Shimmy/Vibration at Highway Speeds??

[Gday4AGday]

Anyone else feel a vibration/shimmy at highway speeds over 70 very noticeable at 80 plus??? Feels like a bad alignment/shake/imbalanced wheel? Driving me nuts. Had it in for service 2x on this at 2 different dealers. Been experiencing this since day 1 on brand new Hybrid XLT but the ‘shimmy’ used to be at 50-60mph…after first service appt they put 2 new tires on they said could not be balanced. Then the 50-60mph shimmy went away but started happening at 70+. Second service appt did a “road force” balance which seemed to help a little but the vibration approaching 80mph is still very noticeable. Is this just how the Maverick rides at high speeds or is something still wrong? The highway ride now is comparable to my 20 yr old 225k Ranger…doesn’t seem right. Suggestions, help, much appreciated!

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[lochyto91]

Check the CV axles. If they present any axial or abnormal movement, request that your truck be disassembled and inspected.

Im from Mexico sorry about my english. My Maverick apparently is a lemon with a lot of issues. One, the CV axles

 

[CurtisB]

Dealer avoiding that its a CV Axle issue. Seems to be popping up on some of the hybrids. I have no vibration at all.

 

[Gday4AGday]

Check the CV axles. If they present any axial or abnormal movement, request that your truck be disassembled and inspected.

Im from Mexico sorry about my english. My Maverick apparently is a lemon with a lot of issues. One, the CV axles

Thanks for your reply Leon. Any tips on how to check the axles for abnormal movement?
Tu inglés es genial, no hay problema.

 

[Gday4AGday]

Dealer avoiding that its a CV Axle issue. Seems to be popping up on some of the hybrids. I have no vibration at all.

Thanks for the insight. Glad yours is good!

 

[lochyto91]

I detected that abnormal play in the Cv axle of pilot side, and they were denying that the vibration and clicking problem was due to that. They said it was a design sound.

I had to help the dealer obtain evidence so that Ford authorized a review and they found the fault after 1000 km of starting the problem was found. The problem started at 3000km.

They changed the axle but now can hear the clicking noise in the transmission area. Ford wanted to give me the truck with problems saying that it is practically repaired. I’m waiting for a solution from Ford and the hearing at PROFECO.

I suspect that all these problems are being caused by defects in the engine and transmition mounts because the vibrations of the engine pass to the cabin but they continues denying all and don’t give me a solution. If this is not the problem, something else could be a platform problem..

I've been having this problem since November.

 

[Gday4AGday]

Sorry to hear about the issues you are having and thanks for your detailed response.
I have been hoping whatever is causing the vibration would be a simple fix, from the sounds of your issues, I guess at this point I am now hoping it’s just the axle?!
I have had other issues as well, the typical I’ve seen…radio not working on and off, connectivity issues with ford pass app, chasing dash rattles, and most recently a check engine light for potential EGR valve malfunction, but this high speed vibration is a safety concern.
Really wearing on my patience. As mentioned in first post old truck was better but I got rid of it for not wanting to deal with mechanical issues and now have this brand new truck in shop way more often.
Have service appointment Tuesday. Will update.

 

[gp1200x]

There can be lateral movement in the cv joint since it just snaps into the tranny end... Had play on my Escapes and it is simply the design using ring pin.. sort of like the play in rear solid axles on older Mustangs. I take it you swapped front to rear tires to see if u notice any differences rather than just swapping between the fronts. Ford does have a tool to isolate vibrations but I doubt every dealer has the electronic tool.. Seen it used on Mustang forums to pinpoint where the source of origin was. I doubt your vehicle is anywhere near that degree of troubleshooting yet. Ive had tire issues that road force balancing did Not pick up on so its not 100 percent perfect!

 

[lochyto91]

Many cases exposed in this forum about vibrations, wobble, clicking or poping noises are related to the CV axles.

Some owners are on the second or third change of cv axles at very low mileage

 

[Gday4AGday]

There can be lateral movement in the cv joint since it just snaps into the tranny end... Had play on my Escapes and it is simply the design using ring pin.. sort of like the play in rear solid axles on older Mustangs. I take it you swapped front to rear tires to see if u notice any differences rather than just swapping between the fronts. Ford does have a tool to isolate vibrations but I doubt every dealer has the electronic tool.. Seen it used on Mustang forums to pinpoint where the source of origin was. I doubt your vehicle is anywhere near that degree of troubleshooting yet. Ive had tire issues that road force balancing did Not pick up on so its not 100 percent perfect!

