Short story:
My 1989 LWB shakes when it is driven at speeds above 45 mph and it gets worse until it hits 65 mph. At 65 mph the shaking gets tolerable. I suspect the tires are to blame, they have 60,000 miles on them and enough thread for a short trip. I do plan to buy new tires if necessary.

Long story:
In less than two weeks I have to travel 1,000 miles from mid Missouri to home, (El Paso, TX). After I get home I will be leaving the country for at least one year.

The point:
I want to be able to make it home safely, is there any possibility its not the tires? What else could cause the shaking? Any suggestions to what else look for?

Thanks in advance.

Check your wheel balance and/or steering play.

Others will probably know better but IMHO, worse case scenario.. if the tires are out of balance you could wear one spot so much from your trip that you'll have a blow out or your steering linkage breaks.

A little more info would be helpful. How long have they been vibrating? Did it just start or have you been procrastinating? Not that I've ever done that <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />.... Sounds like tires to me as well, could be a slung weight, tread separation, etc...

Although uncommon, it could also be an unbalanced driveline. I'd start with the tires first though.

Thanks for the help guys. The shaking started back in December of 2006 when I drove from El Paso to Houston. It was a little shaking that did not get much of my attention. In January of this year I drove from El Paso to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and the shaking did not get any worse.(While at Ft. Sill I drove less than 500 miles total in and around town) Then in February I took a short trip from Ft. Sill to Memphis then to Ft. Leonard Wood; all in a weekend. On my way to Ft. Leonard Wood the shaking got worse. Currently the shaking is at its worst point right know. I have driven very little around Ft. Leonard Wood (less than 30 miles per week, I car pool frequently.)

The Montero shakes more when I reach 45 mph and accelerate. If I'm going down hill and the Montero is on neutral it shakes just as much, above 45 mph. Hope this information helps. I just want to make it home safely and spend my money wisely in fixing this problem. Thanks in advance

I had one worn upper control arm bushing that caused vibration in all forward directions but a hard right turn. I noticed oversteer before I determined the problem, too.

Mine does exactly the same thing... It's a combination of bald tires, a sloppy idler arm, and catchy spots on the driver side front brake... See if lightly pressing the brake pedal (just enough to take any slack out of the calipers) at 50 mph calms it down any. Also climb under and grab ahold of the idler arm ((small steering link on pass. side, just under radiator)(While stopped, of course)) and see if you can wiggle it up and down. I've yet to see one that didn't need to be replaced.

One thing to try is to lift the front end up (both tires off ground) and try to move/shake either tire back and forth (left and right). They should be fairly tight. IF they move too much (mine moved +1" so I was told to check my steering linkages) then you need to check out your steering system for sure. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />