Quick 4x4 front vibration ?

[SupermanWV]

Over the weekend, here in WV, we got about 2 inches of snow (NOT A LOT REALLY), but it came on rather quickly and stuck to the roads (Backroads between Morgantown and Fairmont). Since the roads were mostly covered...(and where they were not covered I disengaged 4hi)... I drove home about 15 miles in 4hi, never over 55-60 mph.

What I noticed...and the reason for my question....is:

When driving in 4hi, and the speed getting up to or around 45-55mph, I noticed that a vibration was causing my dashboard/glove box to vibrate to the point I could hear it over the radio. However, I did not feel any vibration in the steering wheel or elsewhere for that matter.

Why/What would make this happen?

Just asking, so I know what to possibly tell the dealership to look for when fixing the problem. I'm starting to take my 2007 in for everything, as I've only had it for about 3 months and its been in the shop 9 times or more for many different/and sometimes the same things.

So any info would be greatly appreciated. I want to get all the problems fixed so I can drive my Jeep in peace....

Thanks

Clark (SupermanWV)

 

[tjkj2002]

Being you drove in part time at speeds up to 60mph(which you can,but why?) it sounds pretty normal to me.Just remember the front diff is spinning slightly faster then the rear diff,at those speeds in part time your going to have some vibrations.

2" of snow with no ice underneath(with decent tires) is hardly "slippery" enough for part time,in my opinion.If you could do 60mph it wasn't the right time for part time.

 

[SupermanWV]

I may have gotten to those speeds, I'm just guesstimating. The only time I may have gotten to those speeds was in the straight-a-ways. But most of the time, I was at 35-40 or less, especially in the turns.

P.S....can you also explain this to me:

Before I had my Liberty, I had a Toyota Tacoma 4x4, and when it was raining hard and water was standing in the roads, or when snowing but not completely covering the roads, I would put my Tacoma in 4hi, and drive....with no worries, but mostly on interstate, and sometimes even where I had to make somewhat sharper turns....and never did I have any problems with the 4x4 acting up or breaking. Why is it that Jeep says not to run the Liberty in 4hi in those situations. I would think the 4x4's would be somewhat the same. As my Tacoma was not a FULL TIME 4x4. Just wondering. Because I liked the ability to do that, as it seemed a little safer, and kept me from Hydroplaining in heavy rain or getting rear end sliding while in snow.

 

[tjkj2002]

I may have gotten to those speeds, I'm just guesstimating. The only time I may have gotten to those speeds was in the straight-a-ways. But most of the time, I was at 35-40 or less, especially in the turns.

P.S....can you also explain this to me:

Before I had my Liberty, I had a Toyota Tacoma 4x4, and when it was raining hard and water was standing in the roads, or when snowing but not completely covering the roads, I would put my Tacoma in 4hi, and drive....with no worries, but mostly on interstate, and sometimes even where I had to make somewhat sharper turns....and never did I have any problems with the 4x4 acting up or breaking. Why is it that Jeep says not to run the Liberty in 4hi in those situations. I would think the 4x4's would be somewhat the same. As my Tacoma was not a FULL TIME 4x4. Just wondering. Because I liked the ability to do that, as it seemed a little safer, and kept me from Hydroplaining in heavy rain or getting rear end sliding while in snow.

The older Tacomas had a gear driven t-case,unlike the chain drive in the KJ t-case.The gear driven case is much,much stronger and won't have the the problems of the chain style cases(vibration from the chain).In the chain driven t-cases when in part time at those speeds the chain will vibrate if on a surface not "slippery" enough for the diffs to "slip" enough to not cause driveling bind,in the gear driven t-case you won't have this,less play in the t-case and it just makes the wheels slip,slippery or not.

 

[SupermanWV]

Thanks for the info...but like I said...I didn't feel any vibration...I could just hear it when my dashboard started to vibrate. So I wouldn't imagine it was coming from the transfer case, or I would have been able to feel it in the steering wheel or the body of the Jeep shaking. So what else could it possibly be?

Clark

 

[tjkj2002]

Thanks for the info...but like I said...I didn't feel any vibration...I could just hear it when my dashboard started to vibrate. So I wouldn't imagine it was coming from the transfer case, or I would have been able to feel it in the steering wheel or the body of the Jeep shaking. So what else could it possibly be?

Clark

Cold plastic on a bumby road?

 

[SupermanWV]

Cold plastic on a bumby road?

I hope that is what it is. But it seems I noticed the same noise while driving on the snow covered interstate too, about a month ago. And the interstate was (what felt like) totally smooth.

So who knows....

I guess I was just hopeing to not hear that it was balljoints or something of that nature. So I guess everything is ok, till something breaks. I'm sure I could tell if it was balljoints by the sound or vibrations I could feel, rather than hear. RIGHT?

Clark