Thanks for info on the cv design and potential lateral play. I was not aware of this. As for the tires I have not swapped or experimented with moving any aside from previous service appt in which two front ‘defective’ tires (that were apparently unable to be balanced) were replaced. So I could try swapping front to back and see what happens, curious though what this would accomplish though?…assuming that would be related to any slight balancing issue rather than a cv issue, correct? Or would this give me insight into a potential axle problem? My understanding of components mechanisms and impact on one other is limited, so apologize if these questions are novice to you.
The vibration device sensor would be nice if available! Seems as though each service appt is rather slowly progressing toward a solution so yea doubtful I will get this next but would be nice.
Also good to know the road force is not always perfect. It was explained to me as a gold standard basically but now I understand not 100. That may still give me hope it’s just a tire issue and my axles are good. Idk
All good stuff though and feel better prepared now going into next appointment, so many thanks to everyone!

 

[Gday4AGday]

Many cases exposed in this forum about vibrations, wobble, clicking or poping noises are related to the CV axles.

Some owners are on the second or third change of cv axles at very low mileage

I have about 8,000 miles now but have noticed from day one. If it does turn out to be the axle and it happened again that would be ridiculous, not to mention a third time!! Wow

 

[gp1200x]

Thanks for info on the cv design and potential lateral play. I was not aware of this. As for the tires I have not swapped or experimented with moving any aside from previous service appt in which two front ‘defective’ tires (that were apparently unable to be balanced) were replaced. So I could try swapping front to back and see what happens, curious though what this would accomplish though?…assuming that would be related to any slight balancing issue rather than a cv issue, correct?

If you have vibrations at high speeds you will notice it in the body and/or steering wheel. If you can feel it in the steering wheel or front end then swapping front to rear tires (assuming same size tires all around still on your truck) should eliminate steering wheel vibration if it is related to the front set of tires or rims. Your shop may have already done this even without your knowledge. If they are swapped and there is no felt change at all then your back to the front end drive issues probably. The FWDs seem to be more suspectible to the CV issues than the AWD.....maybe because of the less initial stress on them since AWD uses rears too on every takeoff. I only have 15K on my AWD and no drive issues or CV issues as of yet with no plans to ever lower or raise the vehicle to stress them. Your truck I assume is the stock factory height still with no noise or humming from the front end at high speed.

 

[Gday4AGday]

Excellent points, thanks! Makes sense with the swapping of tires to narrow diagnostics, and yes all stock still with same sizes and no plans to change either. Also glad you aren’t having any issues with the AWD, also makes sense with the distribution of stress to more components that wear will be less of an issue.
Correct no noise or humming ‘yet.’ I assume if this starts to happen it would point to further wear of the cv axles? Almost like a progression from wobble/vibration to humming then maybe clunking and failure?

 

[Mvrck]

Anyone else feel a vibration/shimmy at highway speeds over 70 very noticeable at 80 plus??? Feels like a bad alignment/shake/imbalanced wheel? Driving me nuts. Had it in for service 2x on this at 2 different dealers. Been experiencing this since day 1 on brand new Hybrid XLT but the ‘shimmy’ used to be at 50-60mph…after first service appt they put 2 new tires on they said could not be balanced. Then the 50-60mph shimmy went away but started happening at 70+. Second service appt did a “road force” balance which seemed to help a little but the vibration approaching 80mph is still very noticeable. Is this just how the Maverick rides at high speeds or is something still wrong? The highway ride now is comparable to my 20 yr old 225k Ranger…doesn’t seem right. Suggestions, help, much appreciated!

I actually had the same issue on my 22xl hybrid. I got new wheels and tires at 20k miles and the vibration went away. Safe to assume it was the crappy continental tires in my case.

 

[Gday4AGday]

I actually had the same issue on my 22xl hybrid. I got new wheels and tires at 20k miles and the vibration went away. Safe to assume it was the crappy continental tires in my case.

Interesting. Wheels & Tires? Were the wheels replaced because you were having these issues? Or did you just swap for something different for personal interest or something?

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