Shuddering front end...

[Triathlete]

...not to be confused with Dubs "loose rear end"!

When excelerating I now get a pulsating shudder at about 35-40mph that seems to be the front pass. side. Almost feels like maybe something binding. There is no noise and it goes away if I let off the skinny pedal. If I accelerate hard it doesn't do it some times.
Any suggestions of what to check before I tear into it?

[Ascinder]

I would check the usual wear items. Tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. Pretty much anything that links your steering to your wheels. The bottom line is that any forces you're feeling are going to be transmitted through those components. Another one to look at would be to see if maybe you've thrown a wheel weight. I'd also check to make sure everything from your differential brackets on out is bolted up nice and snug. How's the play in your steering wheel too, maybe your steering gearbox is wearing out.

[Triathlete]

No play in steering, not a wheel weight/balance issue (does it with both sets of tires), I have tugged on all movement parts (tie rods, cv's, etc.) and feel no play. The TOD is acting normal (80/20 split). If I accelerate hard it does not do it, if I let off the gas it stops...only does it when I accelerate normally. The front end shudders, pulling to the right (pass side) and you can feel it in the steering wheel.

Would ball joints or wheel bearings be a possibility? With the front end on jacks I don't have any up/down or sise to side play in the tire. No unusual noises, grinding, or clunking.

[circmand]

check your drive train. It may need greased and tightened.

[Luna X]

quick thought...

have you recently had to get on the brakes really hard? Excessive heat could get a rotor out of true and just be felt at certain speeds almost like a wheel out of balance.

[Big G]

How old are the tires? Sometimes the steel belts will delaminate and shift which will cause a shudder or wobble especially at low speeds. If you jack up the truck so you can spin the wheel. Look at the spinning wheel directly at the tread and sometimes you will see the wobble in the tire. Just a thought.

[Triathlete]

I have 2 sets of tires...does the exact same thing with both.

[etlsport]

it could be a bearing, but you should feel that while doing a shakedown of the front end. you would also probably hear something

any play in the front propeller shaft?

also check the brakes. if you have a stuck caliper, a warped rotor would give you that vibration/pulling under moderate speed, but once the brakes are applied or you are going fast enough, become less noticable

[Jay Dunford]

Could also be the CV starting to let go and binding. Grampa Bob had similar symptoms in Moab one year.

[crotchrocket]

I had a similar problem with a 300zx TT, when the gearbox was on its way out it shuddered under normal exceleration when on overdrive. I believe theres a fair amount of overdrive on the VX box (does that even make sense? )


OH if its speed related, not RPM related then could be prop ?

[nfpgasmask]

I would check the drive shaft. I had a shuddering issue with the Trooper and it was a trashed center bearing.

Also, have you put it in 4LO and see what happens?

Bart

[Marlin]

Hmmm, my explorer did something like that once, and it was intermittent. Turned out to be a cracked ABS sensor wheel. Sometimes the sensor would go crazy and lock up that brake for a split second, and then go away, I thought for sure it was a bearing. No warning lights, nothing.

[circmand]

If the other more likely ones dont pan out there is a slight possibility you have a cracked motor mount that is jumping under stress at a certain shift poit. The lack of it when accelerating may be just going through the stress point very quickly

[Triathlete]

I am leaning towards CV's. I think I might try pulling the TOD fuse and see if that changes anything.

[Triathlete]

Anyone know the location of the TOD fuse. I did a quick search, saw it refered to a lot, but knowone said were it is located.