Road Speed Vibration

[ScottyNeutron]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

Barry,

Find a shop with one of these:

http://www.gsp9700.com/

I had the same annoying vibration. Convertibles are more likely to transmit imperfections in tire balance to the occupants than more rigid coupes and sedans. The dynamic road force balancer fixed the problem and she runs as smooth as silk now.

[Ray]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

Swapping the wheels and tires with someone is a good idea but I don't know anyone with a T bird here.

Since you're from Las Vegas, give Vegas Retrobird a shout. Maybe he can help you out.

[Tbyrdy]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

I too have been having road speed problems with our 2003. I took it to a tire shop and they spent time rebalancing the wheels, but it still has the same annoying vibration as others have described.

I have a newer set of Goodyear Eagles on the car; I personally think this is the problem. There are about 60,000 miles on the car; and it does have a low speed miss in the engine, FYI.

The car does not have the original wheels on it; there is a set of Fondmetal 9x's on the car. Maybe this is the problem as well or at least a combination of things.

I also have an annoying brake squeak when I stop. I have had the pads replaced twice and used ceramic the last time. Still squeeks!

I have to determine what to do with the vibration today; my wife wants to drive the car over to Tampa, about 125 miles away. I am thinking of chucking the almost new Goodyear tires (about 3 years old but low miles) and installing a set of Michelin's. What does the forum think?

[V8 Cat]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

Jim,

We need a little more information. When you put the after-market wheels on your Tbird initially did you also put the Goodyear tires on at the same time or did you remount the original Michelins? If you did this, did you have a vibration then? If you put the aftermarket wheels and Goodyear tires on at the same time, did you have the vibration from the get-go? I personally have had vibration problems over the years with different cars, but since I stopped using any after-market wheels and went exclusively to Michelin tires, I have had virtually no problems with wheel/tire vibration unless the tires were just about worn-out.

[tbird6t4]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

I'm not sure they still do this but years ago I had similar problem and took it to a tire dealer that could balance the wheels & tires while still mounted on the car. That way the brake rotors (drums then) were balanced together and solved the problem.

Gord

[Tbyrdy]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

The story on Tbyrdy (that's the Florida license plate we picked) is a good one. Before I married my wife, when we were dating, I talked her into buying a new Malibu to replace a convertible Sebring. Well, she hated that car and always let me know it! I went online one day in 2002 and showed her pictures of the Tbird and she loved it...just too expensive brand new for a work car.

Time passes and in 2005 I am looking for her a new Sebring. I went online and thought about searching for a Thunderbird. I found one at a dealer in Fort Worth and made a deal to buy it over the phone. We drove up from Houston that weekend and picked it up. Only about 27,000 miles - it was an executive lease car from Arizona. It already had the Fondmetal wheels on it and no boot cover! She absolutely loves this car!

She would drive it to work 100 miles round trip each day. The bridgstone tires wore out and I put Goodyear Eagles on it. Well, the back tires were gone in less than three months! I mean worn down bare! She doesn't drive the car aggressively, so I went to Goodyear and replaced the back tires. This was in 2006. I also bought her a new Hyundai as a 'throw away' to drive to work. The same Goodyear tires are still on Tbyrdy.

I don't remember the vibrations until after we moved to Florida. I just got off the phone with Sears and I'm heading there to buy 4 Michelin PILOT HX MXM4 Tire - P235/50R17 95V BSW. I'll also have the alignment checked and have them look at the suspension for obvious damage.

I'm leaving in the next few minutes; I'll let all of you know how it goes. Maybe I might see about changing the shocks (if that is what it has) while I'm there.

[justjon]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

I am with the buy new Michelins group .. check previous threads

[Tbyrdy]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

Update on the wheel / tire situation...
I went to Sears to replace the tires yesterday and the first thing the salesman said was "These tires are almost new. Why are you replacing them?" So I told him the vibration story; he looked more closely at the wheels and said he saw some cracks in the wheels! He suggested replacing the wheels, cause the tires aren't gonna do any good if the wheels are bad. He also suggested using Ford wheels instead of the aftermarket ones they carried. What a great salesman!

