Vibration at 25mph, need advice!

[Kate Andreozzi]

I have a 2005 4x4 Sporttrac with 80,000 miles. At 25-30mph the truck vibrates a lot and as I increase speed the vibration goes away, but tires sound loud. Sounds like I have knobby mud tires on concrete. I had the tires rotated and air topped off, but with no improvement. The tires were purchased about 3 years ago, standard Firestones.

Do the tires need balancing? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

 

[Richard L]

Most vibrations at speeds below 70 MPH are caused by wheel/tires out of balance. Also, be aware that some tires have defects in the underlying belts caused by hitting potholes or curbs or just manufacturing defects and that can cause a lot of vibration.



I would first have the tires re-balanced and carefully inspected for defects. Be suspicious of any tire that has a lot of balancing weights attacted or has weights in multiple locations. That usually means that the tire may have defects, and the tech had problems balancing it. He may be able to get it to balance, but often it does not stop the vibration. If the tire is not perfectly round, it can be balanced but will still cause vibrations at certain speeds.



...Rich

 

[scott degroot]

Judging by the noise that you say the tires are making I'm betting that they are "chopped" (tread devolops a saw tooth pattern) Once this wear occurs there is nothing that you can do except replace the tire. This wear often occurs from worn out or weak suspension components and also lack of tire rotation.

 

[Vic Sorlie]

I think it's new tire time. Would these have 35-40K miles on them? Good advice from Richard and l1tech; next time you buy tires get the free lifetime balancing option offered by many installers (I buy at Discount Tires), then keep up with ~8K rotation/balance intervals. I've never owned a 4x4, but have been told that they're harder on fronts just because of all that extra suspension mass.