Cody you have made some very good points. Now the numbers on the rear don't look that bad / within spec but I thought to myself didn't Stinky get rear end about a year ago? Well if the frame wasn't straightened correctly and the frame was just alittle out of spec when you did a FEA the machine would want you to compensate by moving the front end specs to square up with the rear wheels. The FEA machine is always going to take for grant it the rear end is square with the frame or where it should be in relationship to the frame on a truck like our's with a non adjustable rear. So what I would want to see is the print out of FEA before / after that was done right after it was first rear ended.

The numbers don't look bad up front either but I agree I would want to see more camber. I would also want alittle less caster but that is me. Because I like my FEA specs to be in the middle of spec and within a .25* from side to side. I had a FEA about a month ago and the tech thought I was a ***** with OCD which I am. But the guy did a great job and made me happy. I think it was 2.75* and 2.50* on caster and camber was .50* both sides and 1/16" toe in. I had actually asked for 1/8" toe in Oh well. I'll change the toe myself if needed but I can only judge that when I towing. By the way I couldn't find a shop that had a Hunter FEA machine that would do my dually due to not being able to do a roll out and none of the shops knew how to do a compensation without a roll out. I know for fact it can be done but whatever. So I had my done on a old school machine with bubble gauges.


And for you guys that don't know and tow heavy you would want to make sure that you get .25* to .50* of camber because when you put weight in the back it changes your camber and toe some and even more going down the road. Cody did a great job explaining it.

 

New tires and you still have the same growl/shaking as before, I'd look at the sealed front wheel bearings. That is the noise they make when they start to fail.
Just digging for answers with this but has Stinky ever been in an accident?

 

BadDogKuzz answered my question while I was typing. What I was going for is, did the the front end ever hit anything hard enough to mess up the front end? Even with that fixed now it could be possible that it bent a front wheel hub as that will make a correct alignment impossible.

 

If I am correct Stinky was hit in the back end. Kissed in the rear bumper
Now mind you my truck is a 2wd so I don't have seal hub bearing. But I am having a growling issue up front with my wifes Blazer and it's either tires or hub bearings. In the past I have had sealed hub bearing sometimes last 100k and I have had sealed hub bearing go bad in 30k. So just because they have been replaced doesn't mean they are good. The last one that went bad after about 30k I couldn't tell for sure until I had the axle out out of it and then I spun the hub can could hear it. But I got lucky that time because I would have been really mad if I took it all apart and it wasn't bad. Actually at that point I was changing it either way.

 

Stinky wasn't kissed on the bumper. A drunk driver lost control, flew up an embankment, and came up from under and behind Stinky, smacking him square on the stinger. It lifted him up and moved his *** into the next parking stall. Yes, Stinky was parked. When Stinky did his pirouette, he wedged the car into a tree. My wife and I were facing Stinky from the restaurant and saw the whole thing happen, as did half the patrons in the restaurant. Hit-and-run driver's car bled out 4 blocks from the scene and driver was arrested. There was diamond damage, but it was taken in an squared up at that time.





Side Shift




Front Left




Front Right




Big Bend



We had no problem identifying the driver. Aside from me chasing him while he was driving off (getting a good description and the rear plate number), he left a souvenir.









Oh... and that license frame: It now resides on Stinky's lower lip - like a pirate wearing the earring of one of his victims.


Guys, I really can't stress this enough - there is nothing old in the nose, except the track bar bushings and steering box (looking into that). The front stub axles and bearings - new. Drag link end, ball joints, locking hubs, tires, and whatever I can't remember the name of is new this summer, or within the last two or three years. The front differential was serviced this summer, when the rear differential was rebuilt. All has been inspected by multiple front-end guys that seem to know a little more about the parts up there than I. I swear to gawd... Stinky is a new truck with an old block. These mechanics go for a drive, look at the shiny parts, and go "Whelp - no easy money here. Give him his keys".

Now... if anyone is telling me I have a faulty new part in the nose - please tell me the test to see if the new part is bad.

 

I have put hundreds of vehicles on an alignment rack and the thrust angle of Stinky is about as perfect as one would get with a SuperDuty......unless an accident were to actually "true-up" what little bit of misalignment was built into the truck from the factory.



To each their own. For the amount of highway driving a person has to do around here to get anywhere, more caster is the way to go. If a vehicle were to spend its life in town, I agree, less caster will take a bit of "weight" out of the steering effort needed by the driver. These trucks are heavy in the front and they need more caster to help hold the wheels straight at high speeds.

 

This is excellent. For those of us in a fog regarding the finessing of the front, the last few posts are worthy of a print-out to take to our front-end guys and hash it out. I now feel sufficiently armed for the ensuing debate with the keeper of the almighty alignment apparatus.

 

Cody thanks for your insight on frontend specs on these SuperDuty's it is very helpful info. Mind you I am by no means an expert when it comes to FEA but I do know what I personally am looking for in feed back from my steering wheel and the way it drives down the road. I have had to work closely with front end guys over the years. Now I am a expert when it comes to frame straightening and I have seen all kinds of issues rear their head when a frame is not in spec. If I recall correctly the frame specs on the SuperDuty were not all that tight from the factory. Actually any full frame vehicle the specs are sloppy compared to a unibody. But I am sure you are right about Stinky's frame and diff placement I am still interested to see what the before frontend specs were before FEA after the frame repair.

