Greetings, I have a 2003 Ford Escape sutomatic 4X4 with 145K miles which has developed a very annoying and noticalbe low deep noted rumbling vibration that I feel through the whole car and steering wheel mostly while maintaining speed or very slightly accelerating usually under 2K rpm (approx 50mph) then it disappears when I take my foot of the gas and coast. Shocks are new, CV joints appear ok, tires are aligned, drive shaft seems tight as all suspension parts.

SOURCE: Van rumbles and vibrates

Does this van have a carrier bearing in the center of the driveshaft? If it does this could be your culprit,you can tell if it has a carrier bearing by looking at the drive shaft in the middle it will around the driveshaft and bolted to floor support of the van.

SOURCE: Vibration at Speed.

i still think universal join in drive shaft is dead or could also be the bearing inside deferential or transy ...
do you hear a funny noise or some thing unusual?

SOURCE: 2000 ford exploorer v-8 awd eddie bauer edition

Hello, I see you may a lot of changes and replaced a lot of parts. We leased an Explorer the same Year as yours. In our case there was a slight noise as well as vibration. The problem was the Front Hub bearings, They were bad at 18000 miles.

There are a few things I want to suggest. The spinning of the wheels on the lift will not load the bearings. A Dyno table can get everything turning with a load on it. As your vehicle is a 4x4, most Dyno's were 2 wheelers. You would have to call to find one for a 4x4.

Next, if the new Hubs do not help, have a look at the rotors. They are also balanced. You can spin balance the Wheel and rotor as a unit with a floor motor. It's not the best way to Balance because tire rotation or even shifting the Wheel on the lugs will UNbalance it. But this method CAN pinpoint a problem if a Balanced tire does not spin true when bolted to the vehicle. You will know the Rotor is off-balance and which axle is causing the problem.

Would be interested to see a Post of what you found.