I found a company that sells replacement refurbished wheels for the 03. Ford dealer says Ford doesn't make new ones for this car anymore; he could only find one new one in Texas.

Maybe the vibrations people are having are due to a wheel problem?

In any event, I am looking at several sites to get 2003 original refurbished Ford Tbird wheels. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Jim Young]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

send a message to " worldclasswheels " he is logged in now and if you search "Neiman Marcus Wheels" you will find some of his entries.... he has provided wheels to many of us here and is a great (and reliable) member of our group. He can probably help you
Jim Young

[worldclasswheels]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

Hi Folks, Thank You Jim, If the car is Fine up to speeds of 75 and then you get the Vibration it is no longer a Tire and Wheel Problem it is a Front Suspension Problem, I had a similar problem with mine at higher speeds I replaced the Front end with the Lincoln LS front end parts and the Problem disappeared , I would start with the Struts and a Wheel alignment and see if that helps I have 150,000 miles on mine and no vibration at 80mph on cruse control, Good Luck and always Drive Safe at any speeds. Thanks, Rick

[theflash]

Re: Road Speed Vibration, FIXED

I have found the problem that caused the vibration at 72 to 75 MPH.

The Bird never pulled to one side while driving, it always felt ok. When I took the OEM tires off at 42,000 miles they had worn even across, like all tires had good alignment. But when I put the four new tires on, the vibration was exactly the same.

I ask the local Tire shop that is a rep for Falkens tires to do a four wheel alignment. After I told him my vibration problem he said NO it must be balance of the tires causing the problems.

So he balanced all four wheels and the problem was the same.
But now that I was driving the car more (it’s the wife’s car) I can feel the bad vibration from 72 to 75 MPH (the car vibrated at most speed but at 72-75 it was very bad) When at the 74 MPH if you turn to the left just a little the vibration is much less. When turning to the right at that speed it gets more vibration.

Back to the tire shop and I want the car to have a four wheel alignment.

They take the measurement and tell me the alignment is too far out they can not adjust it. It must have aftermarket lower A arm swing bolts installed that allow the arm to have more adjustment than the factory has.
I tell them, “I'll be back.”

I check this out with my experts and they are OK with the aftermarket adjusting bolts. I put the bolts in. It took about 3 hours on the floor of my garage.

Back to get the car aligned. All wheels are done to spec and I take the car for a ride to find a smooth asphalt road.
No vibration at any speed. Took it up to 85MPH and all was great. I would have let it run to red line but I did not have my radar detector in the car. I save that for my BMW that can run, and does, to 160. But is only has two wheels.

So even if the tires show no irregular wear the alignment may be bad.

[Tbyrdy]

Re: Road Speed Vibration, FIXED

I check this out with my experts and they are OK with the aftermarket adjusting bolts. I put the bolts in. It took about 3 hours on the floor of my garage.

So, did you replace the existing bolts? Which/where are they exactly?

[theflash]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

The bolts hold the lower control arm (A arm) to the chassis. They call them A arms because they look like the letter A.
One end has the ball joint the other end has a rubber bushing at each end.

The bolt that Ford uses uses has some small amount of adjustment that lets the bolt slide in the chassis frame sloted mounting holes.

Go to this site at http://www.clearlyauto.com/catalog/2...spension-Parts

then click on MOOG caster/camber Adjusting kit to see replacement parts.

[Tbyrdy]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

Thanks. I assume you use this kit because the stock kit didn't allow a fine adjustment?

[Allen P]

Re: Road Speed Vibration

My 03 has a slight vibration around 70 mph also , sorta like in the winter when the tires will flat spot after sitting a couple of days , but get this , it also has rear end noise , not differential , but kinda squeeking rubbing noise at very slow speeds ala parking lot , speed bump kinda thing . All this happens when the outside temp is above 93 degrees or so . When its cool as in the mornings , no noise , super smooth ride , regardless of time on the road . As the temp rises above 93 sounds and vibes start .