I have an 07' F250 superduty 6.0 crew cab Lariat. I have had a shutter and vibration in my drive train for a couple of years now and I am sick of trying to track it down. Hope you guys can give some input or direction.

Symptoms: From a start the truck is smooth up to 40 mph. At 40mph a shake/shutter/vibration kicks in and is there up to 62 MPH. After that it smoothes out but then vibrates again between 75-80 mph. Also, when pulling a trailer I will get a bad shutter from take off. The vibration in the drive train comes from under the driver seat and back. I get no vibration or shake in the steering wheel.

Things I've done: Removed drive shaft and greased slip yolk. Drove truck with no rear drive shaft used front wheels to pull it down the road. All viration and shake gone. Took drive shaft to drive line shop all u-joints replaced and new carrier bearing installed. Shutter and vibration better but not gone. Just had trans overhauled last week due to a delayed reverse engagement. Installed a brand new complete driveshaft assembly from ford. Still have shutter/vibration between 40-62mph when accelerating and when coasting to a stop. High speed vibrations are still there also. A $2300.00 trans overhaul, a $1000.00 driveshaft assembly, and I even tried new tires a while back at $1400.00 and no change. Any input or direction would be great as this viration is getting to be damn expensive. Anybody had issues with the rear diff or the transfer case causing similar symptoms? These are the only two things in the drive line that haven't been relaced or overhauled.

 

Congratulations,........you have just discovered a problem nearly all super duty 250 and 350's have. It is lovingly referred to as the "Death Wobble". If you will search this site for that term you will find all sorts of ideas, answers, etc. Good Luck!

 

Crazy. I started a thread a week or so ago about the same thing. Look for "Vibration at Highway speeds" I had many jump in with the same issue. I'm still searching for the answer too. My truck is an 02 SC / 4x4/ 6.5 bed/ 5.4 auto.

 

John Wright,

This issue, the shutter/vibration, is not the same as the death wobble.

 

I've had an audible occasional frame resonance noise only while under load since the truck was new, like a vibration you cannot feel if that makes sense. I've always figured that it was because its a fairly heavy duty truck and an XL which doesnt give much cab isolation. 92k and it doesnt manifest itself beyond the occasional annoying noise. When I installed my seats and tunes I dynamatted all the sheet metal but I still hear it.

 

A "yummyummyumm" kind of vibration in the 2-3k~hz frequency is drive train. A jiggling vibration can be suspension or tires. I had the dreaded driveline vibe in my last two 4x2 Rams. Dodge finally gave up and I came back to Ford. Problem solved. However, I've never had good luck with tire shops being able to balance tires. It must be rocket science or something beyond what $8 an hour will buy. Michelins have given me the best ride while Continentals seem to be made in egg shaped molds. I get a bounce from 45-50mph and then again from 75- to around 180mph.

 

My frame or exhaust will occasionally ring in my XLT under load. Not sure what it is but I don't lose sleep about it. What caught me attention was seats. Did you install aftermarket seats in your truck? My 8 way power seats are on par with cheap folding lawn chairs. I would love to install some better seats in my truck.

 

Ok, I did a search on "Death Wobble" and this is definatley not the issue I have with my "Built Ford Junk" I have a definate loose vibration directly under my seat at 40 to 62 mph and it turns into a tight vibration at higher speeds.

 

Thats the vibration my thread was about too. I have done everyting to my truck that you have. I'g going to swap rear rims and tires when I get time with a buddie's truck. Tis the season, both of us have been to busy.

If it is not the rims/tires, then I am 100% cluesless.

 

Hmmm, I was going to suggest engine or trans mount loose or broken, but if you just had a trans put in, I'm sure they would have noticed that.

 

Had a something simular going on with my 04 F-350. Mine is four wheel drive and after doing many different things finally the older owner of a local tire shop checked my rims and found that three of them where out of round. Replaced the rims and vibration stopped.

 

Assuming you're not experiencing any low speed launch shudder, I would try shimming the center support bearing down about 3/8" and see what happens. As a general rule on newer SD's, launch shudder is cured by raising the center support and high speed vibration is cured by lowering it.

 

Dines78,
Are you the original owner ? Looked under the truck near the tail shaft/transferee case
for a big counter weight. If it's not there you may be one of the trucks that need it.
It is there to stop some harmonics from the drive train. People have been known to
remove then thinking that they are not needed and have not had problems and some
have had problems and some don't have it and need it.
Also while your under there check the drive line to see that it is straight line from the
flange to the rear differential. In other words check the center bearing to hake sure
it did not get offset somehow.

Sean

 

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I have owned this money pit since new. I do have the large counter wieght on my drive shaft but have exhausted the possilbiity that the drive shaft is causing my problem. The original drive shaft had same symptoms, original shaft rebuilt and balanced had same symptoms, a used shaft I installed had same symptoms, and a new complete shaft assembly from Ford is producing the same symptoms. I would think if it was shaft alignment or balance I would get some kind of change.

On another note, this is the most expensive vehicle I had ever purchased at $52,0000.00 and it has been the biggest piece of crap I have ever owned. After more than 15 times into the dealer for warranty repairs and then out of pocket repairs that an expired warranty doesn't cover I contacted Ford to discuss what they were going to do to regain my faith in them. They offered me $500.00 cash back on one of their new $60,0000.00 trucks with the 6.7 diesel. I'm guessing that was suppose to be a joke because I'm sure as hell not going to by another hunk of **** from them after this truck.

 

Have you checked the rear yoke on the differential? Mine wore or spread and wasn't holding the u join tight. But I was also eating rear u joints every 20k miles.