case up to 1-inch sometimes, and call it good.

Whatever you do, please let us know what you find!

[GRUNT]

Nena,
You are talking about "shouldn't even need upper arms," are you speaking about aftermarket arms with a 3" lift? Do you think the arms are putting it out of angle?

[richlebaron05LJ]

yes upper and lower are after market(rubicon express shortarm kit with 3 inch teraflex springs, with a drive line out the vibration was still there front or rear. I have been told that cv diveline need angle to work! Maybe my 3 inch springs are to low for what I have installed on my jeep??

[Fire Ball]

Well as far as the speed, did you have a new speedo gear installed? If not with the 4:56 gears, the jeep thinks it is going 60 but is is going slower.

For the gears to cause that vibration they would have to be seriously messed up from the install. I doubt even Desert Rat could do it that bad. Ouch, sorry about that gouge :D

Who did the gears? If you feel like driving to the east valley, we could tear into it a little and see what might be going on.

I have a guy from Qwest coming by between 10 and noon but I don't think I'll need to hold his hand.

[Fire Ball]

Also might want to look at the unit bearings, axle bearings, carrier bearings, make sure the rear flanges aren't bent. Make sure the rotors aren't out of round.

[DesertRat]

I had the same issue with an 06 Unli.
Play around with your tire pressure.
There seems to be a sweet spot on mine.
Oh and make sure your tires are balanced.

[Fire Ball]

I love a challenge :D

Mike, that desert rat comment wasn't about you LOL

[RokNRich]

Sure sounds like something to do with tires..............

[richlebaron05LJ]

AZ differentials did the gears, yes i have the superlift recal for the speed it works great.
where are you at? Im at work right now but I live at power and riggs

[richlebaron05LJ]

I believe the drive train, steering seems fine. The jeep drives perfect untill 45 and then the vibration startes at higher speeds the vibration is constant

[Fire Ball]

Not too far, Im off Tomahawk and baseline. Not too far from Desert Fab.

[GRUNT]

Wouldn't the lack of speedo adjustment cause the speed of his jeep to reflect that he is going slower than he truly is?

[richlebaron05LJ]

AZ differentials did the gears, super lift recal for the speed it works great Im off of power and riggs where are you at fireball?

[Cronoh]

Im off of power and riggs where are you at fireball?

Not too far, Im off Tomahawk and baseline. Not too far from Desert Fab.

:p

[tywilson88]

try disconnecting one of the sides of the driveshaft, and rotating it 180*... see if that makes it better or worse. if it makes a change i would reccommend taking your DS down and getting it balanced

[Fire Ball]

Based on what he said with going up to 4:56 gears on 33's the speedo would read higher than speed. But he said it was all redone.

As far as driving 65 mph or faster, that is probably the problem.

I went from 3:07 gears to 4:56. At 80 mph indicated I am actually going 59 per the GPS.

So at 65 MPH everything else in the jeep is spinning as if I was actually going 88 mph (on stock configuration )

At 70 mph actual, the speedo indicates 92. The only thing going slow is the axle :D Shakes pretty good, not something I would recomend doing. My speedo gear is still stock.

[MadCarlisle]

Make sure the tires are properly balanced. I recommend road force balancing. It works.

Had a similar problem with my Expedition. drove fine to 65 then had a vibration that could be seen in the mirrors. After having the road force balance done, the vibration went away.

Discount can road force balance the tires. You have to ask them to do it though. No extra cost either.

[azcharlie]

I had something like this happen to me when I got the first set of gears done on my jeep. It ended up that the rear pinion bearing was somehow damaged during install causing the vib's at high speeds. At least thats what I was told from the shop where I had the gears done.

[David C]

I would bet $10 the problem is your tires are out of balance. Sometimes big tires can be almost impossible to balance. Try using 8 oz of high-density airsoft pellet ammo in each tire. That works as a dynamic balancing system. Many people have solved the otherwise impossible balancing problem with this.
Read about it here: http://www.virtualjeepclub.com/showthread.php?t=12602&highlight=balancing

[richlebaron05LJ]

I will look in to the front diff to see if some thing is wrong, thx for the help!!!
I will also put the airsoft high desity BB's in the tires 10oz for the 33's thanks for the help too!!!!!

when I do find this nagging vibration I will RAT this problem out faster than my wife can say NO:nono: too more money for the JEEP:yes:

[Fire Ball]

I had a pretty involved conversation with Richard on the phone and from what he has told me he has had done, should be able to rule out tire balance, drive shafts, engine vibes or bent axles. I'm leaning more toward something in the gear sets . He has changed transfer cases and tires at least 2 times. Drive shafts balanced. Maybe unit bearing? Rich, let me know if you are stopping by today or tomorrow.

