2002 awd astro vibration

[osb316]

Bought a 2002 awd astro. 60,000 miles. Had a vibration at 63 mph . 3 dealers and 4 mechanics later it is still there. Replaced all 4 tires, front and rear drive shafts, new u joints, rear end bearings, and a new transfer case.Trans checked out fine also.Still get a minor vibration under a load at 63 mph and above.
Anybody have any suggestions?
Ed

[turnitup]

Maybe you should move this question to a more visible place? I normally dont look under the steering topic myself, but in reading your question, I am having the exact same problem as you.

Just purchased a 2000 AWD with 95,000 miles on it. I notice a shake from about 60 to 70 mph. It feels like a wheel or tire shake to me. My mechanic recommended having the rear drive shaft balanced and if that didnt do it, replace the cheap china made tires that are on it. The tires are nearly new, but they are the cheapest things you could ever find, so I wouldn't mind replacing them anyway. My only fear is that that might not take care of it. I would think if it were drive shaft related, the shake would be more of a fine vibration. This feels like more of a shake each time the tire rotates.

The way it sounds you have replaced quite a few parts and still haven't resolved the problem. Keep us updated on what you try next or end up finding is wrong.

Thanks and good luck finding the vibration. I will let you know what I find.

Russ

[Hank]

Have you guys checked your front wheel bearing/hubs? I've got the same vibration and all other parts have checked out. I found the bad wheel bearing assy, you really had to give it a good shake to get it to move.

[lowrentride]

osb316, did you ever resolve your issue? I too have a 63mph minor vib...

[sandstorm]

My 2000 AWD Safari has had the same thing almost since new. I tried replacing tires alignment, wheel balance everything. I thought I found it when I found my idler arms were worn. But that didn't fix it. I thought it might be a transfer case issue but it doesn't seem to be.

This seems to be a fairly common but mysterious problem.
Hank may be right about the wheel bearing, but I've always figured that it's got to be a balance problem somewhere. It's been doing it for 8 years or so, wouldn't a bad bearing have failed catastrophically by now?

[nehopsa]

I am really curious whether this issue has had any solution/resolution?
I have 2001 AWD and the same thing became an issue recently. It appeared right after I changed shocks (I would have sworn that it was not there before the shock change).

The vibration is at its worst at around 70 mpg and tapers out both end. When I do 80 mpg the car rides smoothly. When I am below 55 mpg the same.

Today I took a risk and changed those shocks back to manufacturers original specs shocks but this was my own bad decision and a complete waste of money. To add insult to injury, the original specs shocks from the dealer are overpriced by the factor of three or four.

It looks to me I better junk the car rather than deal with an issue that has no solution. I am not going to change part after part, as I have just successfully started, to find out what is wrong. The cost of finding out could easily run to a multiple of the cost I paid for the car two years ago. In particular I do not trust dealers.

[nehopsa]

Has there been resolution to the vibration problem at 65-70 mph problem in Astros ? I have 2001 AWD with 112 k on it. Since I changed the shocks some four months ago vibration appeared but changing back to OEM dealer specs today solved nothing. I may be light on trigger by considering junking the car but what I am fearing is a story like this one I am pasting here (which I could not find resolved):

START OF QUOTATION:
"It has a vibration between 65 and 70 mph. The vibration has gotten worse over the last 6 months so I suspect that something is wearing out in the drive train. I had my mechanic check it and he balanced wheels and said that one tire took a lot of weight to balance but it did balance. Then I had him replace U-joints when that did not work. Then had him replace shocks. When that did not work mechanic said maybe rear wheel not fitting tightly to brake drum so replaced the drum. When that did not fix it I took van to Chevy Dealer. They said the tires were lousy and replaced tires. When that did not fix it they said the drive shaft must have been bent when mechanic changed U-joints so they replaced it. When that did not work they changed front brake rotors. (One rotor had bad spot on it so it needed changing.) The vibration persisted. Dealer took off my Yakima roof rack and put OEM shocks on the front and that did not fix it. Last time we test drove it we did so with chief tech and GM rep. Yup, vibration still there. The dealer says they have checked bearings, have put different wheels on the front, put vibration monitors on it and they still cannot figure out what the problem is. They really are trying to figure it out but still the vibration persists.
They have had the van on the lift several times and cannot see the vibration when the van is running on the lift at speed.

