Vehicle has "shudder" at crusing speeds

[larryl]

Yes the seats suck compared to a Town & Country

I get the right leg pain also

[Toknow]

Has anyone ever got an answer/resolution to this shudder/vibration at cruising speed 60+mph.

I just bought a 2010 Journey R/T AWD over the weekend. The second day I was driving it, I definitely felt the shudder/vibration at highway speeds on relatively good roads. Heck I don't even have 200miles on this thing yet. I just have got a bad feeling about this vehicle already.

I am taking it into the dealer tomorrow, but they are already being pricks with me since I canceled the 3rd party POS Zurich Extended Warranty. I thought I was dealing on a Dodge warranty then when I was closing they give me the Zurich paperwork.

[guy0760_0]

Has anyone ever got an answer/resolution to this shudder/vibration at cruising speed 60+mph.

I just bought a 2010 Journey R/T AWD over the weekend. The second day I was driving it, I definitely felt the shudder/vibration at highway speeds on relatively good roads. Heck I don't even have 200miles on this thing yet. I just have got a bad feeling about this vehicle already.

I am taking it into the dealer tomorrow, but they are already being pricks with me since I canceled the 3rd party POS Zurich Extended Warranty. I thought I was dealing on a Dodge warranty then when I was closing they give me the Zurich paperwork.

I wish you luck.I have the same problem for 10 months now, and the dealer can't repair it. It started shaking after only one month of use and 640klm. Now I'm sick of it and try to trade that car, but at 12,000$ less than the original price 10 months ago.

[guy0760_0]

I wish you luck.I have the same problem for 10 months now, and the dealer can't repair it. It started shaking after only one month of use and 640klm. Now I'm sick of it and try to trade that car, but at 12,000$ less than the original price 10 months ago.

I wish you luck too.I bought a 2010 sxt model and it started shaking after one month and 640 klm. only.Now it shows 14,000 klm and 12 months of use and never been repaired, even after many visits at the dealer. They did everything, changed the four disks, rebalanced 5 times without succes.Curious thing, it stoppped shaking with my winter tires on.(Toyo winter tires). the original tires are Khumo chinese scrapped.So they offered me to put Toyo tires on it, next summer.I can't wait to try these ones next spring.I'll let you know hte result.

[TravisCook]

I have a 2010 Journey SXT with all wheel drive. I too have the 19 inch cast chrome wheels w/ Khumo tires. I have just under 20,000 miles on it, and have a shuddering/vibration problem and have had since the day I bought it brand new. I just gave up with Chrysler. It's clearly not a balancing issue because I've had it to several tire shops and they say that the tires are perfectly balanced. Sure as hell would be nice to know where this shuddering/vibration sensation is coming from. It's really dissapointing. I paid 28,000 for this thing new and my old car that I traded in drives way smoother than my new Journey. If you find anything out, please share!!!

[itfchaos]

I know this is an old old topic, but I feel everyones pain here. I have had mine for over a year and half now and countless visits to the dealer and it still shudders.

I have come to live with it, but I don't know if I can honestly recommend a dodge journey to anyone. I have been buying dodge for 23 years now with a new vehicle about every 5 years. This has been the worse dodge vehicle I have ever owned and it has just about almost put me off completely from buying another dodge again after this.

Right now I am trying to ditch these 19" rims and find me some 17's but the search so far has been in vain. I am thinking I will have to buy some aftermarker wheels that will fit this vehicle.

After this change of wheels/tires I will then try to have my rotors turned or just get some new ones and then see if it still shudders after all of this being changed out.

I'm driving a 2010 SXT FWD 3.5L version that had the 19" wheels & khumo tires.

[bramfrank]

@itfchaos; Your sig says you have a 2011. Your content says it is a 2010. Your other post about your 19" wheels doesn't mention problems. Just sayin'.

