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Diagnose the vibration!

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  funesmemorious 
#1 ·
I've been playing this fun game for the past year:

1) a mechanic tells me what he thinks is causing the 45 mph+ vibration in my '06 3.7L WK (130K miles on body, 85K miles on engine)
2) I repair/replace the part
3) nothing changes
4) I perform further investigation and decide it's actually something else causing the vibration
5) I repair/replace that part
6) nothing changes
7) I decide I need to take it back to a mechanic for a professional opinion
8) return to step 1 and loop endlessly

So now I'm asking you guys for help.

Here are the details: The vibration begins at around 45 mph. I feel it clearly in the throttle and the driver's seat. At 45, if I let off the throttle and coast, the vibration stops. If I accelerate to 55, the vibration diminishes. At 65, it's back in full force and now when I let off the throttle and coast, it doesn't go away. At 75 and above, the frequency of the vibration has increased such that it doesn't feel so much like a vibration anymore; more like a strong hum/roar.

Here's what I've tried so far: I replaced the rear drive shaft with one from a low mileage WK. Didn't help. I replaced all four wheel bearings with new, quality bearings. Didn't help. I pulled the front drive shaft, planning to take it to a machine shop, but then I saw that the boot on the shaft's CV joint was torn and figured that might be the issue, so I replaced the CV joint with new and reinstalled the drive shaft. Didn't help.

Here are other issues that may or may not be related: Something in my suspension has failed. Minor imperfections in the road are causing loud bumps. I've read that this could be a bump stop issue. Also, the vibration in question began about 50 miles after a mechanic replaced my starter. Also, a tire tech told me, about 2 years ago (pre-vibration), that there was a slight and probably insignificant flat spot on one of my wheels.

What do you all think? I'm planning on going back to a mechanic next, but I wanted to pose this issue here first and see if anyone had ideas. Seeing as how the frequency of the vibration correlates to speed, I thought this would be a wheel-related or a drive shaft-related issue, but from browsing this forum, I've seen some suggest replacing lower control arms in response to vibration issues. Does that make sense as a next step for me? Should I try something else?
 
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