79pace,


Have you only been dealing with the dealer? or have you had to contact Ford directly?


I am going to call the dealer back and ask that they road force balance the tires... we will see... they didn't want to do anything at all... They did call me back about 3 hours ago and stated that they hade "Static" balanced all 6 wheels and they came up all zeros meaning they did not have to adjust any of the wheel weights. I do have the stick on weights as mentioned before, I'm sure that they are going to tell me that I need the hammer on ones which I will reluctantly do. I just hope that this actually has an affect on eliminating the vibration because in all fairness I think that the wheels look awesome without any visible wheel weights.
Can the same ride be achieved using the stick-ns and road force balancing?


Regarding the tru balance inserts? Are these something that you are paying for? If so how much did they run you?


And lastly how in the world did you get them to replace all 6 tires? I can't imagine them doing this as they didn't even want to remove any of my wheels as they have already had to replace the one front wheel from hammer on wheel weight marring and refinish the one rear wheel due to what I believe to have been a lug nut or impact gun socket flinging off the gun and hitting the inside of the wheel. I demanded a new wheel which they said no way it will cost $1200 verses the repair being $150.






Thanks
Ray

 

I have only been dealing with the dealership. Early on I contacted Ford because no one wanted to help me but that was a total waste of time.
Not every dealer has a Road Force machine and even fewer have the adapters that will allow them to road force balance the 19.5 rim/tire.
My original vibration was coming in through the floor and seats of the truck. The steering wheel was normal so I originally just wanted to have my 4 rear tires replaced if that was in fact the problem. I felt like the front end was OK. Replacing all 6 was the tires shops idea. I bought my trick in September and do far I have almost 12,000 miles on it so I am definitely not going to argue with 6 new tires.
I like the look of the wheels also with no weights however I just wanted the truck to be as it was when it was new on the lot which was clamp on weights on the outside of the front wheels and the inside of the rear wheels. The stick on weights on the outside of my rear wheels looked horrible and it was the tire shops idea. They didn't even install them straight! It looked terrible but drove well. But now we are starting all over again because they destroyed 3 of my wheels. The aluminum is marred really bad where they used an iron rod in the holes to break the tire down. They are scratched all over and the clear coat is chipped from their handling. They look terrible. So now we start over again
I purchased the Tru Balance inserts myself at a cost of $200. 3 are used on each hub.
The static balance will do nothing for you. It is wasting time. Most likely the tires will need to be rotated to a different position on the rim if that can be saved. What you will find is that no one wants to do that for you
Before I even took mine into the dealership I had my wheels balanced 3 different times at 3 different shops. All 3 times they zeroed out and the truck had the same vibration with no improvement. You may be able to visually see the high spot as the wheel spins on the balancer if you watch it. Really the only way to prove it is to do the road force test. It will simulate road pressure and will show a noticeable "hop" and a pressure readout will be given. Mine varied between 60 and 100. They should be lass than 20. Believe me, it's an uphill battle but once you have the road force numbers everything will become clear and some of the people you are dealing with will have to open their eyes to the facts.






Thanks
Ray[/QUOTE]

 

79pace,


Thanks for the invaluable information! I will keep you posted as to what they try to do. I will also see if the shop has a problem allowing me in the shop when they do the road force testing ( I doubt they will allow me to) and I have yet to hit them with the tire replacement idea yet... that's going to be a hard one for them to swallow.


The road force testing I will have them do and I assume I will allow them to do the hammer on wheel weights, I just pray that this fixes the issue and doesn't end up being marred up by placing wheel weights and moving them and removing and replacing these weights again... but we will see.


Thanks Again,
Ray

 

[QUOTE=Rdsperformance;15924677]7


Hopefully they have a road force machine. Mine did not so that's why they went to a truck tire shop. They key to replacement is if the road force measurement is out if spec. The dealer will have to send your old tires in for warranty. They are under warranty by Continental for defects up to 12000 miles. Good luck. I hope you get your trick back soon. I'm ready to get mine!!!

 

Well an Update for the ages!!

 

Whats the update?

 

Spoke to the dealer this morning and they are expecting the rim repairs to be completed by Wednesday. My Tru Balance inserts have not arrived yet so hopefully they will be here in another day or so.

 

Well the service manager took it upon himself to use stick on weights on the inside front wheels like I SPECIFICALLY asked him NOT to do. They balanced the rear tires by using the incorrect weights. They used the weights for steel wheels. I had a conversation with him on the phone before the wheels came back from the repair facility and we agreed he would call me when they were ready so I could I inspect before they installed tires. No phone call but I got an email telling me that they had installed the tires and everything looked good. Totally disregarded what I said. I know what happened. They did not have the correct "TAL" weights that came on the truck from the factory so they used steel wheel weights on the inside rear and stick on weights for the front hoping I would be satisfied.........wrong!

Here we go again. They have had my truck for 31 days now!!

 

Any updates or solutions to this problem?

 

I finally got my truck back after 32 days. 6 new tires. My time were repaired and everything was balanced. I installed my Tru Balance wheel centering sleeves and it drives much better. It drives like a F450 should. I'm not pleased with the way the dealer handled the entire process but at least I have my truck now. It's most likely the last one I will buy from them

 

Can you send link to the set of true balance wheel centering sleeves you bought?

 

Tru-bal.com

Very good people or deal with. They will personally answer any questions you have. The front and rear set cost me around $200

 

Wow, I really hate reading all these problems with vibration. I see it on every truck,150 and up. I saw on 150's and other blogs that some of the trucks have bad drive shafts. But trying everything with tires and nothing but trouble with dealers. Really getting nervous about getting new truck this summer.

 

Prior to finding this forum and after having already experiencing this very same problem I find the information provided here to be very interesting.

I also have a new F-450 Plat. with a vibration issue since the day it was picked up. Started at 62 mph and was most intense by 70 mph. Less than 2500 miles at this point. Dealer has replaced one rim and two tires then road force balanced the tires. It still has a vibration, different but still vibrates. I will be taking my truck back again next week after I return from a trip this week. It sounds like my dealer has taken some of the necessary steps however my truck still has the vibration issue.

Stay tuned.

 

I also have the exact same issue with the same attempts to resolve via rim replacement, tire replacement and road force balancing. At best the vibration decreased but is still very present from 75-85mph. Is it true the 450 Platinum is the only truck with 19.5" wheels and are using a combination of steel and aluminum together in the rear? The service manager at my dealer seemed to think that may be the issue.