Big Tonka might be a thing of the past soon--going down?? Need lots of help/info/advice

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michael b

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No April Fools joke either:(

No matter what I've done I cannot get rid of the vibration in the rear--Changed rear end (complete), axle shafts are fine, new shocks, new brakes, good drums, pinion angle is fine, driveshaft balanced, new U-Joints, centramatic balancers, tires checked, tires re-balanced,removed shackles,new rear wheel bearings-----Vibration is still there.

Looking back I may have always had a small vibration & it may have just amplified by 10 times since going to larger, more aggresive tires.

I am really considering undoing all the work I've done & return to stock(ish) height. I hate to because I love all the attention & comments. Even after almost 6 years I still get comments on it 2 or 3 times a week:(

IF i DO THIS I will probably go close to stock, 18" rims & fat tires that are tall enough to fill up those big wheelwells.

I would remove & have for sale:

The 3 inch body lift

The 3" lift spindles

The smaller front Discs for the spindles

Rear springs that have been re-arched & full length AAL added for 3"+

New Superlift shocks for lifted ST

WAAG full size brush guard & smittybilt rear taillight guards

Pair of 2" wheel spacers

set of used 4.10 gears (good shape)

4 15x10 pacer aluminum wheels

At least 2 (maybe all 4 if they check out okay) Toyo OC MT 37x14.5-15s Less then 6k on them & paid 1200 for the set of four.

Probably more items that I cant think of.



I would need: New or used

Stock spindles

stock rotors

shocks for stock height

stock or lower rear springs

18" rims & taller/wider then stock tires

Probably other items that I cant think of.



Any thoughts? Any parts? How would those 5.13s work out with the XCal and lets say 31 or 32" tires? Whats the largest tire that will fit a stock ST with some trimming or spacers?

I'm not sure I will do this but It may be an option I should look at.

Thanks

 
Tonka,

Sorry to hear about your problems and the difficulty finding the problem. Unfortunately, throwing money and new parts at something like a vibration rarely cures the problem.



Anything that could cause a vibration needs to be checked, and measured for out of tolerance or out of balance conditions. If the part is not out of balance or out of tolerance, there is no point in replacing it because you have already found that it is not causeing the vibration.



The first think is to get the tires and wheels checked to be sure they are in balance, not out of round, or defective. Did you or someone check you tires with a dial indicator to insure they are not out of round or there are not tread defects??



Also, examine the wheel balancing weights. If you have and excess amount of weights on any wheel, that tire should be marked remvoed, and rotated 180 degrees and rebalanced. Also get your tires rebalanced and checked at a different location. Sometimes you the same place makes the same mistakes when balancing, or they machine may be out of calibration.



Tires, driveshafts, axles, bearings etc can all be measured or tested to verify they are within tolerances. Just replacing parts does not mean you are fixing the problem, as you have found out. Even new parts may be out of tolerance and you won't know unless they are measured or tested. If the part did not fix the problem, then you wasted your money and time. Testing, measuring and evlauating changes is the most important, and most overlooked step in diagnosing any kind of mechanical problems.



I once spent about $500 to replace a head on one of my vehicles because cracked heads were a common problem, and I assumed mine was cracked. I ordered the head and all the necessary gaskets and continued to limp around town with the car since I did not have another vehicle to drive. When all the parts arrived I removed the head and made a carefull inspection and did not see any cracks. So just for curiosity I had the head tested for cracks and sure enough, there were no cracks. The problem was $20 head gasket. If I had the time to do all the necessary testing, I could have confirmed that it was only a head gasket and saved myself about $500.



In some cases it is cheaper to just replace some parts rather than spend a lot of money on testing and diagnosing, but that is rare.



...Rich











 
As far as any parts you may need I can get a list together for you. They would be used so that would help with your over-all cost.



If you would like me to do so just let me know.



Confirm your year, 2/4 wheel drive????



Best of luck to you no matter what direction you go..
 