The dealer says that they also have a second Astro van with similar problem." END OF QUOTATION

This other guy did everything imaginable. Among other he also changed the shocks (so that it was not that stupid after all). I definitely do not want to end up spinning around this issue. Has anybody found anything that could be done to avoid a horror of the above? To me the surest way out is ...junk the car if there is something like this to deal with.

Of course, before the shocks I did balance the tires (and of course, nothing happened). CV joints that [http://www.ehow.com/about_5612890_chevy-astro-van-problems.html ] mentions as a known issue that can cause exactly the vibrations I report were replaced in March (before the problem started) with new ones. Could I have gotten through Advance Auto Parts really junky CV joints that would go after only two months to start the reported vibration issue??? U-joints are new too..(Moogs).The bearings have been also recently switched for Timkens. ...

Any thoughts anybody? Appreciated.

[Hank]

Hi all, like I said a while back a bad bearing in an AWD hub was my culprit.

However by the time I replaced it the damage to the tires was already done. I use the stuff from www.innovativebalancing.com and it really is not snake oil. In my case with the stock size BFG's they recommended an initial balance with weights and 4oz of material. AFTER replacing the hub I still had some vibration so I added 2oz more to each tire and increased the tire pressure a little bit, not exceeding the max pressure for the tire. As most of my tread damage was on the outside, the added pressure put more center tread on the ground. Over time the vibration faded away and I'm all good now.

[astroturf]

Hank,

Could you tell me more about the Dyna Beads?

What size tires are you running?
OEM Rims or aftermarket?
6 oz in each tire?
How long have you used it?
etc etc etc...

Thanks, Jim

[Hank]

Hello Jim,

I have run the dynabeads (www.innovativebalancing.com) for 8+ years now in the following vehicles.

91 Ford Explorer 33" tires, rock crawler rims. 8oz a tire, no weights.
Two early 90's Suzuki Sidekicks with 235 75/15 from HiTech Retreads now www.treadwright.com
4x8 utility trailer
25" bunkhouse dual axle travel trailer
2006 Dodge Caravan factory wheels/tires
2003 Astro AWD, BFG A/T, stock size on stock rims.

Honestly zero problems with any of the vehicles. Huge improvement when towing the travel trailer. No more vibration coming up the hitch. However there are 2 things you need to watch out for.

Spend the extra couple of bucks and get their valve cores. Stops you getting shot by the beads if you air down.
Getting a flat can be an issue. You really are not supposed to plug a tire as the plug is sticky and will hold the beads thus causing an out of balance condition. This happened multiple times on the explorer with 33's with off-roading and I just dumped 2 extra oz in the tire and never had an issue. The Astro got a flat once and I was very careful how far I pushed the plug in. Did not have any issue with the astro.

Installing them down the valve stem is a pain in the butt. If you use an the bottle with a tube approach and a hand sander to vibrate the valve stem it takes about 5 min a tire to get them all in. The easiest install was the 33's on the explorer. Just throw an 8oz bag in before the seat the top bead. Once you get up the speed the tires get out of balance, the bag flies all around inside the tire, bursts and then everything is smooth. Took about 500yds.

[astroturf]

Thanks Hank

Jim

[nehopsa]

Hi

Some time ago I posted extensive account of my vibration troubles here. I looked so daunting I decided to do nothing about it - just kill the car when it was its time to go.
My only attempt was doing the shocks (it apparently started after they were replaced) and balancing the tires (the first thing). This did not help a bit.

After almost a year of driving with clenched teeth ...voila, problem solved.

The guy who did my inspection forced me to change the tires. Since I got all new Michelin tires....NO VIBRATION.

It could be that simple.

(The funny thing is that balancing the tires WAS NO GOOD at all)

[Leeann_93]

If the tires were defective or had damaged cords, no amount of balancing would fix that. Whomever balanced those tires for you shouldn't have a job...he should've told you to get new tires.

Glad you got it fixed

[Hank]

With new tires it is time for the dynabeads..

I got 70k out of my BFG AT's and never had them rebalanced.

