Chasing terrible vibration

[Klutch9]

For the last year or so, my van has had a really bad vibration that occurs at roughly 70mph +. It's not always there though, and sometimes is gone for many highway miles, but then rages back with a vengeance to the point that the whole vehicle shakes, not just the steering wheel (but the wheel shakes badly also). When it started, I had a pretty worn set of tires, but still balanced. Recently I had 4 new Nokian enTyre 2.0s put on, and balanced of course. Problem didn't get any better or worse. I then had a front control arm ball joint fail, so I replaced 2 front control arms, also replaced the sway bar links in front for good measure, and got an alignment. This fixed a clunk I had but the intermittent vibration is still there. Rotating wheels makes no difference. What could this be? Recently it seems that one of the strut bearings makes an intermittent noise when turning, but could this cause a vibration? The front struts are original, FWIW. Any ideas would be very much appreciated. The place I take the van to for alignment work is pretty keen on finding bad parts and will generally refuse alignment if bad parts are found, and they didn't find any last time.

 

[The Critic]

Aftermarket CV axles, tires and engine mounts. In that order.

 

[Chris142]

Make and model?

 

[Danno]

Signature says "'08 Sedona LX LWB 3.8L - 129k miles"

 

[MParr]

Have the drive axles (cv shafts) checked.

 

[vssjim]

Inner joints on FWD cars and light truck will make a terrible wobble when they are failing

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by vssjim
Inner joints on FWD cars and light truck will make a terrible wobble when they are failing


I had a similar problem on an 86 olds ciera. Vibrated like crazy, different and different speeds. Ball joints, and everything, ended up being an inner tie rod.

 

[StevieC]

Take it to a place that can do "on the road" balancing, that would be a good start.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted by The Critic
Aftermarket CV axles, tires and engine mounts. In that order.


This. Also the boot does not have to be ripped for the joint to fail, inner joint is the usual culprit if its CV vibration.

 

[Klutch9]

I've had a bad inner CV joint in the past, but the vibration only occurred under engine load. When coasting the vibration went away, but this is constant regardless of throttle position. The engine mounts may be in need of some R+R however, as the engine does seem to move a bit.

 

[Darwin1138]

How does it feel.

If it vibrates up/down like you are going trough a washing board then it is a CV joint.
If it vibrates side to side like when you have a warped disc then it could be any of the tie rods or the control arm bushings.

A wobbly head on the dash could be of help.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by Danno
Signature says "'08 Sedona LX LWB 3.8L - 129k miles"

I can't see SIG's on my phone for some reason.

 

[Danno]

Originally Posted by Chris142
Originally Posted by Danno
Signature says "'08 Sedona LX LWB 3.8L - 129k miles"

I can't see SIG's on my phone for some reason.

Couple of thoughts.
Do you have them turned on in Preferences?
Just checked and sigs work on my Samsung S8+

 

[Glens]

You sir, more than likely have "Bad Engine Mounts". With the hood open, have a friend rev the engine and you'll notice engine movement or hold brake, put car in gear and slightly rev engine while holding brake, you'll see engine movement.