Are you sure it isn't the actual tires causing the vibration? I am not saying the tires are defective, but are the tires the wrong tread pattern for your aplication.



For example, my snow tires. I hate the way they ride. The shake, rattle, and are noisy. I hate the way they ride. I do like the traction I get from them on snow and ice. At 55 MPH it shakes like crazy. The tires are balanced, the tires are round, the driveshaft is balanced, etc.



When I install the summer tires, the ride is smooth and comfortable.





I can only guess the problem is the design of the tires and not the vehicle itself since the summer tires are fine.



Some food for thought.





Tom
 
Sorry a little late with a post.



Try a set of HUB RINGS. No one make them for my rims, but they may for yours or you can have them made as I did. $180 total.



I had a HUGE vibration problem and tried everything to fix it....finally had a custom billet set of HUB RINGS made for my wheels and that fixed everything. Don't ask why, because I have 2 sets of different rims and both gave me a vibration...but there was no vibration when either of these wheels were on my '02 ST...just when mounted to my '03. VERY STRANGE...but this is the only thing that worked.
 
I found this:



What are "hub rings" and "hub-centric" wheels?



"THE VITAL ROLE OF THE HUBRING DURING INSTALLATION



by Gary Whisler; Eastern Regional Sales Manager



Hub rings serve no purpose after installation, their entire job is to hold your Alba Performance wheel perfectly centered while the lug nuts are being installed.



The hub rings sole responsibility is to take up the space between the center bore of the wheel and the hub of the car. For example: the center bore of all 4x100mm and 5x100mm wheels is 64mm. However, the hub diameter of the Honda is 56.1mm. Therefore to take up the space between 64mm and 56.1mm a hub ring is used.



All wheels are classified as being either "Hub Centric", or "Lug Centric." The term Centric refers to the way a wheel is centered. In other words a hub centric wheel centers on the hub of the car, if you put the wheel on the car without lug nuts the wheel would be perfectly centered. On a lug centric wheel, the wheels are centered by the lugs as they are tightened down. Manufacturers build wheels lug centric to allow the wheel to fit a wider selection of vehicles.



I cannot stress enough how essential it is for you to be certain that the installer of your Alba Performance Wheel has used the correct hubring. Statistics show that the most common cause of a car vibration is a wheel that is off center slightly. For example, with lug centric wheels vibrations commonly occur when an installer tightens the lug nuts incorrectly, such as when they tighten one side before the other the wheel can be "pulled" to one side. This common problem could be prevented if the correct hubring was used during installation."
Click to expand...



I hope you can find a solution to the vibration problem because your ST looks AWESOME!
 
You might want to have your tires trued and ballenced on the vehichle. Not many shops can do this but it offers the very best in balanceing. I recently bought tires my second set sence I have owned my trac. Both times I had to have this done to get rid of vibration from rear. The only down side is that sometimes when you rotate you may have to go back for a rebalance. The local shop here charges about $120-$160 to do all 4 tires more often than not the larger the tires the more likely they are to be out of round.
 
Mookie...good description and article.



Tonka, exactly as described above....go to Discount Tire and they should be able to recommend a shop that can custom make these for you. I had a custom wheel shop in Tempe AZ make them for me. Most aftermarket ones from a shop like Discount are plastic...make sure you get a billet piece. I don't have my camera with me as I'm working down in Tucson for the week...sorry. The only drawback to using these is you can't use a center cap over your lugs...I spray painted the center of the hub silver to match the wheels and hub rings. I can get pics for you on Friday...



Most shops balance the wheel and tires off the vehicle and not ON the vehicle...I had my road force balanced a few times and they swore they were balanced, but yet my vibration persisted.

Try this...get someone to loan you (or if you still have them) the stock wheels and tires and put those bakc on. Those wheels are hub centric and will tell you whether the vibration is from your truck (if it still have the vibration) or from your wheels and tires.
 

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