Hi I am still getting used to my 18 month old yeti 4x4 tdi 170, having had it only a few of weeks.

I have noticed that it has a low frequency vibration that starts at 65MPH and continues as the speed increases. At first I thought that it could be a wheel out of ballance but having just swapped the wheels front to rear it's still there. The vibration can be heard, and to some extent felt through the pedals. At 70 I find it annoying.

The vibration builds and fades and sounds similar to that of a turbo prop aircraft where the two engines are running at slightly different speeds - only much quieter ;-)

I've had it back to the dealer but they say it's just tyre noise. I'm not convinced.

Is this normal for a yeti 4x4?

No. My CR170 displays no such vibration, in fact it's very smooth at high speed on motorways. Keep chasing the dealer to sort it.

No. My CR170 displays no such vibration, in fact it's very smooth at high speed on motorways. Keep chasing the dealer to sort it.

Thanks, that is what I suspected. Will take it back.

No vibration here either, but there is a turbine like sound between 65 and 80 mph when you put your right foot down a littel.

So you've swapped the tyres around? Perhaps you've moved the problem tyre elsewhere?

What tyres are they?

How many miles have they done?

Have you had the balance checked?

Twice I have experienced quite scary vibrations - and on both occasions it was because of a build up of mud inside one or more of the wheels.

It needed power-hosing whilst up on a ramp to clear it, so it might be worth your while to check for that before doing any really expensive investigations!

Hope that this thought helps you.

Thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't thought about mud on the inside of the wheels but they were clean when I swapped them round.

The tyres that are on the front now Avons are new and freshly balanced. The ones on the rear are part worn Dunlops but have plenty of life left. These were on the vehicle when I collected it, I have not had these balanced yet but will do this week.

This doesn't feel quite the same as an unbalanced wheel.

On most 4x4's you are advised to put the new (larger) tyres on the rear * due to possible mismatches in the drive train, so that would be my first change.

How part worn are the Dunlops? Is it possible that one of them has been "clipped" and has a small bulge in it?

*According to tyre experts new tyres should always be fitted to the rear of a car, for safety purposes.

I am not going to be brought into an arguement about this.

Those that disagree might like to look at Michelin, et al's web sites for the facts!

As the car is still under warranty is there another dealer you could go to to get it checked? There's no harm in a second opinion.

On most 4x4's you are advised to put the new (larger) tyres on the rear * due to possible mismatches in the drive train, so that would be my first change.

How part worn are the Dunlops? Is it possible that one of them has been "clipped" and has a small bulge in it?

*According to tyre experts new tyres should always be fitted to the rear of a car, for safety purposes.

I am not going to be brought into an arguement about this.

Those that disagree might like to look at Michelin, et al's web sites for the facts!

The Dunlops are certainly not new but have plenty of tread. I had a good look over them when I swapped them around and couldn't see any damage. My main reason for swapping them around was to eliminate the possibility of an out of balance wheel causing the vibration. The swap has made no difference as far as I can tell so I will get them swapped back and checked for balance this week.

The vibration feels as though it is coming from the offside front.

The vibration feels as though it is coming from the offside front.

Tracking? Damage to the wheel rim rather than the tyre?

Had the same on a previous car not a yeti, took it to have the wheels balanced and found one wheel had a dent in the inner side of the rim.

it was only just visible to the eye but showed up with the wheel rim pointer on the balancing machine, only vibrated when you went over 55.

Tracking? Damage to the wheel rim rather than the tyre?

I will ask the dealer to check the tracking. If it's damage to a wheel I would have expected the vibration to move with the wheel. This still feels the same after moving wheels front to back.

Had the same on a previous car not a yeti, took it to have the wheels balanced and found one wheel had a dent in the inner side of the rim.

it was only just visible to the eye but showed up with the wheel rim pointer on the balancing machine, only vibrated when you went over 55.

Had plenty of damaged wheels before, we have some of the best pot holes in the country! However, this seems subtly different to the usual out of balance wheel in that the vibration builds and fades over a 1 second period.

