vibration associated with worn tierods?

[richmeyer]

Has anyone experienced a drivetrain vibration occurring due to worn tierods? I'm having a hell of a time tracking down a vibration that I'm getting intermittently at 55-70 mph. Seems to come and go depending on road surface, engine load, and road speed. Also seems to abate when I'm on a sustained gradual turn on the freeway. I've pulled both drive shafts, had the wheels and tires changed and balanced multiple times. Pretty much at a loss at this point. The vibes come up through the seats and I can see the shifter vibrating back and forth. Its not causing the steering wheel to shimmy.

Anything else I should check?

 

[nevada]

Has anyone experienced a drivetrain vibration occurring due to worn tierods? I'm having a hell of a time tracking down a vibration that I'm getting intermittently at 55-70 mph. Seems to come and go depending on road surface, engine load, and road speed. Also seems to abate when I'm on a sustained gradual turn on the freeway. I've pulled both drive shafts, had the wheels and tires changed and balanced multiple times. Pretty much at a loss at this point. The vibes come up through the seats and I can see the shifter vibrating back and forth. Its not causing the steering wheel to shimmy.

Anything else I should check?

short answer is no.

if you are feeling it in the seat, and not the steering wheel, its very likely coming from the rear anyway.

it could still be a tire balance issue. or perhaps a bent axle. its hard to tell. but no, loose TRE's wont cause a vibration.

 

[HiLife]

If the tie rods were really loose it becomes a safety issue. You would be feeling a slight shimmy in the steering wheel if the tie rods were too loose. Could it be motor or trany mounts?

 

[Asaspades93]

Check your rear u joint. I know you pulled both but maybe it got overlooked. I had the same problem a few months back, felt the the truck was gonna shake itself apart

 

[1985taylor1925]

How many miles on the truck?

As mentioned above, sounds like it could very well be u joints. There are 3 of them in the back as Im sure you know. I have a similar vibration, and I know that my u joints have some play in them. So Im guessing that's the source of my vibes. I can literally see the play in my u joints just moving them by hand.

Other possibilities
-Bent rear propeller, or out of balance
-Rear main bearing
-Rear wheel bearings (doubtful)

Or still a rear tire out of balance. Like you, I had my wheels balanced multiple times as I was trying to work the vibrations out of the truck. Turns out the first few techs who balanced my tires were idiots. Some time later I had it balanced a 3rd time and suddenly the majority of the high speed vibrations were gone. Look for a shop with the Road Force balancing machine. There is also an adaptor made specifically for ours and similar wheels called a Haweka adapter used to mount the wheels/tires to the balancing machine. Its a pain trying to tack down a shop that actually has one, but might be worth it

 

[RunnerLimited]

Had the same problem and I tried the cheapest fix possible and that was rebalancing my tires. Paid60$ and then no vibrations in the back

 

[richmeyer]

I've had two different driveshafts on the truck, two different sets of wheels and tires and I still get the vibes even when the rear shaft is out. Truck has 225k on it. Any way to check the bearings?

 

[Norwester]

Had the same problem and I tried the cheapest fix possible and that was rebalancing my tires. Paid60$ and then no vibrations in the back

Same here, vibration at 58-70 mph thru the floor/seats, nothing through the steering wheel or shifter. Had Les Schwab do a lug-centric wheel balance last weekend and it's gone. Previous owner had told me where they bought the tires and I knew that that place doesn't have the equipt to do lug centric balancing.

 

[470SNC]

easiest way to check for tie rod wear is to jack up the front end, and grab the wheel and see if there is any left to right play, if there is, you have worn out tie rod ends