DublDee

Ok so when i picked up my Stang last week it had a vibration, which I assumed was the tires either out of balance, or just worn out....Sooo I replaced the tires today and had them do a wheel alignment and balance, and I still have the vibration.
The tires were BF Goodrich G Force T/A's (295/35zr18 rear & 275/35zr18 front). I'm sure it shouldn't be a problem with the tires since they are new as of 5 hours ago. When I stopped at my buddy's house, I tried to look underneath as best I could, and I noticed it has sub frame connectors, and I couldn't get under far enough to get a good look at the drive shaft, but it does appear to have a 1 piece shaft! I have heard a lot of people complain about 1 piece shafts with vibration issues, so my question is, how to determine if that's the problem, and can I resolve with a better drive shaft, or new stock drive shaft? Any help is appreciated.

1low03gt

I was going to say check the driveshaft LOL!
All mustangs had 1 piece driveshafts until the '05 year came around. Plus i have never heard about many issues with the 1 piece drive shaft, i read about more issues with the two piece design, but that also depends on the length it is two for the type of vehicle. Your current Mustang's driveshaft is not long by any means, that year of Mustang has a short wheel base compared to the '05 plus. Sometimes the u joints are usually the piece to go with age as they are non greaseable.
Best way to check them is to jack the stang up, and twist the driveshaft back, and fourth while looking at the u joints for play. You will know as the only play you will have is from the play in the trans, and the u joints will be nice, and tight/solid.

ChadStang

It could be a bad wheel. Even if they balance out sometimes they can still cause a vibration. I've also seen issues with wheels missing the plastic hub rings cause a vibration.

DublDee

Thanks alot man, I was starting to think about it too much, and worrying that I was going to have a vibration issue that I couldn't diagnose, but hopefully it's the u joints. Is that a common thing with these?

DublDee

Well I hope it's not the wheel, but thanks for the advice because I would have never thought of that, as I always believed they could notice a bad rim when they balanced them... Learn something new everyday!

DublDee

Oh crap, this is probably important too, but when I brake it seems like it goes away, or atleast it's not as noticeable???

Whitelion95GT

When I first got my Mustang she too had a bad vibration. It turned out to be the Harmonnic Balancer. Even my drivers side window use to vibrate!

1low03gt

It could be anything for sure. U joints are common with higher k's, or even if they sit to much. Just did the u joints on my GT last summer, and that's with a Ford Racing aluminum driveshaft with less then 25,000 k's. The grease on the bearing were really dry from sitting to much as i don't drive my GT much.

There could be a bad tire, or tires, not uncommon, the rims might have a slight warpage to them, you certainly don't have that plastic ring with those rims, so no worries there.

The harmonic balancer could be one thing, but you would notice it at idle.
You just need to narrow it down.

Apocalypse Pony

Welcome to used car ownership. Maybe the Boss wasn't such a bad idea after all ???

DublDee

Oh the Boss would have been a great idea, but I'm glad I passed on that for sure, because the new Ram was a better solution for my current situation. I would have had a hell of a time pulling a 28' camper trailer with the Boss, lol. I don't mind owing a used vehicle, like I said before there's no warranty to worry about voiding, and no payments on it either, so I can mod away as finances allow. Anyway, I will eventually figure out the issue, and have her back to the way she should be.