As you hint in your original post, if vibration increases then decreases in a cyclic fashion it can be the sign of two vibrations happening at slightly different frequencies. When they are in phase the vibration increases, when out of phase it decreases. Its possible that different degrees of tread wear and/or different makes of tyre with slightly different diameter front to rear are causing this. This assumes your Yeti doesn't have two engines, as someone once tried with the Mini Moke. Also, especially given that the Yeti has independent rear suspension, an out of balance wheel could still make itself felt on the rear, though admittedly the "feel" of it and the onset speed will be different to the front.

As you hint in your original post, if vibration increases then decreases in a cyclic fashion it can be the sign of two vibrations happening at slightly different frequencies. When they are in phase the vibration increases, when out of phase it decreases. Its possible that different degrees of tread wear and/or different makes of tyre with slightly different diameter front to rear are causing this. This assumes your Yeti doesn't have two engines, as someone once tried with the Mini Moke. Also, especially given that the Yeti has independent rear suspension, an out of balance wheel could still make itself felt on the rear, though admittedly the "feel" of it and the onset speed will be different to the front.

Thanks. It certainly could be a beat between two different vibration frequencies. We did a longish run today on a variety of motorway surfaces. It's most pronounced over 70MPH but on a good smooth surface it can be felt from about 50. I plan to get all wheels balanced early this week and the newer tyres put back on the rear as recommended.

It could be a warped Disc that is causing this. We had this on our Fiesta not long ago. Changed the Discs and the vibration went away.

It could be a warped Disc that is causing this. We had this on our Fiesta not long ago. Changed the Discs and the vibration went away.

Could be but if it was a disk would you not expect vibration under breaking?

Wheels being balanced today...

Try contacting the previous owner to see if they experienced the same problem.

They have nothing to loose and have no liability so in my experience are likely to be frank, helpful and truthful.

Good Luck

Just to update, I had all 4 wheels balanced by a garage that I know and trust. They said that the two newly fitted tyres were poorly balanced (won't use that company again), the other two were slightly out. They could not find any damage on the wheels or tyres.

The new tyres are on the rear again.

Bottom line is that I still have the vibration so it's back to the dealer again...

Just read your original post again. You say you can 'hear' the vibration and to some extent feel the vibration through the pedals. Does that mean it's actually a sound you can hear that sounds like a vibration or is it actually a vibration (that you can definitely feel). That will make a considerable difference to the diagnosis as hearing a sound like a vibration could be an engine component. It's all too easy to hear a noise like a vibration and think you're feeling it. The fact that you didn't mention feeling the vibration through the steering wheel would indicate nothing to do with wheel balance from the off.

Which pedal can you feel it through? I guess accelerator if you talking 65MPH up (strange if so as I don't think it's connected other than by electronics which should make feeling a vibration through it difficult to understand - back to are you hearing it and being fooled into thinking you are feeling it), presumably not through the brake if you gradually brake to scrub off speed?

Incidentally which dealer, my local is Sherlodge?

Just read your original post again. You say you can 'hear' the vibration and to some extent feel the vibration through the pedals. Does that mean it's actually a sound you can hear that sounds like a vibration or is it actually a vibration (that you can definitely feel). That will make a considerable difference to the diagnosis as hearing a sound like a vibration could be an engine component. It's all too easy to hear a noise like a vibration and think you're feeling it. The fact that you didn't mention feeling the vibration through the steering wheel would indicate nothing to do with wheel balance from the off.

Which pedal can you feel it through? I guess accelerator if you talking 65MPH up (strange if so as I don't think it's connected other than by electronics which should make feeling a vibration through it difficult to understand - back to are you hearing it and being fooled into thinking you are feeling it), presumably not through the brake if you gradually brake to scrub off speed?

Incidentally which dealer, my local is Sherlodge?

Hi Gjay, yes I can certainly hear it. My wife hears it too. I had discounted an engine related problem as the vibration continues if I dip the clutch and let the engine revs drop. I have driven with the cruise control on and my right foot on the floor and I pretty sure I feel it there.

I get the impression that the steering is faorly wel damped so that may be why I don't notice it there.

Local dealer is Beadles. The car is going back there next week.

So, to complete the thread in case anyone else has a similar issue, this eventually turned out to be a ball joint on the near side front.

It took a couple of visits to get fixed but it's all quiet now.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Many thanks for the update Baldbloke. Thank you for sharing.