I posted a problem on here a couple of months ago concerning a severe shimmy on an 01 F250 superduty 2wd. I took the truck back to the dealer and they found nothing wrong with it. The front end shimmy continues to worsen and happens more frequently now. I have looked under the front of an 02 F250 and an 03 F250 (both rwd) and noticed that they have an idler arm on the steering linkage. My 01 doesn't have this idler arm but I was wondering if an idler arm would help stabilize the front end when hitting bumps in the road and why my truck doesn't have one on it

 

I guess I'll have to respond to my own post. This is a dangerous vehicle on the highway because the violent shimmy can happen at any time without warning and I fear that something is going to break in the steering linkage eventually. I think that I will file a complaint with the NHTSA and see if they care because Ford sure doesn't GREENGO

 

Couldn't be sure without experiencing it myself but some 4x4's have a steering stabilizer, you could put one on your 4x2 but I would first try to rotate the tires.

 

have you checked the ball joints? mine had a shimmy and it got bad ,the uppers and lowers were shot at 47,000 miles. as for the stablizer i ordered one for mine a (2x4) from summit and they sent me one for a 4x4 when called about they said that they did not know of any one who made it for 2x4.
hope this helps

 

The local dealer checked everything in the front end at 22000 miles and said it was okay and the truck now has 24000 miles on it and is getting worse. What year is your truck Kittyhawk and does it have a idler arm on the steering linkage. Did you ever have it back to the dealer for the shimmy?

 

greenego, did your dealer rep. go for a ride? If so, did he/she experience the shimmy? Have you gone under the truck and visually look for something loose? Have you talked to a front-end mechanic?

 

No one went for a ride with me but they test drove the truck while they had it and didn't have a problem. I have been under the truck myself and could only find very slight wear in the tie rod ends which are greased regularly. Lastly , I haven't talked to a front end mechanic yet but I am and also I'm going back to the dealer and have someone ride with me because I know the places where I can get the truck to shimmy.

 

Sounds like a good idea. Keep us posted what your findings are.
Another thought, are your tires out-of-balance, out-of-round, or maybe the wheels loose?

 

hi greenego, my truck is a 02 250 cc 5.4, truth be told its the wifes mine is a 79 jeep cj-5 .
I have dont rember on the steering just could not make it work at all.

Like the other post askes have you checked all your tires.
Long story short had a flat,got tires rotated and balanced and the ****** did not tighten the lugs to speck 165ft lbs and warped the rotors front and back.but they eat it and fixed it.

hope they fix your problem.

Dave

 

my 99 250 sd had a shimmy ...at 40/45, when i hit a hole (or sometimes just running)...the front end shimmyed and you had to yank the wheen to stop it...dealer said "okay"....tire place said "ok"....

when i rotated front/rear tires...it stopped.....next front/rear...it started....problem was a seperated belt...

put ne set of michlins on it, never happened agagin!

julian