ok, i already tried posting this on the ford forums, but its been there for a week and no hits so i thought i'd try here... my moms got a 2001 Escape 4 cyl 5 speed Manual. she bought the car about 3 years ago and ever since, at low speeds, it makes a very violent shaking. weve taken it in to a bunch of shops and no one could find anything wrong with it. i know its not that im letting off the clutch too fast or anything like that. i notice it when im crawling along in traffic mainly. anybody got any suggestions as to what could be wrong?? Thanks for the help

 

Do you have round wheels?

 

no, last time i checked they were square lol, ya, they're balanced and all, even still if they were worn or anything, wouldnt you feel that at all speeds?

 

unbalanced driveshaft?

 

does the steering wheel shake too? or just like the body?

 

hmmm... will it go over 5k RPM? does it struggle?

 

it only does it sometimes. ive never driven it while it did it to me but it feels your going over like a thousand speed bumps, one right after another.

 

So then it's the whole body shaking not the steering wheel... Check you tire pressures make sure they are ALL the same as what the driver's door plate recommends (Believe it or not this cured a shimmy in my Conquest. I had WAY too much air in all 4 tires. My car recommends 27 PSI for all 4 somehow I had 40 or higher in every tire). Also if you have a jack you can jack up the front each side so that the wheel is off the ground grab the front and back nd try to shimmy it. If it moves loosely you may have a bad tie rod end. (Get a friend to watch the tie rod ends while you shimmy it to see if they move without the tie rod moving). Then grab the tire at the top and bottom and repeat having a friend watch the ball joints to see if THEY move at all. If the wheel moves up and down and the ball joints AREN'T moving then you may need to repack and retighten the wheen hub bearing. Hope this helps a bit. It will at least give you somewhere to start and eliminate some possible causes for us to continue troubleshooting.