Rich I am sorry that my input isn't helpful or that spit balling ideas that might pertain to Stinky just aren't any help. But I figured it can't hurt to throw ideas out there and see if any stick?? I believe there is something there but I think the problem is you are too astute which leads to you finding any little nuance in Stinky. I hope you find that needle in a hay stack.

 

Rich - not sure if this was mentioned in the last 3 pages of track bar discussion, but get an friend to help, and do this:

Start the truck, have the friend see-saw the steering wheel back and forth (fairly aggressively). In the meantime, you are under the front end watching for lateral axle movement vs. the frame and/or leaf springs. Also, watch each track-bar end carefully for bushing movement.

The tire-to-ground friction puts a good load on the track bar and axle, vs. the frame, and will show any play in this bar. Of course, there will be a little 'give' in the system due to spring bushings and leaf spring movement, but I suspect you will see that the track bar is tight and is doing its job.

It's difficult for an alignment shop (or you and I, for that matter) to put enough static load on a track bar to see if it's sloppy. You need a dynamic load that will show the slop, if any - and this test is it.

I foolishly bought Energy Suspension track bar replacement bushings before carefully studying by bushings, and it turns out, my OEM bushings are still fine. I felt the truck doing a little side-shuffle when changing lanes and brilliantly thought I had diagnosed the problem. My leaf-sprung Land Cruisers do this too, so part of this chassis nervousness is (I believe) inherent to leaf sprung vehicles, or at least, primitive ones.

 

Whoa.... I didn't mean to come across that way. I emphatically apologize. Maybe I'm losing track of where I've posted all the details of everything being new, but my anxiety on this is elevated beyond normal because of a deadline looming. Once this deadline has passed, I can dial it back down to 5 (or lower) and approach this in a more methodical manner. I am getting some really screwy feedback from the truck, and it hasn't helped my demeanor. {hat in hand, even though it's cold} Again, I apologize for being short with my friends here.

Nutshelling it: My last set of tires lasted 18 months - that's $60 a month for tires alone. Everybody that drives the truck agrees something is amiss, beyond normal old-truck syndrome. Almost nobody wants a piece of it (including people unaware of my perfectionist streak). All my efforts and investment can't seem to resolve this one thing that everybody agrees "ain't right". Throw engine shake on there and my spring is wound pretty tight. Being close to home, big flippin' deal - I have a backup vehicle. This will not be the case soon. Going on a long haul through the Cascades and the Sierras in the winter with a Prius has zero appeal - and driving long with mystery engine issues and a shaking fist has less. I wonder if it's too late to buy airline tickets and reserve a rental 4X4.

 

Perfect. I can do that at work during a lunch break. Thank you for that.

 

Rich, I know you have replaced the locking portion of the front hubs. But have you looked at these?
More Information for TIMKEN 515020

I replaced mine back this spring. I had a growl for a long time. The way I found out these were bad was I jacked up the front and pulled the ABS to squirt some grease in there. It was at this point that I noticed the roughness in turning the hub. To get to the ABS, you have to remove the brake caliper and rotor. With the wheel, rotor, and brake caliper on, I could not notice a problem.

 

I can have the shop pull the brakes to inspect the units that were installed in May for $1000.00. I have the receipt and they are under warranty.

 

Keep your head up Rich !!!!

John might be on to something here. Ive been following this thread and as far as FEA goes I'm out !

Now i have gone through 3 sets of front wheel hubs in 155kmi. Orignals lasted 120 or so and i was replacing them with brand X from Advance Auto. Some no name brand. Finally did some research and got the Timkins like John posted in his link. Have Greased them once since 2012. SO FAR...... these Timkins have out done all the others.

Now to relate that to your vibration........ (sorry got off topic a bit, good thing i cant talk into the computer and it type for me ) when ever i had a hub start to go bad or fail man it was almost identical to what you are describing. I could never feel much movement when grabbing the tire but when spun i could hear clicking and popping. Installed new hubs and the vibration shaking was gone.


On your bushings (sway bar , link ends etc ) i have replaced the trac bar back in 2008 i think and link ends at the same time. I know they are bad now because when turning and hitting a hole bump etc i could and now again can hear a popping in my suspension. This went away after i did sway bar link bushings and trac bar bushings. If you are hearing a similar noise in the same scenario then yours might be shot too, but no vibration or shaking from mine.


Don't know if this helps but just thought id do my best to help out

 

Stinky is in the shop tomorrow, I will have them set the alignment with the specs from this thread and verify the condition of the front bearings. They found the first set of bad bearings, but another shop installed them. The track bar bushings are going in, because they look rough and it's the last of the old parts up there - and yes, I noticed a new obnoxious noise on the left when going over bumps this summer. I never looked into it before. I'm also having a radiator flush and fill - to rid myself of the last remnants from the oil cooler rebuild. They will have a good look at the motor mounts, but I have my doubts on that one.


I have a strong suspicion that this could be a case of the wrong alignment specs coupled with a new style of tire that doesn't forgive that, but we'll see.