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I had this problem with my other Chrysler when it was new - we went through 5 sets of tires at Goodyear's expense before we figured it out. Everything was perfectly balanced, yet at speed it would vibrate - though only after a few hundred kms were put on the tires. Chrysler was no help.

It turned out to be (in my case) that the tires had slipped on the rims and twisted slightly, essentially making them slightly out of round. Too much rim lube will do that.

You wouldn't notice it at slower speeds, yet the suspension tends to be resonant at whatever turns out to be about 100 kph (60 mph) and it amplified the out of round issue to the point where it was beyond annoying.

Most shops are clueless - if it is a transmission or engine issue then down shifting while driving along would make the problem go away. Because the issues are speed related rather than tied to engine RPM or a specific gear selection, one would expect to find the problem somewhere between the output of the transmission and the road surface.

Check to make certain your wheels are truly round. As one posted indicated, do an 'on vehicle' dynamic spin balance AFTER doing one off the vehicle to see if the problem isn't in the hub somewhere - once you have the on-vehicle balance done properly you can run it at 60 mph on a lift to see of the vibration is in the drive-line.

Diagnostics is a science, with a tinge of black art. Eliminate the issues one at a time and approach the problem methodically and you will isolate and resolve the problem. Scatter-shot techniques are inefficient and expensive.

Edited December 28, 2011 by bramfrank

[ChrisPollard]

I had a set of tires on my old Sebring that would shudder. Didn't matter the balancing, they shuddered. Lived with them until they were worn out, and the new rubber solved the problem ... which was that the tires themselves were out of round. All the balancing in the world couldn't fixed crappy warped MotoMaster tires. Which is why I vowed that a Canadian Tire tire would never disgrace one of my vehicles ever again.

[Dre]

My 2011 Journey RT started with a shudder at highway speeds (110-120 km/h) about 5-6 months after I purchased the vehicle. It's a subtle vibration in the seats and sometimes it can be a little worst and other not as bad. It started at about the same time when I installed my new winter wheels and tires so I figured it was simply a balancing problem. After re-balancing three times, replacing the wheels, and replacing two of the tires, I realized that probably wasn't the issue. Winter was almost over at this point so I waited until I had my stock wheels and tires back on and sure enough, the shudder was still there. I then started feeling more of a vibration in the steering wheel when braking so I figured warped rotors may have been the cause all along. I had all 4 brakes and rotors replaced recently at 33K and unfortunately the shudder is still there. I've tried putting the Journey in neutral on the highway and the shudder is still there so the gears don't seem to make any difference. A mechanic friend told me since it's an AWD, the drive shaft could be the problem so I have an appointement in about a week to have this checked out. I will let you guys know what they find.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Dre

[Dre]

Took the Journey to get the shudder checked out yesterday and they're going to replace the drive shaft on friday. Hopefully this solves the problem!

[Dre]

Been a while since I had the chance to post an update on this but here's my story:

- Dealer replaced the drive shaft and said vibration was gone. I still feel it going home.

- Not that long after my wife turns into a driveway and hears a loud "POP" and a bunch of lights come on in the cluster and she has to hold the steering wheel 1/4 turn to go straight. Bring in the DJ to the dealer and there's a bent strut! WTF! How does a strut get bent without an accident or hitting a curb or something. You would think if someone did hit something the wheel would have bent. Anyways, dealer replaced the strut and strut mount and sends me home.

- Now I'm hearing a hum in the left front and can still feel the same vibration. Bring it in again and they replace a wheel bearing. Still feeling the vribration.

- Bring the DJ back in and they say they couldn't balance the tires so they brought it to the Subaru dealer next door for Road Force balancing. Problem fixed.

I can still feel a slight vibration but it's most likely just a combination of rough roads and tire wear and me being over paranoid from all the trouble I've had. It's nothing close to what I was feeling before. Sometimes in the morning or when the DJ has been sitting in the garage for a day it will vibrate for a little while and settle. I figure the tires must get a flat spot or something and it takes a bit of time to get warmed up and goes away. I'll be buying some new tires for next summer so hopefully it will stop doing this but I'm way happier with the way it feels on the highway now.

[swimnrun]

I have a 2010 Journey SXT AWD with 19in wheels and the original Kumhos and had the same shuddering problem you describe. After numerous visits to have the problem addressed with no effect I finally just purchased 4 Goodyear tires. Once on the shuddering stopped. I will never buy the Kumhos again.

[mortalalliance]

2012 Journey SXT here that seems to be exhibiting the same issues as everyone else. Same backstory, vibration/jostling/shimmy in steering wheel at 65-75 mph had to dealer multiple times, tires balanced & rotated numerous times and no fix. The jostling seems to vary by road condition and the service manager test drove it on road which didn't seem to upset the car and cause the vibration, so that made feel great.....

What's the solution to this problem? Do I just live with this until the tires crap out and replace them with non-Kumho tires. How big of a deal is the jostling? I don't "often" drive at 65+ mph and can survive with the jostling, my main concern is that other issues are going to arise from these jostling symptons.

Any suggestions would be great, especially ways of "convincing" my dealer that I'm not making things up.

[tstone]

I have the same shimmy on a 2011 Express at 18k miles, from 55-70 mph. Any slower or faster and it disappears. Everything besides this looks ok to me, including the rotors. It is due for a tire rotation and balance. I've had a lot of experience with different kinds of tires. The Falkens, Futuras, Kumhos were great when new, but right around 20k they started wearing unevenly, made the car pull to one side with no alignment problems, had squishy sidewalls with dimples or even aneurysms, could never be balanced once they started shaking, and I'll bet these Hankooks are the same garbage.

On the other hand I've gone through Michelins, Dunlops, GoodYears and Firestones without any of these issues, although some of those can be so hard they slide in the rain. I am partial to Michelins, with the longest treadwear warranty I can find. Expensive up front but worth it over the long haul. They run those $70 rebate deals sometimes.

But before I give up on these Chinese tires, I'm going to take it to a shop with one of these machines:

http://www.gsp9700.com/how/

http://www.gsp9700.com/videos/index.cfm?cat=3 <== Look at "why does my car still shake?"

From what I understand the service is expensive but it may be a necessity to get them through another 18k. (That's pretty pathetic for a tire now that I read my last sentence.)

Edited August 7, 2013 by tstone

[tstone]

Update:

Instead of going to the shop with the special balancing machine I went ahead and did a tire rotation in my driveway. I started by rotating the driver side from front to back and took it for a spin; the vibration was still there but felt a lot better. Then I rotated the passenger side front to back and the vibration was totally gone. While doing this I measured the tread across several points on the front tires with my gauge. The outsides were reading 5/32 and the insides 7/32. I'm also pretty religious about keeping proper air pressure in my tires.

Conclusion: these Hankooks are garbage. They are doing the exact same thing Falkens and Kumhos were doing on my Intrepid once they had about 20k miles. When I put on Michelin Hydroedge the set flawlessly ran 90k miles. So I'm going to try to squeeze a little more out of these and ditch them for a set of Michelins when they give me a sign; unfortunately there is no Hydroedge option here but I will likely go with the LTX M/S 2's.

[burgandy25]

Better tires, and early reports people were having a vibration caused by their mudflaps, if you grab the rear bumper on a DJ it is very loose and you can warp the bumper about 4 inches side to side. Go behind the wheel well and give it a good shake and you will know what I mean, if you have mudflaps they catch the wind and cause a shudder. Do you all have mudflaps? The rear bumper on these are terrible. The corners under the lights pop out and wont go back in, and how bad the fit in finish allowing that bumper to move like that. unbelievable.

[tstone]

No mudflaps here, just crappy tires.

I noticed the rear bumper is a little floppy if you grab the bottom center and shake it. However I don't have the problem with the corners under the lights popping out.

