Every part of our new cars/trucks is computer machined(with tolerances). With this, comes issues. every piece out there has a range that it must fall into. This being said, if one part is at the low end of the range and the other at the high end of the range(and they fit inside of each other) your going to get problems. Take for instance the GM wrist pin slap on 3.1L engines. If you want to get a PERFECT truck, pay for ford or any other manufacturer to hand machine EVERY part and pay someone to put it together themselves(without aid of machines on assembly lines). Then it should run perfectly. Though your going to pay 5 times as much..... If you actually looked at how much parts on your cars cost, then factor in labor that would be needed to assemble it, your getting a hell of a deal at $40,000 a truck.

Everyone wants a Cadillac that will pull a house, and thats not going to happen. You asked for bigger payloads? well you get a stiffer stronger frame. You ask for more towing power? You get stiffer springs and drivetrain to handle the added weight. All of this is going to add to the performance of the truck. You say not all f150's shake. Well look back at the tolerences. Not EVERY part is machined to the same spec. Some fit better then others where they are suppose to and some don't. This leads to the issues with driveshafts or other suspension parts.


And going back to your original post. If you feel it in the seat, then it's the driveshaft. But you felt it in the wheel. So it's in the front end. Change the tires and you'll be fine. Get rid of those crappy tires and put some better higher end tires on....

 

i agree if you pay 30,000 it shouldnt have a shake, plugs shouldnt be blowin out and gaskets shouldnt be going bad. But if you don't want a ford buy a dodge so your transmission can go out or so your front tie rod ends can break while going down the road. I dont know of any complaints about chevy but i sure that they have the same little problems that ford has or the big ones that dodge have. My friend just bought a new dodge and he drills wells and pulls a big drillin rig well his tranny went out and i dont know about you but i would much rather have problems with a little vibration than a tranny problem

 

I had the steering wheel shimmy. Ford could not fix the problem until I told them to check the steering box on the rack and pinion. Had some play ( turn the steering wheel back and forth you can hear a snapping sound when turned very fast). I know that everyones truck is differant but it doesn't hurt to check.

 

A friend of mine just bought an '07 F-150 FX4 SuperCab. It has the Pirelli Scorpions and it vibrates. The vibration goes away when the truck warms up. He's pissed, but the dealer says they can't do much. Typical "road force tire balance" or new tires is what he got for options. All of the 07's on the lot have the vibration. Some have the Scorpions, some don't. I'm glad I bought my '03 F-150 instead of waiting for the '04.

That new full-size Tundra looks real nice. It might be my next new truck, or an F-250.

 

Just wait, the new Tundra WILL have it's own set of common issues be it vibrations or what ever... Go drive a 250, and you'll find vibration in droves..... Especially if it's got 18's, those Conti's are worse then what we get on our 150's....

 

Yes, the 250 is going to have more shake/vibration. It is a beefier truck.... The larger the parts used the worse the ride is going to be. Like was said before about the corvette being the same price. May be, but it's also half the weight as well as the parts being half as thick. Like I've been saying, if you want it to ride like a caddy go buy one. If you want a truck that u can haul/pull with then buy one. Don't expect miracles. And anytime you buy a totally new truck, your going to have problems. If you don't like how it's handling, wait 2 years and buy one after all the kinks have been worked out.....

 

Is a smooth, vibration-free ride considered a miracle in a vehicle costing upwards of 40K? No previous Ford I've owned had this vibration, and they didn't cost near as much. And they hauled anything I asked them to, be it my 18 ft. boat, 4 wheelers, lumber, concrete, and sod. Wait 2 years? Let's see, the new design came out in '04, mine is a '06, still has the vibration issue. Guess some kinks take longer than 2 years to get worked out! Hopefully Ford will address this issue with the '09 re-design, or some longtime Ford owners will be looking hard at the competition.

