Bumpy ride revisited

[Hemi_RT_AWD]

I was driving home yesterday during a long trip and was messing around trying to figure out my ride vibration problem. I tried holding the brakes lightly with the gas to see if that made things worse, tried coasting vs. under throttle, etc. I am getting road vibrations that used to only start around 65 mph but yesterday I could feel them as low as 40 mph. With any luck that means whatever is causing the trouble is getting worse and might be possible to find now! Anyway, I thought I remembered that the AWD cars came with the load-leveling shocks and I began wondering if those went bad if they would cause a rough ride that could be felt in the seat? Am I right about the AWD having Nivomats stock?

[FOHN_JARGO]

Not sure about the shocks but it seems plausable.

Check your tire sidewalls for bulging. You could even have a stealbelt seperating.

[Hemi_RT_AWD]

I'm planning on adding some weight to one wheel at a time to see what that type of imbalance feels like to try to rule out the tires.

[Dr Teeth]

Nivomats were an option on AWDs, not standard. Not sure how you check to see if you have them or not, but a dealer should be able to tell you from your VIN.

[Robins_SXT]

The bottom end of Nivomats looks like a metal bar about 1" diameter whereas the regular shocks are about 2.5" diameter on the bottom.

[MikeEast]

I had a vibration that drove me nuts on a Taurus Wagon, that turned out to be the rear motor mount. Felt it most at my feet and some in the seat. The Ford dealers were perplexed, after all when you complain of a vibration, it can't be anything but tires, right?

Have your tires ever been dismounted? Are these the stockers? Had a 80 Buick Skylark that had a quart of water in each tire that was a real bitch to figure out too. That one was perfect up to about 40 or so and ONLY on smooth roads would you feel the shake start when going faster than that.

This is where an AWD dyno would be cool - run it at speed where you can watch it.

Mike

[Hemi Mag]

could be a couple of things, tires being teh obvious one. Tire rotating them to see if the vbration changes from the seat to teh steering wheel. A common problem that Neons had were bad control arm bushings, and they would present symptoms in a similiar fashion. It could also be a bad half shaft.

AC

[Electrofreak]

Also check and make sure you don't have any ice frozen in your rims!

I've parked in a deep puddle before that froze, then drove off with some nasty vibration! I had to take both tires on one side off and knock the ice out of them to get it runnin' smooth again.