[townsend]

OK , after reading this entire thread I have decided that I have the exact same problem. I have 31k on the DJ back to the dealer 2 times for the issue. They have resurfaced the rotors and re balanced the tires. I took it home last night from my second visit and I felt it again.

I would like to see if all who had this problem have resolved t only through tires?

I was excited to hear and learn about road force balancing but not sure if anyone around here has the device.

Probably a Benz dealer LOL

I will report back if and when I get an answer to "our Dilemma"

[townsend]

so I go to the dealer today and tell them the problem is actulay worse now that they resurfaced the rotors and aligned the wheels. I explained to them that on some forums there are other people with the"shake" issue.

While there another service advisor hears this story and says " ya Chrysler knows about it I have been round and round with thoses journeys and cant get it to stop shaking." He said they have tried changing wheels and tires etc...

I think I will contact Chrysler before I go any further with this. I just purchased this 2012 with 30k and it was Chrysler certified used. I wonder if they will stand behind it ?

I explained to my sales person that if they cant resolve the problem then I want to trade it in . They will have to work out a deal with Chrysler to resolve how much they give me for it. If not I will trade it else where and be done with it. It will drive me nuts having this thing vibrate every time I drive it on the highway. I will feel like I let them take advantage of me.

What a sad stae of affairs that we have to go through this , why cant big companies just do the right thing?

[Rodog800]

Are there any real solutions for this... I have had this problem everyone speaks of.. Brakes were a symptom but after that was done I noticed more a shudder as people say here 45 to 60mph..i has this with stock wheels and tires... Now I have all new brakes tires and wheels in play. Also see the problem when coasting in neutral... Wtf. Is going on love the car but not enough to keep if this is going to be acceptable... Has anyone solved this I am not seeing follow ups with real results when I search on this. Thanks you

[tstone]

The problem is in the tires. It will vibrate all the same in any gear or neutral at about 60 mph and then disappear at higher speeds. Like I said- I rotated mine, sending the bad ones to the back and the vibration went away. I experimented further and loaded down the rear by putting my wife and some cargo back there, and found the vibration came back through the seats, but the steering wheel is still ok. So the bum tires do not like having a load put on them (cargo or a drivetrain).

So the temporary solution is figure out which tires are bad and send them to the rear. It'll take a lot of rotations and test drives to figure that one out.

When that solution stops working or if all 4 are bad, replace them with the high-end model of a name brand you'd find at Discount Tire or NTB.

I'm hoping my solution will last at least 6 more months... but whenever it's time to replace my intent is to get those Michelins and report back here.

Lesson learned: Make the dealership swap out those off-brand, Chinese tires before buying that new car.

[Rodog800]

I have had 2 sets of Goodyear assurance on my car brand new sets.. And 1sy was the worse second set caused this rear Shudder... Getting them ride matched now as I type this these tires are not cheap.. A rad over sized.. Is all..

[Rodog800]

Still there not fixed.. This sucks...

[Rodog800]

Lost as what the problem is... I am beginning to hate this car..

[tstone]

*BUMP*

With 24k miles I finally had enough of the Hankooks. As mentioned, I rotated the shaky tires to the rear but the fronts' vibration was getting gradually worse @55-70 mph. The sidewalls were starting to feel weak, by the way the vehicle rode on the highway and especially by the way the it behaved over bumps. The outer depth of the treads on all 4 tires were 3/32" while the middles and inners were 5/32". I just wasn't feeling confident anymore, considering this is the family vehicle used 90% of the time for mom & small kids.

So I finally followed through and bought the Michelin LTX M/S2's. (Discount Tire was running a $100 rebate on the set.) Huge difference. The sidewalls are definitely stiffer (typical of all the Michelins I've bought in the past), handling is improved and the vibrations @55-70mph are gone. The only negative is that the ride quality has stiffened up a bit-- these are definitely truck tires. But I'll take it as it feels 100% more confident than when it had those Hankooks. We'll see how these hold out over the long haul, but if they're like all the other Michelin's they'll hold up fine.