Well...dragged mine over for a road force balance. 3 of the 4 came down to single digit final values. One not below 32. They checked run out on all 4 wheels and tires, did the match thing. The 32 is now on the driver side rear. Sad part is that the front shimmy (steering wheel back and forth) and overall van vibration is either the same or worse. The drive shaft was recently balanced by a reputable shop, along with fresh u joints. Several steering bits and pieces (center link, tie rods, ball joints) all in the last year or 2. SIGH.

Next step is to get a fresh tire for the spare, have it road forced, and assuming it gets better than 32, it goes to driver side rear, see what goes.

If that doesn't help I found a shop in the big city (Dallas) that does on car balance. May give them a spin (lousy pun intended) in the next week or so to let them see if the root cause of all this mess can be found.

 

Well, I made the trip to the big city for a trip to a shop that can do an on car balance. Monday AM first thing they get their go at it. After what, 4 or 5 years of vibrating, maybe, just MAYBE this will be it!?!?


But, on the good news side. Between fresh tires, fresh shocks (used Monroe 555010 coil overs in the back, sweet for towing ), an alignment, drive shaft balance, tie rods, center link, ball joints and the ambulance stabilizer kit it handles and drives as good as ever or maybe even better than it has in a LONG time! All that's left is that dang annoying vibration.

 

Im having the same problems; vibrations at 45 then smooth until 65-70 and look out the van shakes - scary shakes. Ive changed shocks, rims tires, centramatic wheel balancers and now a drive shaft. Nothing has helped with this vibration. Has anyone figured this out?

 

If you have a 2 piece driveshaft, check the center bearing. I had a bad vibration in my E350 motorhome and it turned out to be a worn and loose center bearing (sometimes called "steadybearing") . Replaced that and all is smooth now.

 

I have a one piece aluminum ds. No carrier bearing. Thinking seriously about having a steel driveshaft made for it. Thanks for the thought though.

 

This vibration has been driving me mad for 8 years now, through multiple tire sets, u joints bla bla bla. I could not solve it, a vibration from the core soul of the vehicle from 35-40 mph, then from 65-70 mph on the highway, and you can't out drive the harmonic vibration, pushed it all the way to 80mph and it just gets worse.

I just happen to do some exhaust work replacing rusted clamps and found this clamp with this shroud around it right in front of the muffler. (Can't ID shroud) part #, it was rusted off and just hanging by a thread of steel. So I replaced the clamp and re-installed the shroud with the new clamp a couple weeks ago.

My first time back on the highway since, and before I know it I am doing 70 with no vibration at all. I was just stunned that I had to find somewhere to post this. It was so shocking that I nearly brook down in tears, could that little shroud be a dampener to offset wind speed vibration???

Does anyone else have this shroud? right before muffler on passenger side.

Edit;, note, I did replace the rear drums weeks before as I was doing 3 hr speed trips to the shore, and this wound was rubbing salt in it again and gave a last effort to fix. The new drums did not fix the issue, but I did pick up the new exhaust clamps on the way to the shore for the last time. Did this exhaust work last not thinking anything of it, but today was the first time back at speed on the highway.

Just stunned, maybe a combustion, harmonic vibration developed from three near gone exhaust clamps (loose exhaust system)?, just gitty it is gone.

1998 E350
people mover, full windows, full interior.
tires stock michelin but at 245 not 225 E series @60 psi
About 7640 lbs
5.4 gas
176,888 miles

I am just beyond words to describe how this problem has dogged me for years.

Mother %%^&*^%$$%$^*, X a million customer souls, I finally found it!!!!!

Over a million E's are approaching this problem, and a big F U to Ford for the one world skinny van, big "E" has solved this problem. I dare you Ford to take the F- series to "one world design". I want a full size van on a 350 frame.

 

Wait a minute here Steve Hawkins----are you saying a muffler clamp or other exhaust system part was the cause of your vibration?

 

I just went and had a look at mine. I have the vibration but I dont have that clamp or whateveritis in front of my muffler.

 

Yep, crazy isn't it, I was under just doing routine inspection, found the above clamp just dangling on the pipe rusted to nothing. Then followed the entire system back and found the next twin hanger half rusted off. Added one of those rubber with holes to clamp hanger to the next hard point to resecure the system to it's factory hangers. Then went to the last hanger and replaced the clamp at the tail end and secured all clamps down tight.

Exhaust system very secure now, and NO More Vibration!!

Vibration started at about 120,000 miles with no service to exhaust, check your system from front to back and replace all the clamps & hangers where rusted.

The exhaust is stainless, but the hangers and clamps are just regular steel and rot.

 

It probably rotted and fell off, as I was just lucky to catch mine before it was gone too. look at the pipe for marks where the clamp & shroud would have been.

 

before you re-secured the muffler, how loose was it?

 

Improperly hung exhausts are a much overlooked source of vibration in a vehicle. If tires balancing and driveshaft repairs don't fix the vibration the exhaust is the next thing to check.

 

It did not seem that lose at all, guess a testament to how well built it is. But had one missing clamp above, then half the welded on clamp at the back of the muffler was rusted through. That one I had to fabricate a new bracket to grab hold of and take the weight off the weakened welded on stock.Then the tail clamp was really rusted and weak.

It fooled me really well for a long time.

 

I just posted a read above your post without realizing it. I rotated the tires on the front from drivers side to passenger side, made mine smooth out. This is on tires that have about 10k miles on them and it reverses the tread block wear on the inside of each tire, instant smoothness. I thought my wheels were out of balance, but it was the block wear making it shimmy, and it doesn't take much. I have done the switch on two vans with great success and then the tread wears down evenly. If you brake hard you will have uneven wear on the tread blocks and it causes shake. doesn't cost anything and it worked for me. Andrew.

 

I concur, and believe wisdom dictates that this $40 fix troubleshooting by cost moves this check higher up the list of what to check second. There are over a million E's approaching this issue, exhaust systems have become so dependable that 99% pay no mind to it, I didn't.

Now if someone could post a 100% complete parts diagram of what has rusted and fallen off that we all need. That would be most useful.