Steering Vibration

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Paravitium

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Hey guys,

I just turned over 60K relatively problem-free miles on my 2017 Gen 2. Recently I’ve developed a slight vibration and oscillation in my steering wheel; my wheel feels like an ****-b toothbrush at times. I’ve been in and out of 3 different dealers with various remedies attempted. Ive had a new steering rack, new front wheel bearings, and a tie rod replaced for slight play. I’ve had everything inspected numerous times over the last 5 months by and everything pans out, including all suspension components, driveline, differentials and alignment. I’ve even swapped tires to new 35x12.50 ridge grapplers that road force balanced exceptionally well with single digit readings.. I’ve even swapped wheelsi to factory from my method wheels and I can’t seem to figure this one out. Can someone help me or point me in the right direction? I’m desperately trying to figure this out...
 

CoronaRaptor

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Has anybody checked the iwe's? Are they partially engaging? Put it in awd and see if it drives smooth.
 
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Paravitium

Paravitium

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Has anybody checked the iwe's? Are they partially engaging? Put it in awd and see if it drives smooth.


I just took the truck out and drove it in awd, I have nice smooth roads where I live. It seems the issue got better at times, and it came and went as I drove... I also looked at the power distribution and it seems power was going to the front wheels sometimes when just driving straight, is that normal? Dry asphalt road, no snow, good grip. Never had a reason to pay attention to that. Might be into something here... thoughts?
 

CoronaRaptor

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I just took the truck out and drove it in awd, I have nice smooth roads where I live. It seems the issue got better at times, and it came and went as I drove... I also looked at the power distribution and it seems power was going to the front wheels sometimes when just driving straight, is that normal? Dry asphalt road, no snow, good grip. Never had a reason to pay attention to that. Might be into something here... thoughts?
There is a well known fact that the 10 dollar check valve can fail which engages the iwe's partially. Drive it in 2h in a straight line and then switch to 4h or awd and see if it smooths out. If that's the case, you have a vacuum leak or one of the check valves is failing most likely.
 
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Paravitium

Paravitium

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There is a well known fact that the 10 dollar check valve can fail which engages the iwe's partially. Drive it in 2h in a straight line and then switch to 4h or awd and see if it smooths out. If that's the case, you have a vacuum leak or one of the check valves is failing most likely.

Ill do some more investigating and report back tomorrow. So if you’re correct, this issue would cause my steering wheel to vibrate and slightly shake? Similar to an unbalanced tire? Thank you for helping so far!
 

GCATX

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I am sure you disabled the lane keeping assist vibes?

My first 2 sets of tires would cause the steering wheel to shake a little for the first mile or two. My latest set of tires cause no shakes or vibes. 1st set was from the factory.

2nd set was some Continentals, factory size but E rated. Had 1 replaced due to out of round, then throu in the towel and sold the set on CL. I'm trying to remember, maybe they shook the wheel the whole time. I had to air them down to mid 20 psi to even get a decent ride. They were horrible.

3rd set were some new takoffs from a '19 w/ the beadlock rims. I had to install new pressure sensors, but did not have them re-balanced. Smoothest set of tires I've owned.
 
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Paravitium

Paravitium

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I am sure you disabled the lane keeping assist vibes?

My first 2 sets of tires would cause the steering wheel to shake a little for the first mile or two. My latest set of tires cause no shakes or vibes. 1st set was from the factory.

2nd set was some Continentals, factory size but E rated. Had 1 replaced due to out of round, then throu in the towel and sold the set on CL. I'm trying to remember, maybe they shook the wheel the whole time. I had to air them down to mid 20 psi to even get a decent ride. They were horrible.

3rd set were some new takoffs from a '19 w/ the beadlock rims. I had to install new pressure sensors, but did not have them re-balanced. Smoothest set of tires I've owned.


Hi, yeah, I keep lane assist off constantly. I noticed this issue about 15K miles into a set of 35x12.50 Toyo R/T’s. I had numerous shops check those tires and they road force balanced horribly... I replaced them with these Nitto Ridge Grapplers that are brand new, they road force balanced fantastic.. so I’m at a loss with tires.. my method wheels were bought new last year and I’m they’ve seen all highway. So I don’t suspect a wheel issue either.
 
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Paravitium

Paravitium

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my u joint was loose. have you checked both u joints?

you know, I haven’t personally as I have just trusted three different dealer’s inspection reports... but my confidence in their service departments has finished to near zero.. kind of sad that the consumer can’t rely on dealer service to fully inspect and and diagnose an issue such as this. I’ll have to try to do this myself. Can you specify what I should be looking for? Ie, vertical or lateral play, general looseness? I’m not the most mechanically inclined when it comes to components like that.
 

tltoronto

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If youre running methods, I guarrantee thats causing the imbalance. You need to get some hub centric spacers for the wheels, also, I find that torquing the wheels at 100 lb/ft, then 150 does the trick, not just going to spec torque.
 
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