E-450 Viberation

[Bailey1213_]

I have a 2000 Winibago E-450. I have a bad viberation at 40MPH. It has new tires front and rear. It does not feel like the front, I don't feel it in the steering wheel. Faster then 45MPH it seems to go away. Any ideas what to do?

[mountainsam]

Probably the drive shaft but I once had that problem with a station wagon. It turned out to be an out of round tire. When they took it off to rebalance and was unable to they checked the rest of the tires on the car and found only one tire that was not out of round. Goodyear replaced all the tires encluding the spare.

[chris_diane]

Hi I am new to this forum but I just got finished fixing my 31' BT Cruiser E450 vibration problem at 45mph. I did some checks directed by my local driveline repair shop.Any one area can cause it. Jack stands under rear axle and ran to 45, nope. Removed axle shafts run to 45,still vibrates, remove rear drive shaft, no luck,center drive shaft, no luck, front shaft remove, no vibration.Sent 3 drivelines to repair shop. Common problem when frame is extened the front shaft is lengthened poorly. Also checked joints and center brgs. all good.

[j-d]

That's what I did. Mark every match point by spray painting it. Then you can reinstall it like you found it.

[Sam_Spade]

Bailey1213! wrote:
I am going to pull the shaft and have it checked and rebuilt if that's it.

This might be counter-productive. Having a competent shop look at it as a whole vehicle might save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

[j-d]

When you get it out of storage, take a good look under there. Park on a hard, level surface. Then block the rear wheels in front and behind both sides. Put it in Neutral, Parking Brake OFF. This'll free the transmission end of the shaft so you can try to find looseness.

Inspect the shafts. Look for dents, bends, and anything stuck to them or wrapped around. Push and pull on the carrier bearings between sections. This won't do much to help identify stuck U-Joints, only ones that are falling apart.

Driveshaft work isn't terribly expensive. At least if you pull the shaft and take it to the shop. Call around or visit several shops.

If you DO take it out, mark how the carrier bearing fasteners sit. Ask the shop how it should line up. I think they'll tell you there should be the little offsets I mentioned earlier.

[Bailey1213_]

Thank you everyone! I bought it used a few months ago. It already had new tires. I also suspect the drive shaft. I already winterized and put it away for the winter. As soon as the weather breaks I am going to pull the shaft and have it checked and rebuilt if that's it. Again, thanks everyone. I will keep you posted on the results.

[CapriRacer]

From the speed, this sounds like a driveshaft / carrier bearing problem. Wheel end vibrations (tires, wheels, brake rotors, etc) are usually in the 50 mph to 70 mph range.

[navegator]

You mentioned new tires did they balance the tires?

was the vibration there before the tire purchase?

If the tires where balanced, then check the drive line as stated above

navegator

[j-d]

Did you just get this coach and notice the problem, or have you had it awhile and now the problem has developed?

U-Joints work well, only when they're pretty close to straight-on. When they have to accommodate quite a bit of angle, they accelerate and then slow the shaft. That's why modern FWD and 4WD vehicles use CV (CONSTANT Velocity) joints instead of U-Joints.

Point of this is, you need a little "off angle" for the driveshaft to NOT oscillate as if it was one long shaft. But not too much. I helped a member here with some angle measurements, and it turned out the front flange on the differential was too vertical. Rear axle needed to be shimmed so the flange came closer to the angle of the driveshaft.

All said, the Carrier Bearing(s) are big ball bearings that can go bad, but often the rubber mounting breaks down, and you get vibration.

[the_bear_II]

Ujoint or bearing...

[Sam_Spade]

Did they have ODB ports in 2000 ?
If the above doesn't pan out, have somebody plug in and check for codes.
Might be a misfire condition in the engine (long shot).

OH.....and if you haven't had the wheels "re-torqued" since the tires were put on you should do that....NOW.

[carringb]

^X2. Center carrier bearing usually fails before U-joints, unless those have never been greased.

[Tyler0215]

Check the u-joints and carrier bearing.