Vibration/shake in steering wheel and cabin

[garhof]

So, I just purchased a 2012 Ford Edge Limited w 65000 to replace my F150 that had about 180000. I started driving a longer distance for work last year, so I needed to change vehicles for several reasons.

 

While test driving, I didnt notice the shake very much because I didnt get much over 65mph. Most of my driving is on the interstate at 80mph to work. At 60, now that I'm aware of it i can notice quite a bit of shake in the wheel and vibration, Its about the right frequency to make me slightly queasy.

 

I also noticed that say 1 out of 20 times, the breaks were really had to press. I called the dealer and asked them to look at the brake booster and to see if the wheels were out of balance, or of there was something else going bad. My old truck shouldnt be a better driver than this car.

 

I get it back, they replaced the brake booster under warranty, and balanced the wheels. great. I get back out on the interstate on the way home, and nothing about the vibration has changed. I'm going to call them on monday to see what they actually looked at, but the last time I took it in, it took them a week and 2 days to get it back to me. they've had this car longer than I have since in purchased.

 

I'd like to see if anyone else has any suggestions, If its a simple fix, I can check myself, but If its going to be a bearing, or tie rod, I'd like them to look at it, they toted the car as perfect when I bought it and they said they'd work with me, but I dont think they did anything last time besides what I suggested, and it took forever to get it back. God help me if they have to diagnose the problem.

 

Thanks! I did some searching, but nothing quite fit into what i'm experiencing. I'm looking forward to putting some good miles on this car, so I want to get the annoyances out and make it a great driver for the next few years.

[macbwt]

Glad to see you on the Forum. 1) does it shake when brakes applied? 2) what condition are the tires? 3) The tires were balanced? 4) are they chrome clad wheels?

 

I would say from my experience is the tires are out of balance and if it was due to not being aligned and out of balance you need new tires. You can not correct the wear already imposed on the tires. Chrome clad wheels have pockets under the plastic caps that are over an inch deep and wide that hold dirt along with dirt under the spokes. Really a balancing night mare. Also brand of tires? Cheap tires make for a terrible ride as well as tires with 4/32nds of tread. They just do not ride well once they start wearing out.

[lildisco]

If you're AWD i had my driveshaft on my cx7 become out of balance that caused a lot of vibration at different speeds. Not saying it's your problem, but could be a possibility.

[enigma-2]

Sounds like tire balance. One reason they may not have found the problem is most balancers only balance up to 50-60 mph.

 

Never had anyone try to balance at 80, I imagine that you would have to ask for it specifically. (And then the balance could be off at lower speeds like 40-50. Always a compromise.)

 

Also, tires tend to go out-of-round and still balance ok, from making a hard, panic stops. (Even a singe panic stop at high speed can burn off tread in one spot enough to cause it to run uneven.) This would be more prevalent with old tires, those that have less tread depth to burn off.

 

It may be you just need new tires; how much tread is left?

Edited October 3, 2016 by enigma-2

[garhof]

Thanks for the quick replies. The rims are the 20 chrome clads. They've got new rubber on them, along with new brakes and rotors. At least the tires look new, and thats what the dealer said. I dont notice the shake when braking, or I'd think about some new rotors or have the current ones machined. I just have the FWD.

 

If its a balance issue, I can work with that, maybe take it to another place. They said they balanced them again, would dirt in the rims show up during that? How does one clean them out? I just dont want to have a bearing going bad or something like that.

 

Thanks!

Edited October 3, 2016 by garhof

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

What tires did you have put on?

[garhof]

Goodyear Eagle RS-A

[enigma-2]

New tires can be bad.

 

Had a set put on the tire store were unable to balance over four times. Finally switched to a different brand (higher cost) and they ran smooth as glass. They thought the tread was not running true????

[garhof]

I was worried about that too, Should I just try and swap the front and back tires on each side and see if the problem goes away?

 

New tires can be bad.

Had a set put on the tire store were unable to balance over four times. Finally switched to a different brand (higher cost) and they ran smooth as glass. They thought the tread was not running true????

[enigma-2]

If you are feeling it in the steering wheel, and rotated tires (front to rear) the vibration *should* switch to the back. Only takes about a 1/2 oz of unbalance to feel vibration.

 

I would also ask the dealer if they balanced at 100 mph or 60 mph. There's a lot of testers that can't actually check above 60, and/or shops that only go up to 60 when balancing.

[garhof]

Eh, finally had a chance to call them in between work. From what the service desk lady said, the tech felt the vibration, balanced wheels and it went away when he test drove it (not sure at what speed), so he never checked anything else like a bearing or tie rod . He was thinking maybe a weight fell off after that. Not sure if its gonna be cheaper to just take it to a local shop or take the 3-4 hours out of my day for them to look at it. Guess it really depends on if it was a weight that fell off, or if he was just being lazy and called it good.

 

If you are feeling it in the steering wheel, and rotated tires (front to rear) the vibration *should* switch to the back. Only takes about a 1/2 oz of unbalance to feel vibration.

I would also ask the dealer if they balanced at 100 mph or 60 mph. There's a lot of testers that can't actually check above 60, and/or shops that only go up to 60 when balancing.

[omar302]

Did you check this video? Might be worth trying to clean the clad wheels.

 

http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/20032-video-on-why-fords-chrome-clad-wheels-are-costing-you-money-and-damaging-your-tires/

[garhof]

Well, I had the wheels rotated and that didnt help at all. I'm gonna setup an appointment to have them look at it again.

[enigma-2]

It is sounding like their may be a more serious problem. Hope they are able to find it.

[garhof]

Okay, So on the way to work, I took the hiway instead of the interstate. for 3/4 of the trip I've got the vibration. There are 4 small towns on my way from city to city, I have to slow down to about 45 to 65. On the last one, I speed back up, and I dont have any of the vibration. They had put new pads and rotors on, could there have been a break in period?

[garhof]

Well, I took it back to the dealer, they balanced the tires again, sounds like the place i had them rotated, also re balanced and didn't tell me because they said the previous weights were torn off. Long story short, Vibration is still there, so I'm planning on writing them off as a viable source for fixing things. Guess the two techs that drive it cant tell. I've drove about 1200 miles this week in 3 other cars, so I know its not just me, and those other cars are either turds (equinox that is driven like people stole them) or have about 190k on them.

[Mgavin1985]

Tie rods need to be replaced, then u need an alignment. I can check your ball joints to

[VisionPilot]

I have heard of these vehicles that have lane keeping assist, and if the system or sensors aren't set right, it will vibrate the wheel, as if you are constantly riding over the paint lines.

[eddyecpowell]

Well after three visits to the dealership and a brand new set of tires, I finally went to a different dealership. They found a faulty lane keeping assist module. May be a fuse that is difficult to get to. Taking back next week to fix. Will update if that soles the issue.