 

I originally found this board when I was having a vibration problem with my 04 F-150. The vibration issue has been well known and documented since then. I was one of the last people to go through the "Dispute Settlement Board" and have been driving my 05 F-250 since. {See my post history for the full story}

If the issue was just one of customer perception {you expect a Cadilac ride from a truck} Ford would not have spent millions to develop add on solutions like the dampner kits. They would not have replaced thousands and thousands of tires, driveshafts, transmissions and rear ends. Dealers would not have techs spending hours chasing a problem that didn't exist, nor would Ford pay the warranty costs associated with it.

If I remember correctly it was Ford that was advertising the "smoothest, quietest truck ever built". It doesn't seem unreasonable to get what they are offering.

My 250 drives like a truck. I expect it to drive like a truck and handle like a truck and feel like a truck. I had similar expectations from my 04 F-150 and what I got was a truck with a vibration problem. That problem was never solved, it was returned to Ford via the now extinct DSB and replaced with my F-250.

 

Hey. New to site. I've been reading all of your comments about the problems w/ vibrations. I have an '06 F150 4x4 and just took it in today for "The vibration". I have 21,000 miles on it and it began on 3-15-07. My truck begins to shake in the rear around 40-50 mph, then becomes severe in the steering wheel at 60 mph. This is the 1st Ford I have owned. My wife has had Fords since she began driving and still has never encountered a problem. But also when my problem began, I had the Edge Evo programmer in it. I don't know if that caused or contributed to the problem.

 

The shake in the rear could very well be your Emergency brakes hanging up just enough to warp and overheat the rear rotors just happened to mine and thats what it was the E-barkes were stuck on even though the E-brake light was not on. It is a common problem with these trucks the E-brake mechanism rusts out ..I also have the steering wheel shimmy at 60-and still have not been able to have it fixed by my dealer. I cannot see how the programmer could have any relation to your problems.. I'm about to get new tires next week..It's a shame so many folks are having these common problems I'm so sick of the steering wheel shimmy if the new tires can't cure it Im trading it right away and not for another 150.

 

Your problem actually sounds like a different problem. There is a good chance your parking brake is hanging up. Have your dealer check this. I believe there is a TSB referring to this problem also. This problem can cause the truck to shake rather violently.

 

Thanks for the recommendation(s) of what the potential culpret is. These are newer tires as of 10,000 miles (now 21,000). I had them rotated the day the problems began thinking it WAS the tires. Unfortunately not. So, the E-brake could cause the steering wheel shimmy/shake at 60+ mph? I am/was worried that the programmer did it.

 

Ive got an 05 Lariat and it has 26,000 miles and my steering wheel shimmys at 60 and above I had my dealer road force balanced the tires( stock BF Goodrich rugged trails) and it helped a little and lasted only for around 2,000 miles..just recently(last week) my truck started to vibrate/ shake at around 40 or so and that turned out to be the E-brake dragging/sticking..you may have two different problems going on all I know is that the E-brake is a very common problem and when it drags or sticks the result is a vib in the rear end or whole truck at around 40-45....from what Ive read and from my experience the steering wheel shimmy/nibble at 60 or so is in the front end tires/rack etc etc. etc. but according to my dealer the tires are the main cause of all the steering wheel shimmy problems he sees he tries to purchase multiple sets of tires until he finds one that will meet Fords TSB specs...Im getting the Bridgestone Revos A/T because from what I understand they have a newer technology and they manufacture a much rounder tire from the factory and everyone who Ive talked to say that they balance out with very little weight..hope it works out for you and your dealer can get to the bottom of it..

 

Im surprized there are even enough people who even use the E brake these days to have pinpointed that as a potential problem. I think I use my Ebrake once every 5 years average.

 

Inever used mine but when I had my truck in for service they used it for the first time in two years when they parked my truck on an incline and when I took it home the next day it started to shake.my dealer said they had one come off the car carrier brand new with it frozen.. must be a great design!!