I replaced my tie rod ends yesterday and thought that would get rid of my vibe issues...nope. I am aware that I need to have my front end alligned now...does anyone think my 35x12.5 MT's would contribute to the vibration?

I've read somewhere that large tires could cause it too.

Gonna pay my dues now.

Could possibly be the tires. The bigger they are, the harder they are to balance and keep in balance.

You may want to consider Dynabeads ( http://www.innovativebalancing.com/ ). I will probably get these soon myself. Seen good reviews. I keep knocking tire weights off on the trail.

Thanks Mike...You have peaked my interest with the dynabeads. I've also read it could be due to bad bushings in the control arms, but I don't know enough about them.

How 'bout a leaky steering box?

I was just on http://www.innovativebalancing.com...very cool stuff. I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy them. I thought I would only need a 6oz bag for all 5 of my tires , but I actually need 5. I thought I was going to get off cheap at $15.80/bag...it's going to cost around $79. But comparing that to the $160 it cost to have my MTZ's mounted and balanced...and having to only do it once is a no brainer.

Yeah, its not cheap.

As for other causes:

Control arm bushings, possibly.

Steering box, if it has play (especially passive, meaning you jack the front end off the ground, lock the steering wheel and can move the tires) it could be the problem. A leak in and of itself will not cause the vibration. For the leak, try the lucas stop leak for power steering. Used it in the past and its slows if not stops leaking PS units.

If it was fine before you swapped rubber, I would look to that first. That said, bigger tires can accentuate problems that did not come to light with smaller ones.

Not sure exactly what type of vibration you are referring too: is it the whole jeep vibrating or is it just a vibration in the steering wheel that your feeling?

I have been running 35's for quite some time and as Mike mentioned, they can be a bitch to balance but with that size tire it tends not to be as noticable if the tire itself is out of balance. From my experience, everytime I've had a vibration it has turned out to be either a bad wheel bearing (front end vibration) or a bad drive shaft U-joint (whole jeep vibration). It's possible that you front wheel bearing may have been on thier way out and the 35's now exaggerate the problem and the same could be true for the U-joints.

Don't know if this helps but just some personal experiences that I have had.

The whole thing vibrates from the time I start driving until about 45mph, then it goes away. I jacked the front end up and pushed and pulled on the top of the tires...the passenger side has some serious play in it, but the driver's side has none.

Wheel bearing? Ball joints?

If it has alot of play just wiggling the tire left and right and/or up and down then I would say def a wheel bearing, especially if you just replaced tie rod ends. Another way to check is to watch the tire as you're jacking it of the ground, if it rolls in as soon as it come free from the ground usually the bearing is no good. The tire should not move at all as your jacking it up. To check for bad ball joints you need to jack the tire about 2-3 inches off the ground and put a long rod of some sort under the tire and lift up real hard on the tire. If the ball joints are no good you should be able to hear the joint knocking as the tire moves up and down or you will be able to actually feel the tire move up and down or, best case senario have someone else pull up on the rod and you watch the ball joints, if they are no good you will physically be able to see them move up and down.

Thanks Mike & Glen...I greatly appreciate your input.

Robin Hood wrote:

QUOTE:
If it has alot of play just wiggling the tire left and right and/or up and down then I would say def a wheel bearing, especially if you just replaced tie rod ends. Another way to check is to watch the tire as you're jacking it of the ground, if it rolls in as soon as it come free from the ground usually the bearing is no good. The tire should not move at all as your jacking it up. To check for bad ball joints you need to jack the tire about 2-3 inches off the ground and put a long rod of some sort under the tire and lift up real hard on the tire. If the ball joints are no good you should be able to hear the joint knocking as the tire moves up and down or you will be able to actually feel the tire move up and down or, best case senario have someone else pull up on the rod and you watch the ball joints, if they are no good you will physically be able to see them move up and down.

I jacked it up again and as soon as the tire came off the ground it rolled in from the bottom. And while it was still jacked up, I moved the tire back and fourth again...paying closer attention to the moving parts, and I could see the outer axle shaft moving up and down. I'll bet it's the bearing too. I hope there's no damage to the shaft. Replacing the bearing doesn't look like it's tooooo impossible.