Will do Crystal.
Thanks,

 

Good stuff, thanks for sharing that! I read thru all 10 pages on the other site. I agree with and appreciate what you guys doing, but I also believe there's more going on. (At least in my case) Someone earlier in this thread called these trucks "hyper-sensitive" to vibrations. That is so perfectly accurate. When I pulled my drivehaft and drove around, I noticed even little bumps can shock and reverberate thru the truck. (Frame shake) What I didn't notice was the continuous vibration I normally get driving around at 44mph, that was gone.

In my case, the vibration seems to originate from the driveshaft, feels like the carrier support area. The frame and suspension seem to amplify it. Even with a 2000# load of gravel in the back, the hop is dampened, but I can feel the evil gremlin wiggling under there. So if the tires or driveshaft are not perfectly smooth, we get a whole lotta shakin goin on (when it's unloaded).

Stiffening the frame is a great idea, that I'd also like to work on. I didn't know where to start, but you guys did a great job illustrating the weak spots. Amazing in your video, how you twisted it with one arm! Maybe someday Ford will make a stronger frame on these trucks. Can you think of any upside to having a weak frame like that? I can't.

Good call on that blue nylon coating, now I see the shiny center.

 

The frame twist surprised me too, but that's kinda how/why I went the way I did...I don't think the frame is weak per se, but it certainly doesn't support itself as a whole very well IMO. As well as the bumps reverberating through the frame, it's deflecting under load (suspension pushing up on the frame) instead of absorbing the shock. I negated the tires long ago because it's happened with different tire/wheel combos and I know from working in the tire business that perfectly round tires are rare. They're always going to have a slight imbalance/harmonic to them, which is why we balance them lol.

I also think the vibration/shake is more towards the rear/carrier area, which is why I stiffened that area first and have had great results and I'll continue to try some other ideas I have.

I've been following this thread for awhile and it'll be great to see what you guys come up with over here. For awhile, it seems like we've all been treading water but maybe we're finally getting somewhere.

 

Went to Dealership last week to see if they could fix the vibration. No such luck.
Service tech said they rotated and re-balanced the tires which did help a little
but still have the vibration. Really wish I could get this issue fixed. Really annoying and I worry about long term implications on the drive train.

 

I had another service visit this week, and reached another dead end. Mine is ok sometimes, but bounces violently like a washboard other times. I asked them to look at the rear driveshaft, that I think it binds up under certain conditions. They went for a drive with a NVH analyzer and didn't pickup anything out of ordinary. Of course the truck was on it's best behavior, and they only did a 10min drive.

The tech stated a driveshaft/carrier bearing issue would repeat every time at the affected speed. He said his diagnosis is a 1st order wheel vibration, and I should go back to stock wheels. I'm really shocked they failed to prove this theory, with 10 new trucks on the lot they could have borrowed wheels from. The visit concluded in only 1.5 hours. I'm disappointed, because I spent more time just driving there. I was hoping for more testing, and at least give me a chance to reproduce the issue, but they sent me packing. I guess I'll be fixing this problem on my own.

 

Chris
If you find a fix, please let me know.
I had planned to keep this truck for several years as I near retirement.
Hate to think I may have to trade it and maybe go to another truck manufacturer. Been a Ford customer for 40 years.

 

As annoying as this is, before you jump ship, I would recommend checking the forums of other brands. You may be surprised at what issues the others are dealing with.

 

I am sure the others have their issues too and I doubt I would trade for anything other than a Ford though the new Dodge does look good.
Just frustrated with the issue.

 

I studied both Ford and the new Ram for 4 months before making my purchase. After reading the issues with each, I am not sorry I made the choice I did. I have to admit though, while I was doing my research, it was a much tighter race than I had expected, but after reading about the current issues with Ram, the race isn't as close any more.

 

I finally dropped the truck off this morning for the shudder/vibration issue. The Tech (aka my bro) submitted all the info to the folks at corporate. Tires balances-check, over GVWR/GCWR-No, suspension or wheel/tire mods-no. They came back and said replace the drive shaft with (BC3Z-4R602-MP).

I don't expect miracles on the 42-45 mph hop, but I hope it fixes the towing shudder as it was bad. I do believe the hop comes from the fact that you have a slip yoke, a carrier bearing with rubbing dampener and a u-joint all in the same location. Too many moving parts and then u-joint harmonics kick in and get amplified. Chris Stewart beat me to it (removing rear shaft), but confirmed the cause.

I did read through that other thread on the frame stiffening, but that just seems to bandage the real cause. It appears to help, but it seems to be present at small levels. Not to mention that DPF doesn't allow for a lateral-torsional brace under it without being well below the frame.

The new shaft will be installed next week sometime.

 

Looking forward to hearing if it works.

 

I wonder if your new drive shaft will include new carrier bearing. Searching that new shaft part number I see posts on a few RV sites that say this new shaft is suppose to take care of the shudder on take off when towing, maybe it will fix the rear end hop at 45 mph too.
Please keep us posted!

 

It's all integrated into the shaft so the carrier would be included.

 

x2! Also anxious to hear results from jetskier, and hoping for the best! I'm about a month away from trying the 1 piece driveshaft.

 

Patience brothers and sisters! My brother said the new shaft arrived today at the dealer and I could stop by for the swap on Thursday.