Hi,
Here is the critical info...
1999 F-150 2wd supercab
4.6 litre
automatic
138,000 mi

Recently, I had the upper control arms, upper ball joints, and lower ball joints replaced. They also did an alignment. Since then, the truck has had what seems to be a rough, jiggly ride. I can feel every little imperfection in the road, even when moving very slowly. I've also noticed that my doors sometimes rattle now (they didn't before the work was done). On the highway, sometimes it seems that a tire will get into a bouncing condition which can continue for quit awhile. It is also harder to keep the truck centered in the lane.

I went back to the same place that did the work and told them to double check everything, (which they did, found nothing wrong).

To try to fix this, I have...
replaced the shocks (new ones are bilstein)
balanced the tires
rotated the tires
checked air pressure (32 psi)

I don't know if the following facts have anything to do with anything, but...
When I look at the upper control arm attachment points, there is a metal plate that is (I'm told) to keep the camber in the factory setting. This plate was removed on one side to adjust the camber away from the factory setting. Also, I don't see how the castor is controlled? Is there an adjustment for that. Can castor be to blame for any of this? Can cheap parts (control arm, ball joints) be to blame?

Thanks,
Confused F150 owner.

 

All I can offer is some comment because there are some unknowns.
Watch the wear pattern on the front tires for a clue that the alignment is not right. It take time for this to show up or you should consider going to another shop to have them look at the alignment.
Another thing is when these trucks are used mostly for daily transportation and depending on the tire, we tend to run the tire pressure a bit too hard.
I just had state inspection and saw the mechanic go around and adjust tire pressue. So now they are a bit on the hard side.
My Screw always feels like the front suspension is tight like a bow string (has torsion bars) but otherwise feels good.
Yes harder tires helps fuel mileage but I also feel a lot of road surface imperfections with harder tire and 'ma' complains now and then about running hard tires.
Bottom line is, is the toe-in correct, is the caster correct and the camber.
All these has an effect on how it handles and feels.
Many shops will know what to do if there is a complaint about how it feels and acts especially if they test drive it with you and you point out what you are concerned about.
Good luck.

 

I figured out my problem(s)
This was actually a combination of two things.

First, the tire pressure was pretty high (40 psi) when I got my truck back from the shop that did the work, creating a harsher ride the before.

But.. Before I noticed the high pressure, I replaced the shocks.

When I noticed the high tire pressure, I lowered it to 32 psi, which helped a little, but the ride was still really jiggly.

And... I then noticed that the isolator bushings on the new shocks did not appear to be compressed at all. The bushings are essentially rubber hockey pucks with a hole in the middle for the shock. I read in another post that the rubber should be compress about 1 mm beyond the edge of the big metal retainer piece. I tightened them down (probably half inch of total compression). This took all of 10 minutes to do.

Now my truck rides the way it used to!!!