My 1999 Ford F150 has 150,000 miles on it. I just installed a set of Bilstein shocks which improved the ride a lot. I would like to know what else I should inspect for wear in the suspension. I am changing all the rotors and pads shortly. That would be a good time to change anything else if it's needed.

 

Jack up the front of the truck under a lower control arm. Then take a piece of wood and slide it under the tire/wheel and lift up against the tire. Any play will show up in the lower joint.

I had mine replaced at approx 130k miles as they had what seemed to be a 1/4 inch of movement in the joints. Surprisingly, it drove good before I had them replaced.

 

I am changing all the brake rotors and pads this week. The reason I am changing those is because of a pulsation. Actually the whole truck shakes when I apply the brakes.
I am hoping that replacing all the brakes fixes the problem but I have a feeling it won't. It feels like there is more than just warped rotors causing it.

Sometimes when I am driving and I hit a small bump the whole truck seems to shake. I recently installed new shocks, which helped, but I feel that the truck still isn't right. It seems to "jiggle" too much. I know that doesn't make too much sense but I don't know how else to describe it.

Does this sound like bad ball joints? The truck seems to handle ok, although it does seem to lean more than I would like. Especially when turning left. That could be my imagination but it does seem to lean more when I make a sharp left handed turn.

 

Check the ball joints, the idler arm, and the sway bar links.

 

pulsating when you hit the brakes sure sounds a whole lot like bad rotors to me.

 

Me too. That's why I am changing all the rotors and pads. What's strange is that normally when rotors warp the pulsation is consistent. When the fronts warp you can feel it in the steering wheel. When the rears warp you tend to feel it more in the seat of your pants.

I guess after I replace all the brakes I will know more.

 

you should turn the rotors/drums if there is still enough thickness rather than replace them, it will probably save you some $$$ if you turn them. Most auto parts stores will do them if they have a machine shop. As far as the other stuff, I would start replacing/fixing the cheapest and/or easiest parts first before tackling ball joints. I have never done ball joints, but i have heard they are a pain in the *** to do! Maybe save them for last. Good luck.

 

I started replacing the brakes tonight. I didn't have all the parts with me so all I installed so far was the rear rotors. The front rotors and all the pads were at my door step when I got home. I left the truck at work and will be installing everything else tomorrow. I also already removed the front rotors. I wanted to make sure they would come off after reading so many horror stories of them rusting to the hub. They came off with very little fuss. A few sprays of penetrating fluid and a few wacks with a hammer and they popped off. I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I will post again after I've finished installing the brakes.

I got new rotors because the fronts were beyond cutting and I got a good deal for all four rotors. I just bought this truck a few months ago. It has 153,000 miles on it and I'm not positive what has and hasn't been changed over the years. I got all 4 rotors and pads for less than $200.00 shipped on Ebay. I figured for that price it was worth replacing everything even knowing all the current pads still have a lot of meat left. I am not a big fan of cutting rotors. Every time I have cut rotors in the past they warped again but only much sooner than when they were new.

I will post again once I finish installing the brakes. If the "jiggle" is still there than I think I will do the ball joints next. They appear to be original. If they aren't gone yet I'm sure they will be soon since the truck has so many miles on it. Plus at Rockauto.com I can get Moog ball joints, both sides, upper and lower, for less than 200 bucks. Installing them doesn't seem that tough. I have access to a press and I will rent the proper tool from Autozone. It doesn't seem too difficult after reading the awesome step by step instructions I found on this site.

 

I had to install new wheels last week because I hit a bad pothole and dented two rims. I realized after installing the new wheels that the passenger side inner tie rod was damaged in the pothole incident. Now that I have to replace one tie rod I decided I would change them all as well as the ball joints.

Before I hit the pothole and I had finished installing the new brakes the jiggle was still there. While braking the pulsation is completely gone but the jiggle is still there. I figure it has to be either the tie rods, which I now need to replace anyways, or the ball joints. I ordered the following kit on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ball-Joint-TIE-ROD-Control-Arm-Ford-EXPEDITION-F150-KIT_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33580QQihZ014QQitem Z330033525760QQtcZphoto

After I get all that stuff installed I will post again.

 

I used to own a 77 Datsun pickup and after I bought it, the steering wheel would shake rather violently after hitting a bump in the road. The truck had bias ply tires on it and after a reccomendation from a mechanic who also told me that it was the lower joints, I installed a set of radial play tries the eliminated 95% of the shaking. I did replace the lower joints and it cured all the shaking.

Now on my 97 F-150, it drove good, even with the worn joints. The front brakes pulsated when applying them and new pads plus turning the rotors cured that.

In fact, I just had them turned again along with pad replacement because of that same problem. The brakes had 30k miles on them. Plus, my mechanic turned the rear drums putting some kind of crosshatch finish on the inside and that cured the problem of rear brakes locking up under moist conditions after sitting a length of time.

 

beekermartin, thanks for all the post. i have been having the same problems and was informed that i needed new rotors, pads, and calipers. i have replaced all and still have viberation. i will be looking forward to your new post.

furrby

 

Part one is done! Well, the right side is done. I ran out of time tonight. I replaced the inner and outer tie rod ends, the lower ball joint and the upper control arm. It wasn't too bad. The only problem I ran into was with the ball joint press tool I rented from Autozone. It didn't have the parts I needed to fully seat the new joint. I found a piece that allowed me to finish seating the joint. That problem took me over an hour to figure out what I could use to make the tool work. When I do the left side it won't take me nearly as long.

After that was done everything else went pretty smooth. I did snap a grease fitting by overtightening it! I wasn't using much pressure but I guess it doesn't take much to snap those so becareful.

One thing that is a PITA is tightening the upper control arm bolts with the wheels on the ground. With the tire on there isn't much room to fit a torque wrench.

I am going to do the left side tomorrow. Once that is done I will get an alignment. I measured the old tie rod and set the new one to the same length but I drove it home tonight and the alignment is definately off.

I will post again once I am all done.

 

All done!

I finished the left side on Thursday night. I also installed new sway bar links.

I work for a Honda dealership so I did an alignment last night. I got the toe dialed in perfectly but unfortunately I couldn't adjust the camber. There is something wrong with our alignment rack. When I lowered the lift so I could adjust the upper arm the lift wouldn't level itself. It is suppose to level automatically when I hit the "level" button but it wouldn't work properly. The passenger side would sit slightly higher than the drivers side. It needs to be serviced. When it is high enough to adjust the tie rods it levels properly but when it is lowered it won't level out. No big deal. The camber wasn't off by much anyways. I may bring it to a professional tire shop next week and have them align it for me. I haven't installed a camber bolt kit yet and I'm sure a professional tire/alignment shop would have those.

Anyway, the truck handles much better now. It doesn't lean as much as it did while turning or around corners. It also tracks straight as an arrow. I do still have some "jiggle" on the highway but I think that is because of the fairly stiff Bilstein shocks.

 

I can still feel something wrong in the steering. Like there is still some play somewhere. So I removed the skid plate so I could see the idler arm better. As I figured to find the idler arm is shot. I am going to order a new one tomorrow.

Should I repace the pitman arm as well? I figure I already replaced everything else why stop now! Seriously, are the pitman arms also known for wearing out? There is a joint on it that is similar to the tie rods and ball joints.

 

my idler arm was shot, but the pitman was o.k. so i left it. you cna move the tire back and forth and inspect where the extra movement is located to see if it needs done.