Shawn855

Wouldn't it vibrate all the time, if it were an axle/intermediate shaft?

Thanks guys. I'll focus on these two areas first. Would I be able to feel any movement in the intermediate shaft if its still connected to the cv axle or would I have to remove the cv axle first?

Would a cv axle or even an intermediate shaft vibration come and go though? Again it seems to go away/get better while driving it. If I lived in town I probably would never notice it because the vehicle would have a chance to warm up by the time I got to the hwy. But I live on the hwy so I'm going 0 - 100 km/hr from my house to my work. And on brand new pavement so I notice it a lot more now. How would I diagnose that? Remove the cv axle, then grab the intermediate shaft and try to wiggle it side to side? I believe this is the part here eh?

Yeah...i was suspecting also perhaps the engine or tranny running a bit rougher while its cold while driving (since tranny only warms up while being driven), but im pretty sure i would notice some power loss or SOMETHING related to performance. But it drives good. Just that freaking shaking/vibration ffs. Maybe ill connect my OBD2 scanner to see if i can spot anything out of the ordinary.

update: son of a bitch lol. so the vibration is pretty much gone except for the first 5 mins of driving the suv. This was the main issue i was chasing since last winter, but for the first 5 mins of driving, theres lots of vibrations in the wheel, and seat, and pedal. But also after starting the car on a cold start, theres some vibrations in the seat for about 20 seconds then it smoothes off. So im thinking engine mount(s) is the culprit. What else could it be at this point.

I was surprised how bad mine were. Only 80k kms, and i was literally able to grab them and move the bushing with 2 fingers all willy-nilly.

Think i got it. From my understanding it's the plug to convert the LED lights to trailer lights. Would still need to install a wiring harness, and also go to the dealer to flash the system to activate this plug. Maybe i'll just install the tow package on my chevy cruze instead since they both have the same towing capacity of 1200kg.

I'm looking at installing a hitch receiver, and decided to also look into the wiring necessities. When i looked under the rear bumper, i found this plug. I tried searching everywhere online and it doesn't seem to match any trailer wiring plug I've seen. Can anyone shed light on what this plug is used for? (The images were taken from another site in 2014 but the user never got an answer so i'm using them here for clarification). 2016 journey 3.6L SXT

Alignment is booked for Tuesday. I went with the MOOG non-adjustable ones. I asked my mechanic if i should get adjustable ones and he said non adjustable is fine and that he will still be able to align it so we shall see. Worst case scenario is I would have to order the adjustable ones which is fine, because now the rust is off the bolts so changing them will take me 10 mins instead of a half hour.

Well I figured it out. And I still can't believe it's this that caused vibration in the steering wheel: it was my REAR upper control arms. The bushings were finished. Changed them out and the vibration is completely gone. I know, I'm as baffled as you are.

Okay good because that's one part I don't want to change lol.

yeah. Hoping it's this. Running out of parts to change hahaha. It wouldn't be the steering rack eh? Steering is nice and tight but can't rule that out too

That's why im thinking cv axles since they can come out of balance, but not show any other signs. Yes they make clicking noise when they get really bad. But they can also become out of balance and not make any noise.

I retorqued every bolt last week and everything was in spec. I also had 2 mechanics look at it and they both said everything is tight in the front end. (Again, the rear has upper control arms that are in need of replacement).

The only bushings I'm aware of in the front end are in the lower control arms, and sub frame.

Vehicle aligned, and wheel balance checked and it's fine. Vibration still there. Noticed the rear upper control arms are finished so could not align rear. MIGHT be cause of vibration felt in foot anyways....since when driving on the highway, you can see the rear seats vibrate/moving around so i'm guessing the rear alignment/control arms are pretty bad. Parts are ordered so I'll replace that this week, then get a roadforce wheel balance to completely rule out bad tires. If that doesn't fix it, then cv axles. If that doesn't fix it, then control arms. If that doesn't fix it i'm trading it in.

i'm going to be so pissed if all of this mess was caused by a bad wheel balance.

Definitely always store it on lowest setting. Here's a question to make you think: Does storage temperature matter when storing the torque wrench? Since heat makes things more maleable, would that affect the spring in the torque wrench? More heat = spring easier to move = easier to hit 100 ft-lbs when spring is hot compared to cold.

Yeah Im doing the exact perfect method of torquing my lug nuts but I have suspected that perhaps my torque wrench could be faulty and not torquing to the correct 100 ft-lbs. I'll borrow a friend's torque wrench and see.

Minor update. I put my dial to the rotor to check for lateral runout. My rotors are both measuring 0.0024 inches. I thought the dodge spec was 0.0078. I was wrong, it's actually 0.00078. So I'm thinking perhaps this is causing some vibrations. If it were the cause, wouldn't I also be experiencing vibrations when braking? When I brake it's smooth.

Okay done and done. Rotated the tires, cleaned the rust off the wheel hubs, and inner parts of the rims, and torqued wheels in star pattern at 70 ft-lbs and then 100 ft-lbs. Still no difference. Dial indicator tool arriving this week to check the lateral runout of the rotors to ensure they are not out of spec. Dodge spec is 0.0078 inches btw. If that is within spec, then that leaves alignment (didn't get professional alignment done so far) or bad wheel balance done (I've seen a few threads so far about a few bad wheel balances happening ). Will keep yous updated to help others.

Quick question: is it normal to torque the tire to spec while it's in the air, then lower the vehicle and then I double check the torque and it's still off by a bit? (Having to tighten them a bit more when the vehicle is on the ground ). I'm noticing on the driver side it seems to be the case. Every other tire I torque in the air to spec, lower the car and check the torque and it's still perfect. But the driver side always "loosens" when I lower he vehicle. It doesn't keep the torque spec when on the ground.

Hrmmm I've never heard of that before. I've always just followed the proper rotation procedure of cross front to back and back straight to front. But for today's test I'll just go front straight to back and I'll know right away if that made a difference. This is a tought one because the pulsating comes and goes but when it does come, it's always at highway speed.

Unfortunately I only have one set of tires. I'll try rotating them again to see if it changes the pulsating at all.

I already replaced them. What's happening is i'm getting a pulsating in the steering wheel on the highway. Tires are already balanced and even rotated to confirm not the tires. Engine mounts are good. Next I want to inspect the rotor runout. If the runout is out of spec that means a) my new aftermarket rotors are out of spec (not uncommon), or b)the wheel bearing is starting to warp, which also happens. If the runout is fine, i'll next look into the cv axles which also can cause pulsating when they begin to fail. I already replaced the tierods, balljoints, stab links, stab bar bushings, strut assembly, rotors, pads. Can only be a few things left, such as the cv axles, or lower control arms. If i still can't find it, then f*ck it, i'll trade it in I guess lol