Dodge Repair: Acceleration issue 06 Grand Caravan, tie rod ends, wheel tires


Question
When I'm accelerating my 2006 Grand Caravan SXT, all is smooth until about 45 MPH.  From 45 MPH to 55 MPH or so, it rides like a bicycle with a bent wheel.  When I hit 60 and start cruising, smooth ride again.  

Just before this started, I had the outer tie rod ends and one CV joint replaced.  I asked about replacing the other CV at the same time, but they told me it wasn't bad so I shouldn't replace it.  
 
Any idea what is wrong?

Answer
Hi Kevin,
Such mid-speed vibration, if present when cruising as well as accelerating, is often due to excessive "runout" on one of the wheel/tires of the vehicle. By that I mean the radial variation (out of roundness) of the unit. It should be less than 1 mm for elimination entirely of the problem. That can be accomplished in 2 ways: first try remounting the wheel on the studs after rotating in one stud from its present position. If that doesn't reduce the runout then the tire can be demounted and rotated to a new position on the wheel so as to counteract the out of roundness of the tire and the wheel itself. So jack up each from wheel and put a gauge on the center of the tread (letting it sit that way for a while to let the flat spot relax) and rotate the tire one complete turn and measure the difference between the high spot and low spot which is measured "runout". If it only happens when accelerating then your theory of a cv-joint being worn excessively is probably more likely the cause.
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Thanks,
Roland