[richlebaron05LJ]

Found on Tera-flex site what the upper arms front and rear are susposed to be set at with a 3 inch lift: ID to ID Front 15 1/8 Rear 13 1/4 this should give the correct driveshaft and pinion angles. So I set upper arms to these measurements and they right on the money!
Still a vibration :aagh:
I took the front driveline out and and went for a ride. TOO MY GREAT SUPRISE THERE WAS ONLY A VERY SIGHT HARMONIC SOUND MMMMM.......MMMMMMM AT 45MPH. AT 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85MPH HARDY ANY THING AT ALL!!!!!!!!

I called Phoenix Rack and Axel because they had told me that when the front driveline was out the vibratiing was the same.......WELL I told them that I could hardy feel a vivration with the front driveline out. They said....thats great we will make you a brand new front drive line...... I said cool.... be down friday to pick up.

Took the jeep there on the freeway........ if there was a vibration it was something I could live with because it was hardy anything (compairing it to what it was like). Picked up the driveline, took it home and put it the jeep, did not over tighten the bolts and said a prayer, crossed my fingers and toes and went for a ride..................................:aagh::aagh: :aagh::aagh::aagh:
VIBRATION IS RIGHT BACK SAME OLD THING.

I either have a bad set of front gears or the the shaft in the transfercase for the front driveshaft is bad:disappointed::bigcry::bigcry::bigcry:

[1eagle]

Found on Tera-flex site what the upper arms front and rear are susposed to be set at with a 3 inch lift: ID to ID Front 15 1/8 Rear 13 1/4 this should give the correct driveshaft and pinion angles. So I set upper arms to these measurements and they right on the money!
Still a vibration :aagh:
I took the front driveline out and and went for a ride. TOO MY GREAT SUPRISE THERE WAS ONLY A VERY SIGHT HARMONIC SOUND MMMMM.......MMMMMMM AT 45MPH. AT 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85MPH HARDY ANY THING AT ALL!!!!!!!!

I called Phoenix Rack and Axel because they had told me that when the front driveline was out the vibratiing was the same.......WELL I told them that I could hardy feel a vivration with the front driveline out. They said....thats great we will make you a brand new front drive line...... I said cool.... be down friday to pick up.

Took the jeep there on the freeway........ if there was a vibration it was something I could live with because it was hardy anything (compairing it to what it was like). Picked up the driveline, took it home and put it the jeep, did not over tighten the bolts and said a prayer, crossed my fingers and toes and went for a ride..................................:aagh::aagh: :aagh::aagh::aagh:
VIBRATION IS RIGHT BACK SAME OLD THING.

I either have a bad set of front gears or the the shaft in the transfercase for the front driveshaft is bad:disappointed::bigcry::bigcry::bigcry:

You are close enough to Todd at Desert Fab. Run over there and have them check out your pinion brg and front output shaft brg. Good luck. The strange thing is that unless you are in four wheel drive everything just spins with no torque on it. The drive line is just a coupler, until power is needed then the shaft and all other parts transfers the torque. I think? Todd will do you good.

It might not hurt to have the front shaft re checked at another shop. Good luck.

[wayne16]

I had a similiar problem with my 03 Jeep Rubicon with a 4" lift, it vibrated starting about 45-50mph. Desert Rat figured out my rear drive shaft was too long (and didn't have a very good CV) after the lift install by another dealer. They had it shortened and balanced both my front and rear driveshafts. Problem solved!

[FourxDad]

If you have not resolved this yet, I will put my money on a front unit wheel bearing. My xj did the same. Easy 30 minute fix.

[ltklein]

Fixed exactly the same issue on my 05 Rubi Unlimited just this past Sunday. Short version: I disconnected the shaft at the transfer case, rotate it 180 degrees and reinstalled. Went from the 45mph little shudder with vibrations from 62mph on up....to zero driveline vibration up to 75mph...

It's butter smooth right now...

I have a 4.5" RE LA lift BTW and had the vibration since I did it in December. Played with pinion angles 4 times (what a pain).

[richlebaron05LJ]

help me understand the unit bearing and how to adjust it. I still have the vib. I will try the 180 degrees on the drive line only at the transfercase I will leave the diff end alone