Ford maverick front end shakes, have replaced wheel bearings and done wheel balance, still shakes 70km+

If the steering wheel is vibrationg it may be that the wheels need balancing. If the whole vehicle is shaking you need to check that wheel bols are properly tightened first. You might need to get steering/suspension checked .... before there is a bad fault developing

Could be a bad wheel bearing. This is very dangerous, be sure and get it checked out asap. If the wheel comes off you're going to have a very bad day!

yes. if the axle is bad and binding it can cause the front end to vibrate because it gets out of balance.

Front end vibration has little to do with the brake system on the car. Yes you can get some "brake shudder" when you apply the brakes when you have worn brake rotors or when the rotors are not properly aligned on the hubs. However from what you have said you do not have this problem.

Front end vibrations can be caused by a number of factors some of which are listed below:



1. Front wheels out of balance. (Common problem on many vehicles).

When were the front wheels last balanced? You will get vibrations through the car and the steering wheel at particular speeds. This will/could also occur if the wheel rims have been distorted as a result of abuse.

As a first step the wheels should be balanced and then retest the vehicle for the problem.

It can be impossible to properly balance some wheels because the tires fitted to the rims are of poor quality and contain heavy spots that are impossible to correct with wheel balance weights. If you have cheap tires fitted on the wheel rims then it may be impossible to balance the wheels properly because of the imperfections in the tyre. In that case you will have a permanent wheel vibration problem which will only be rectified by fitting good quality tires and re-balancing the front wheels.

If aftermarket wheel rims have been fitted to the vehicle this can also be a source of vibration. Some wheels on the market are poor quality and can be slightly out of round and/or have heavy spots in them which can be impossible to correct when you fit the tires and have the wheels balanced. Many people think a cheap set of "blingy" aftermarket wheels are a great buy but if they are poorly built (as is often the case) you will usually have no end of problems.

2. The front wheel alignment could be out.
If the front wheels have not been aligned in the past 12 months they probably will be out of alignment. When you have re-balanced the front wheels you should have the front wheel alignment checked and then re-aligned if it is out. However if their are worn suspension components (see 4) found on the car which need to be replaced, this repair needs to be done before the front wheels are re-aligned.

3. Worn out wheel bearings in the front hubs.
If your front wheel bearings are badly worn you can get a vibration through the steering wheel. If the vehicle has done about 100000 miles or more on the front wheel bearings they should be replaced. In any event , any competent mechanic can jack up the front of the car and check for excess play in the wheel bearings.

4. Worn out suspension components. The front end of the car should be checked for badly worn suspension and steering components.

I would recommend you take the vehicle to a competent mechanic or a suspension specialist in your area and have them check the vehicle for you.

I hope this helps.

It can be the suspensions or the shock absorbers, check also the engine mountings.
i will be good to take a full checkup of all the links and suspension bushes in the car. so a full test on the shocck absorbers, test the wheel bearings the hubs and if the discs are bend even is if the balancing was done.

have the front wheels balanced

tie rod more than likely attached to the rack and pinion

I really need much more information about what has been done or not done to the car but I will go with what you have said.

1. I assume the wheel alignment has been done and is fine and I also assume that the front suspension and steering components are all in acceptable condition.

2. Have the front wheels re-balanced at a competent shop (and at the same time check for any distortion or damage to the front wheel rims). Many vibration problems that kick in in the front end at a specific speed are often due to poor balancing or a tyre/wheel combination that is impossible to balance properly because of defects in the product.

3. If the problem is unchanged have the wheel bearings checked and replaced especially if you have no record of when this was done previously. This is a 2002 car and has presumably done around 80000 miles or more.

4. If you have a cheap brand of tire on the vehicle there could be a heavy spot in the tire which could make it impossible to properly balance.
If you have just replaced the tires and did not have the vibration problem with the old tires then I would suspect the new tires are the problem if everything else is OK.
Buying lower priced tires is never a good move as poor build quality is just one of many problems with such products. Ultimately it is just wasted money.

Also bear in mind that a badly built (but undamaged) alloy wheel will also be impossible to balance properly and these sometimes slip through quality control.

Sean

you may have shifted belts in one or more of your tires or you may have to get your tires balanced.

Could be a few things..
Front end parts,
ball joint,
maybe they forgot to tighten somthing..
Did you have tire servie too ?
Once in a while they actually forget to tighten the lug nuts good..

Hope this helps !!
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