Well, unfortunately for me the driveshaft balance did not fix the problem. I made it about 2 blocks from dealership and at about 40 mph, she started doing the little vibration/hop. It has never been a violent shake or hop, just enough to drive you crazy - and be uncomfortable after a peiod of time.

Lastly, its embarassing with friends/family in my new 80k(Canadian) truck to ask me what is going on with that weird bouncing deal and tell me how encomfortable it is. Keep you all posted on the future steps/repairs.

 

How do you know the driveshaft they installed wasn't out-of-balance?

You and the mechanic should find a truck on the lot that's identical to yours and take it for a test drive. If it hops, don't use that driveshaft. Find another truck. The idea would be to find a truck that's identical to yours and doesn't hop.

Then pull that driveshaft and install it in your pickup, now drive yours and see if the hop is there or not.

Then take the pickup you robbed the driveshaft from and drive that one, with YOUR original driveshaft installed.

Compare notes and see if either truck was effected by swapping driveshafts.

If the other truck did NOT hop and that driveshafts in YOUR pickup, and your pickup still hops...then the driveshaft is not the issue.
If the other truck did NOT hop and that driveshafts in YOUR pickup, an your pickup does NOT hop anymore...then YOUR driveshaft was an issue.
If the other truck did NOT hop and your original driveshaft is in THAT pickup, and that pickup NOW hops...then your driveshaft is an issue.
See what I'm going after?

The idea is to take note of all the variables, and work toward crossing a variable off the list until you get down to a couple of possibilities. Don't add an "unknown" factor tot he list...such as another driveshaft if you don't know that it's good or not.

If I was the engineer with the task of solving this problem, I would find a truck that's identical to yours that does NOT hop. Same body configuration, same drivetrain, same everything. Swap parts between the two trucks and take a test drive in both trucks between each part swap. Somewhere along the line, you'll find a poor batch of parts.

I have two Jeep CJ's...they're setup the same so that problem diagnosis can be easy. So, I do this ALL the time!

Yes, it is VERY VERY VERY aggrivating tossing all that cash for a new truck that SHOULD perform flawlessly, I too would be FURIOUS!!!!!
However, looking from the other side of the fence, it's always nice to work WITH a customer, rather than work AGAINST them. I'm self-employed, it's MUCH MUCH easier and quicker to resolve an issue working WITH someone and focusing your attention on the issue, rather than working AGAINST someone and focusing your attention on how to deal with that customer.

For the sake of your issue, work with the dealership to find a comparable truck to yours and perform ALL the tests you can think of. From what I've read, the head Mechanic wants to solve this issue as much as you do...he's willing to work with ya it seems!

 

Have you read the thousands of posts on this issue on this forum or any others? You might want to before you go much further. I believe Ford engineering knows *exactly* what causes this issue, but that they either can't or don't wish to fix it (probably due to cost). The fact that they have bought back trucks due to this issue is the key to my thinking.

They know...they don't want to tell.

 

Thanks for the input blueovel. That is what I had planned to do. I am going to my dealership on Thurs. to drives two other duallies on the lot to see if they have the same issue. If not, they will find the fix, or so they say. Keep you posted. Cheers.

 

Dude it has to be bacause the weight distribution,if you empty it's only happens ! So this is it ! I use to have it on my 07 Tundra (traided) Because the long weel base and 8' bed .I dont have it on new truck ,its stiffer ,but its HD truck ...
Put 10 bags of concrete in there .

 

He said the hop is still there even when towing his 8500 pound 5th wheel trailer.

 

I have to ask you if you read the whole thread? There has been a lot of ground covered here. Unless you read it all, you are responding from a position of informational shortfall.

Regards

 

sorry missed that one ! You you can get it fixed ! Fill your pain ......

 

i have a similar situation with my truck. 2011 f250 4x4 diesel short bed crew cab FX4. bought brand new and since it was new i had the bounce in mine. i thought it was wheels... took back for rebalance... no fix... took wheels off and replaced with aftermarket... still no fix... its right at 45 mph then again at right around 60. i KNOW its not the wheels and tires because ive had them balanced and indexed and everything you can do to a rim and tire to make sure its true and straight. i put new bilsteins 5100 shocks on... HUGE improvement on the ride but still hops at 45mph. my stock shocks were DEAD at 5000 miles like you push them in and they dont pop back out. Thanks ford.

whats also odd is my 2008 did the EXACT same thing right at about 42-47 mph.

anyways... add me and my truck to the list of people that has the same situation here. ive tried to correct it all to no avail as of yet and really dont want to spend any more time dealing with it. just thought it might help someone else.

 

My 2006 F550 crew cab 4x4 long bed has this identical problem. I thought it was unique to my truck. I have tried centramatics and it seems to actually aggravate the bounce. I don't have leaf springs, I have a complete airbag system. Hard as a rock and never squats. I spoke with those at centramatic and they decided that there must be something out of alignment in the rear. They said centramatics can aggravate an existing problem if it is not a tire balance problem. I have had the alignment checked at 2 different places and there is no problem there. I have just had a used gear vendors installed with a shortened front shaft and both shafts should have been balanced (I'll double check that they were). I'll know today how it goes with the bounce.
I think the arbitration and it being a health issue is just not right. It's not about it being health issue. It's about the product performing to the standards that the majority of the rest do. It's about Ford not fixing it after giving them so many tries.

 

Well, my bounce seems to have disappeared with the addition of the gear vendors and shortening and balancing the drive shafts. If it is not completely gone, then the centramatics seem to be able to compensate for it.

 

Sti470,
Can you educate me on what gear venders are?

Thanks,

 

It's an aftermarket overdrive. It connects after the transmission where the tailshaft is. It requires that the driveshaft be shortened to fit. Gear Vendors under/overdrive transmissions the most awarded auxiliary transmissions.
They are very expensive but every once in a while you can find a good deal on craigslist. Craigslist now has free software that will allow you to automatically search through every posting across the country so it makes searching easier. Last I checked there was a guy on another forum PSN that had one for sale

 

2004 f350 srw long bed crew cab. YES i HAVE the HOP!!
its driving me crazy. just did new ball joints,new sway bar end links and bilstein shocks/struts. still there. maybe not as bad but its there.

 

This is the 2011 forum. You should post in the SD main thread.