vibration from duratracs or ome springs?

[94svt50]

I Finished installing OME hd springs in front and medium duty in back along with kyb struts and then had a local chain install new 245/75/16 duratracs mounted balanced and front end aligned last week. Upon leaving I immediately had a vibration from around 45 to 55mph in the steering wheel. Took it back and they assured me tires where fine and that these aggressive treads just rode rougher and I just needed to deal with it . I went home and rotated the tires front to back and upon driving it the vibration felt like it had moved to the back of the car. Now convinced of the incompetence of the balancer I took it to another store with a road force machine and had them balanced again. This resulted in no real improvement, after a week of driving it like this and becoming more concerned I might have a bad tire I took it back. They rechecked the balance and said that everything is balancing out fine and within the range of normal and there seemed to be no defect in the tire. So, my question for advice is am I just being over sensitive and just need to accept these tires as rougher? or is something else at fault? Could it be the increase u-joint angles on 200k mile ujoints from the lift? The new springs really jacked it up from the severely sagged originals. Just depressing for the pathfinder to look so awesome yet drive worse then before. Thanks for your time.
Jon.

 

[rgallant]

I had that once myself I was sure it was the tires, but I have a very good tire store they doubled checked the balance all round no charge. Turned out I had an incorrectly torqued wheel bearing light tire no problem heavy truck tire big problem.

 

Could be the same issue for you.

[kdj]

I could see it might be CV/axle joints if they were worn out. The hight change with new coils could send them wobbling. Warn hubs would take care of that or of course new axles.

[94svt50]

Some good ideas with 200k miles bound to be some wear on joints. I did have the hub apart putting on new rotors, just kind of guessed on the bearing torque, Did not have a socket that size or a torque wrench that went that low, I think its only like 20inch lbs. Need to get the right tools and double check it. Any one know what kind of socket would fit that bearing nut?

Edited December 4, 2014 by 94svt50

[adamzan]

I say it is the tires, only because I have duratracs and they do the same thing. Keep bugging them till they replace them.

[Kingman]

I just put a set of Duratracs on, smooth sailing to 90.

[ferrariowner123]

Interesting to hear that Kingman, what wheels do you have?

 

I have 31 inch duratracs and have a wobble too, it was really bad under braking. Changed one side of the wheel bearings, breaking wobble is pretty much gone. I'm going to do the other side and see if it improves, but I still get a wobble at 55-65 MPH, I don't know what it is yet.

 

-Kyle

[94svt50]

Crawled under the pathfinder today to check the u-joints and sure enough one joint on front shaft is really bad and one joint on the rear shaft is just developing some slop. So I guess its time to replace all 4. Any particular brand u-joint recommended? Im thinking it should be a pretty easy job cant be as bad as the double cardan joint with centering ball on the front shaft of the discovery. Im hoping this will solve vibration.

[kdj]

I should have thought of that.

[fleurys]

Crawled under the pathfinder today to check the u-joints and sure enough one joint on front shaft is really bad and one joint on the rear shaft is just developing some slop. So I guess its time to replace all 4. Any particular brand u-joint recommended? Im thinking it should be a pretty easy job cant be as bad as the double cardan joint with centering ball on the front shaft of the discovery. Im hoping this will solve vibration.

 

 

here'a post i made concerning ujoint and brands.

 

http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/25609-spicer-u-joints-vs-oem-nissan/

[01Pathmaker]

That'll surely give you a vibration. I always use spicer u-joints when available, and always make sure they have grease fittings. I like to be able to lubricate moving parts whenever possible, gives me something to do while the oil is draining.

[CDN_S4]

I have duratracs as well, and while I don't really feel a vibration I can hear something uneven as the wheels spin. The faster I drive the faster the sound pattern. The odd thing is that while the steering wheel vibrates a bit, it doesn't seem to be connected to that sound as the vibration is constant but the sound seems to be caused at one spot of the tire. I inspected them and can't see anything unusual, the balancing was done when they were brand new. Nothing rubs against anything as far as I can tell. I did notice a worn out bushing last night, I believe the control arm? The narrow rod leading up to the wheel in the front. Possible culprit? Or are the duratracs just a rough tire?

[CDN_S4]

^^ oddly enough after adding spacers the sound stopped. Wheel still shakes a bit tho.

[94svt50]

Thanks for the reply. I changed the u-joints and one was certainly bad


grease was long gone from that joint. Upon test driving it the vibe seemed to have improved some but, it was still there. Going back to tire shop and have one of the techs test drive, they said they will swap on another set of duratracs if they can determine which ones are causing the vibration.

Edited December 14, 2014 by 94svt50

[CDN_S4]

I noticed that my bushings are busted. A likely culprit I would think?! Anybody know the part numbers for these?<br />

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<img src='http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/20/170633f91e09e3cc8d165e009ac60c8d.jpg' alt='Posted Image' class='bbc_img' /><br />

<br />

Are these the right bushings to replace the ones pictured?<br />

<br />

<a class='bbc_url' href='http://m.ebay.com/itm/SUPERPRO-NISSAN-PATHFINDER-R50-4WD-95-02-FRONT-SUSPENSION-BUSH-BUSHING-KIT-/141155257951'>http://m.ebay.com/itm/SUPERPRO-NISSAN-PATHFINDER-R50-4WD-95-02-FRONT-SUSPENSION-BUSH-BUSHING-KIT-/141155257951</a>

Edited December 20, 2014 by CDN_S4

[adamzan]

Those are just the tie rod and ball joint dust boots.

[CDN_S4]

Oh so does that mean the joints inside are still good? Do I just need new boots? New tie rod ends?

 

Btw not sure why the post got so screwed up, wasn't able to edit it to a pic and link.

[adamzan]

If there is no play, yea they're fine. I wouldn't bother replacing them. Just wait till the joints wear out. Since youd have to take them off anyway.

[CDN_S4]

Was thinking about the vibration thing some more since I've replaced a bunch of steering and suspension parts and the vibration is still there. Would the CVs not being aligned perfectly cause this vibration by constantly oscillating?

[ryan88pathy]

I'm wondering if it isn't something easy like a warped brake rotor but I also think the cv's aren't helping. Mine has a bad shake when stopping and just a little at highway speeds. Going to replace front bushings to see if it helps, then rotors, and if it doesn't stop I'll buy some manual hubs. I think Just about everyone has some kind of issue like this.

[CDN_S4]

Yeah it's definitely common. Mine isn't the rotors. And it's definitely associated with the lift. I'm hoping/thinking the SFD will help. I'm also putting on new control arms soon. Seeing if that helps.