You should've started with the cheapest and easiest first and had your wheel balances checked.

 

I agree with BetaDnB. The balance can cause tremendous vibrations when driving at highway speeds (45+) where you can actually feel it.

 

If it is not the balance, you may have a bulge on one of the tires. I suggest going to Discount Tires and have them rebalance all the tires. They would be able to tell you if it is the tires causing your vibration. I have had several cars when the tires were starting to get alot of wear they would begin to vibrate at highway speeds.

 

As the tire wear down, the balance may change enough to start vibrations.. Agree with others start with a tire balance.
Next possible is a bent wheel.
When they balance the tires they should check for a bent wheel at the same time. Best to ASK them to check for it when balancing the wheels.

It is certainly either a bent wheel, or out of balance.

 

Check the wheels. I had a vibration not as bad as yours on the highway, Took it in last week to have them check balance on wheels. Turns out I had a bent rim.

 

Hey the driver,

I recommend getting it checked out at your local dealer; find one near you here: Ford Dealer

Let me know if you set up an appointment.

Rachel

 

I've had the same problem in my Focus for some time now. The tires were balanced and aligned, but the vibration persists and has worsened, and the dealer said they "couldn't replicate the problem." Hope you have better luck in getting it solved!

 

same here. had that on my 2012 mk3 and now also on my 2015.

tires and wheels were checked, road force balanced, no bents, so all ok there but still would have vibrations.

the vibrations are not crazy and also not consisent[scratch] bent wheels always vibrate.. out of balance always vibrate over 45-55.. so it should be something else?

for both cars I think for the most part the vibrations were mostly RPM driven.. gun it/downshift rev it/say 30-70 and (not always though[???]) vibrations would start (almost always felt throughout the car but even more so under drivers seat/feet area)
but once on the highway for a while at highway speed 65-70 it is all smooth!

Another new symptom of late is if at an angle/slight turning and gunit there is slight shudder/vibration same location as per above

Dealer says: "it is the DCT" "it is a crappy transmission" "it shudders" "it is normal" "nothing you can do about it"
-then again, both 12 and 15 cars didn't do it when new until over 5-7k miles..

focus gurus pls help!

 

Have them check the axel shafts and cv joints.
Bent front axels have been known to cause vibration under hard acceleration.

 

Long shots, but also worth checking are motor mounts and suspension bushings, especially in front.

 

Go a step further than balancing, and do a Road Force balancing...
Alignment will eat your rubber, or pull the car to one side, but it won't cause vibrations such as you describe.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'll let you know what's found once I have a chance to have it looked at. The only other issues I've found with the car are the same things everyone else complains about - transmission shudder/jerkiness, road noise, etc.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'll let you know what's found once I have a chance to have it looked at. The only other issues I've found with the car are the same things everyone else complains about - transmission shudder/jerkiness, road noise, etc.

Still curious. Not likely we'll find out now, though: "the driver" user profile shows "Last Activity: 11-12-2018 07:12 AM" Oh well.

 

Hello, I have the same problem with my 2012 Focus Mk3 Turnier (1.6 L 77 kw). Wheels balanced multiple times, changed break disks/pads and also driver side front axle drive shaft. But the vibration is still there at highway speed (over 80 km/h...). At urban speed (50-60 km/h) everything is ok.

Can this "vibration at highway speed" be caused by bad shock absorbers?
Riding uphill seems to reduce the vibration. The vibration can be felt on any type of asphalt - also on a completely sleek one.
When I ride over bumps on low speeds I can hear knocking sound from front.

 

So no-one knows?

 

I agree that a good possibility is either shocks/struts or wheel hubs.

 

I put shyte Walmart tires on a car years ago, and I didn't notice a vibe until the first tire rotation. I tried a few things, and then a tire shop lifted the car and showed me that the tire was out of round.

 

That'd for sure cause some vibration....surprised you couldn't figure it out one quick drive down the street.

 

I was quickly glazing through the posts and didn't notice any suggestions about bearings.
Have you checked your bearings? One or more may be worn out, which can cause vibration while driving

 

I don't think it's the bearings, because they usually start doing noise and you definitely feel the bad bearing when the car is jacked up and you are spinning the wheel with your hands. Also when driving and turning you hear/feel the noise.

So far I have done nothing. The vibration hasn't gone worse. Last time one wheel hub (not front axle drive shaft as I mentioned in previous post) was changed but it didn't change anything. The Ford mechanics did thought that it was the problem but they did not test it on highway where the vibration comes out.

If the vibration will go worse, then I will let the mechanics check the shocks, struts and suspension bushings.

I also don't think the problem is engine mounts because then the vibration should be related to RPMs, but it's not. More related to the speed..

 

It seems that the vibration actually isn't speed related. In the city sometimes the vibration/rattling is still very noticeable. The strangest thing is that sometimes the car is vibrationg and sometimes it's not. It comes and goes. No idea what can cause this. Shocks/struts go to bad position...

 

Can you give a thorough break down of 2 specific instances where this has happened? Also all things you’ve done to try to fix this I.e. I was accelerating onto the freeway at 30mph in 3rd gear, shifted into 4th at 45mph and the vibration started and got progressively worse until 60mph and the shift into 5th gear. I’m really interested in this thread, although I haven’t had this problem but if I can help

 

'I also don't think the problem is engine mounts because then the vibration should be related to RPMs, but it's not.'

That can be wildly incorrect. The pass side engine mount can most definitely be speed related in effect and it comes and goes depending on the damage. If any vibration is more to passenger side of the car like floorboard even more so.

Those pass side mounts have so many fail modes one could write a 500 page book on them. Even worse, commonly the aftermarket ones cure nothing or even make it worse or last a month problem fine then do the same.

The pass side mount on Ford inline four engines has been modded too many times to count yet it has been a major problem on the cars for 19 years now. Most of the problem is because they can get it right only with expensive Ford parts and that is enough for Ford, they don't want it fixed permanently, it sells too many parts and that is where Ford has gone today. Why so many things do not get fixed to STAY fixed like in the old days.

 

Yeah, nowadays everything is business. Even human body parts and organs.

But,
NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!
Today I took my 2012 Focus to the official Ford dealer for diagnostics. The mechanics inspected my car and did a test drive. They tried wheels from another car and it turns out that the problem is only in wheels. It has mileage about 65000 km (around 40500 miles), original Ford steel wheels. So to solve my problem, all tires and rims must be replaced.

I bought the car used, so I don't know what has happened to the rims. At least the problem is now resolved.

 

... to solve my problem, all tires and rims must be replaced. .... At least the problem is now resolved.

Thanks for sharing what you found.

 

I have owned the car about 1 year, during the time I have multiple times balanced the wheels, changed summer tires to winter tires, again balanced and never no-one told me that these wheels are completely out of balance and wobbling. And now it finally comes out that they are rubbish. Strange.

It is another topic, but if I replace the old steel wheels to alloys, then do I need bolts that are longer?
What dimensions does Focus mk3 steel wheel original bolts have?
Is there a webpage where I can find which bolts do I need for Focus mk3 2012 ?

 

Any 12x1.5 lugnuts will do ....
Length wise, depends on the wheels and your taste

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

REAR SHOCK. My vibration at 58mph with 15 inch wheels and 62mph with 17 inch turned out to be a REAR SHOCK. I obviously tried different wheel sets first.