Hello to all. I'm new to the forum, but not to the board.

My question is around my wife's 2001 Explorer sport 2wd with 97K...all original with the exception of routine maintenance which has been done religiously.

The vehicle has begun to show a vibration in the the front end under medium to hard braking at 45MPH or greater. Under gentle braking, the symptom doesn't show itself.

I would describe the vibrations as this. Imagine the steering wheel moving up & down about 1/8" in very very fast rapid succession. The whole front end experiences this as does the dash...to the point that loose coins will rattle in the tray. It's not a movement that can be seen but rather felt through the wheel in the hands. There is also zero side to side movement in the wheel or wheel shimmy.


There doesn't seem to be any pulsing of the brakes, so I don't believe it is rotors. The brakes have about 40K on them and the car has been driven 80% highway or more.

I'm not sure whether to look towards struts, shocks, ball joints, and if it is any of those, I have no idea what a fair market price is for repairing any those items. I know the truck will need new belts & hoses soon.

can anyone take a guess? All thoughts welcomed & appreicated

Thanks in Advance

 

I would check the front brakes first, could be out of round or warped rotors. If it is that replace the rotors and pads at the same time. If not that it could be the front end components are getting worn. Tie rods ends? Bushings getting soft?

 

I'm 99% sure it's not rotors or brakes as I've driven vehicles with bad rotors and this is a much different feeling in the wheel. I suppose anything is possible though.

 

you need to pickup one front wheel a couple inches off the ground. set a jack under one A-frame and lower truck down so the weight is on the jack and A frame and not the truck frame. the wheel will be danging free. put a 2 x 4 under the tire side and lift it up and down look at the bottom ball joint and see if it has any slop.... next grab the side of that tire and jerk it left and right by hand while a buddy watches the other tire, and the tie rods and see if anything moves. normally wear in these parts will give you a side to side shimmy when braking..... my F150 was doing what you described 3 weeks ago. Put on new brakes- still did it. Checked the rotors and one front was .005 inch wave and giving a pulse each rotation --- very bad at full braking. Bought new rotor, problem solved.