SpruceMoose
03-10-2003, 11:25 PM
hi all! just thought i'd share a problem i have had for about a year:
driving home one night the wag started vibrating. sort of a buzzing. stopped and checked the tires, all ok there.
checked the drive shafts, seemed ok. checked the rear wheel bearings, they both had some play in and out, and since they are tapered, that ment vertical play also. so.... i changed the rear bearings. what a pain! anyway, that didnt fix the problem. i couldnt find any other problems, so i went ahead and changed the tires. they had only about 1 month of tread left on them anyway, so i saved some money and bought a set of costco brand a/t types in 31x10.5. still didnt fix the "buzzing". i checked the front bearings and tightened them to spec. they had a little play. but... no change. of course, all this took some time. since the wag was still drivable, i was still racking up the miles. then i started having another vibration on top of the original one! a lower pitch. i took the tires back and had them balanced. but no change. i checked the driveshafts again, and guess what?!?! the rear shaft had a slightly loose u-joint! whadduyaknow! so i replaced both joints. the buzzing stopped! but i was left with the other vibration.
to make a very long story short: i replaced the motor mounts (shot), tranny mount (marginal), shocks (they were fine), steering damper (it was empty), tie rod, drag link, tierod ends(all probably fine), removed the front driveshaft and hub locking pieces so the front axle was out of the picture. no change?!?!?
3 days ago i realised that the wheels on my truck (82 chevy) would fit the waggy. so i swapped 'em. smooth as glass?!?!? then i put the rear wheels back on the wag. bumpy again. swapped one front wheel onto the back. still bumpy. swapped the other wheel to the other side rear. still bumpy?!?!?
put all the jeep wheels back on and went to costco. told them to take back these ^%#^*&^(*%^*# tires and give me a set of BFGs.
rides smooth as glass!!!! cost me 80 bucks difference, and they gave me full credit for the old tires, after a year.
so i guess the only thing i changed out that i didnt really need was the shocks. oh well, at least it rides smooth now!!!
sm!
driving home one night the wag started vibrating. sort of a buzzing. stopped and checked the tires, all ok there.
checked the drive shafts, seemed ok. checked the rear wheel bearings, they both had some play in and out, and since they are tapered, that ment vertical play also. so.... i changed the rear bearings. what a pain! anyway, that didnt fix the problem. i couldnt find any other problems, so i went ahead and changed the tires. they had only about 1 month of tread left on them anyway, so i saved some money and bought a set of costco brand a/t types in 31x10.5. still didnt fix the "buzzing". i checked the front bearings and tightened them to spec. they had a little play. but... no change. of course, all this took some time. since the wag was still drivable, i was still racking up the miles. then i started having another vibration on top of the original one! a lower pitch. i took the tires back and had them balanced. but no change. i checked the driveshafts again, and guess what?!?! the rear shaft had a slightly loose u-joint! whadduyaknow! so i replaced both joints. the buzzing stopped! but i was left with the other vibration.
to make a very long story short: i replaced the motor mounts (shot), tranny mount (marginal), shocks (they were fine), steering damper (it was empty), tie rod, drag link, tierod ends(all probably fine), removed the front driveshaft and hub locking pieces so the front axle was out of the picture. no change?!?!?
3 days ago i realised that the wheels on my truck (82 chevy) would fit the waggy. so i swapped 'em. smooth as glass?!?!? then i put the rear wheels back on the wag. bumpy again. swapped one front wheel onto the back. still bumpy. swapped the other wheel to the other side rear. still bumpy?!?!?
put all the jeep wheels back on and went to costco. told them to take back these ^%#^*&^(*%^*# tires and give me a set of BFGs.
rides smooth as glass!!!! cost me 80 bucks difference, and they gave me full credit for the old tires, after a year.
so i guess the only thing i changed out that i didnt really need was the shocks. oh well, at least it rides smooth now!!!
sm!