My 2005 escape has a vibration in the front end usually starting at 40km. I got all the tires balanced. My mechanic told me that one of my wheel bearings is bad (passenger side) and my drivers side should be done as well. Can a wheel bearing cause a vibration? It has seemed to get progressively worse from a little vibration to a more aggressive one. What is your take?

 

Yes, bad wheel bearings can cause vibration. Bite the bullet, get it fixed.

 

Thanks bluewind. I am getting the two wheel bearings replaced this weekend. I just wanted to make sure that this could be the cause if the vibration and if anyone had the same experience. I appreciate your quick response! Thanks again. I'll let you know how the repair goes and if the vibration is eliminated.

 

Ok. So I went toy mechanic and he took my escape for a test drive. He definitely said that the vibration/shaking is not from the wheel bearings. The checked the hanger bearing, and it was fine. He checked the u-joints on the drive shaft, and they appeared to be fine. He thinks I need to see a specialist to see if this can be diagnosed because he is really unsure of what it could be and doesn't want me to waste time and money.

I've been reading a lot online and seeing if others have had similar problems. Some say motor mounts, drive shaft and trans. shutter. I've also read about coils being bad. Could this be something to do with the coils? Should I get my trans. flushed and new fluid put in? My tires are new, have been balanced, and an alignment had been done recently.

What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance!

 

You really need to get the wheel bearings fixed so that you won't be driving up and down the road and have wheel fall off of it due to neglect. that is a big safety issue

 

There's a couple other things that might need checked for like a bad brake disc the tires could be out of round or you could have a bent rim and not all of them would be that obvious either

 

...or sticking brakes.
You can rotate the tires and see if that makes a difference. If it does the problem is in the tires. My sis in law had an Escape and it made horrible noise from the tires because the of uneven wear. The tires were cupped. The guy at the tire shop said it has to do with the negative camber on the front. You can't adjust the camber (easily) but you can compensate a bit with toe in.

You may also go on Youtube and look for videos that show how to diagnose various noises form the fornt end. Maybe you stumble on a match. It is difficult to describe noises with words.

 

could be anything that could start a frequency. such as u-joints, splines, out of round tires or hard spots in the rubber. bent rim, tie rods worn, rack and pinion worn. if the wheel bearings were worn you would get a grinding and loose steering. jack up the front end, place transmission in neutral. wiggle and lift up on the tire with a bar. to check for bearing slop and ball joint wear. rotate the tire feeling for rough, tight spots in the axle. wiggle the wheel side to side to check front end parts.

 

I know I am super late with posting back my results here, but hopefully someone who has the same problem can benefit from this.

I took the escape to a drive shaft specialist. They took off the drive shafts and had to replace the two ujoints as they were seized (or beginning to seize). They checked the tubing out and thankfully it wasn't twisted. Quick fix! And not overly pricey!

Thanks for the info everyone and good luck out there!

 

Thanks for the feedback. I learned something.