I just switched to some Falken touring tires and moved the beads over to the new tires after the initial balance.

[cowboydan]

Has there been resolution to the vibration problem at 65-70 mph problem in Astros ? I have 2001 AWD with 112 k on it. Since I changed the shocks some four months ago vibration appeared but changing back to OEM dealer specs today solved nothing. I may be light on trigger by considering junking the car but what I am fearing is a story like this one I am pasting here (which I could not find resolved):

START OF QUOTATION:
"It has a vibration between 65 and 70 mph. The vibration has gotten worse over the last 6 months so I suspect that something is wearing out in the drive train. I had my mechanic check it and he balanced wheels and said that one tire took a lot of weight to balance but it did balance. Then I had him replace U-joints when that did not work. Then had him replace shocks. When that did not work mechanic said maybe rear wheel not fitting tightly to brake drum so replaced the drum. When that did not fix it I took van to Chevy Dealer. They said the tires were lousy and replaced tires. When that did not fix it they said the drive shaft must have been bent when mechanic changed U-joints so they replaced it. When that did not work they changed front brake rotors. (One rotor had bad spot on it so it needed changing.) The vibration persisted. Dealer took off my Yakima roof rack and put OEM shocks on the front and that did not fix it. Last time we test drove it we did so with chief tech and GM rep. Yup, vibration still there. The dealer says they have checked bearings, have put different wheels on the front, put vibration monitors on it and they still cannot figure out what the problem is. They really are trying to figure it out but still the vibration persists.
They have had the van on the lift several times and cannot see the vibration when the van is running on the lift at speed.

The dealer says that they also have a second Astro van with similar problem." END OF QUOTATION

This other guy did everything imaginable. Among other he also changed the shocks (so that it was not that stupid after all). I definitely do not want to end up spinning around this issue. Has anybody found anything that could be done to avoid a horror of the above? To me the surest way out is ...junk the car if there is something like this to deal with.

Of course, before the shocks I did balance the tires (and of course, nothing happened). CV joints that [http://www.ehow.com/about_5612890_chevy-astro-van-problems.html ] mentions as a known issue that can cause exactly the vibrations I report were replaced in March (before the problem started) with new ones. Could I have gotten through Advance Auto Parts really junky CV joints that would go after only two months to start the reported vibration issue??? U-joints are new too..(Moogs).The bearings have been also recently switched for Timkens. ...

Any thoughts anybody? Appreciated.

after a quick read, reading about several attempts, changing various parts and countless tires and t-cases and shocks. who would have though that the inner cv axle joint to be the culprit? it does not steer and because of that, it's usually missed. i had simular issues under load. i change the drivers side cv axle and it went away for a year. then it came back. so i replaced the other one. the cv axle inner joints on both sides were toast. van is smooth as a hot knife through butter now... untill the driveshaft joints go lol. but they are easy too. you can't how ever replace the cv shaft without taking the whole front end apart...you can, but you will damage the seal on the diff housing.

[mechwarrior75]

i havent been around for awhile have parked my 2001 safari awd cause the vibration was killing me . i bought me truck a few yrs back replaced fuel pump ,front rad support ,put a 2 " ovl kit on , new kyb shocks ,reversed the upper balljoints ,235/75/15 general grabbers at2,changed rad waterpump and intake gaskets ,all the bearings in the rear diff etc.....i bought it drove it home didnt notice any vibration ,worked on it during summer then when i tried it wow terrible havent used it much ....long story short above 45mph would start vibrating in rear and get worse so much you would have to lower a windo the whole rear of the truck would vibrate. Brought it in yesterday rechecked tires in back ok did a rotation and looked at the drums .They were mising the inner outer ridge were pretty rusty too Put them on the wheel balancer they were totally crooked but found it funny no vibration when stopping . Took a chance changed the 2 drums hell 50 bucks can not bad and its a whole different truck . Ive had 3 of these before never an awd though , i really enjoyed these trucks .Now it goes well even at 65mph just a little body rumble in back but i am really picky . So sometimes guys its the smallest thing that would make a change and remember if it vibrates in drive and even in neutral while driving its most likely wheels tires or my case drums .Dont start into your diffs and driveshafts.And if it vibrates in the back dont look in the front or vice versa