Banging my head on this one. A short while back I put new tires on the front of my truck. Ran down the street and had a front end alignment done and away I went full of giggles and grins.

A couple of weeks later I installed 4 new matching tires to what I had placed on the front axle. The truck developed a vibration or feel that made me think one of the rear tires were out of round or had a manufacturer issue with the belts. The truck went back for tire balancing 4 times before the decision was made to pull those tires and replace them with Michelins all the way around.

I still have that feeling of a out of round tire even with the new Michelins in place. I have played with the tire pressure. Played with adjusting the Rancho 9000rs shocks. Tried driving on different road surfaces. The feel of the wiggle/vibration/wobble will vary and will usually be more prevalent at speeds of 65mph and higher.

The steering wheel tracks true, the truck does not pull to either side and any movement in the steering wheel while driving can be easily attributed to the current road surface or pattern.

I have checked to make sure that both front hubs are in the open position.

The only thing I haven't tried, and don't think it would make a difference is that with the factory tires in place the DRW valve stems were off set, not in a perfect 180 degree or 3,9 position, but still close to opposite of one another. The new tires have the wheel valve stems in the same location with one behind the other. Common sense tells me that if the tires were balanced correctly off of the truck it wouldn't matter what position the valve stems are at when reinstalled.

Now for the basics, 2013 FX4 F350 DRW Crew cab, 29,000 miles. All stock with the exception of the tire manufacture, but still same size. I have not hit any large pot holes or such. Truck does not see any off road worse than a gravel county road or dirt pasture road.

I have discounted the dreaded "Death Wobble", since the problem is more full time and there is no violent wobble. Only a constant mini wobble.

So if you have a thought or two to share, in the words of Ross Perot, "I'm all ears".

 

Did your tire installer bend a wheel or abuse the tires? Have that checked.

Balance problems usually show up at approx. 45 MPH. If you feel the wiggle at all speeds, it's probably a wheel or tire problem.

 

Is it more noticeable in the rear or front? Does it still do it while loaded or pulling something? Is it more noticeable on one side? Can a passenger feel it more than the driver? If, for instance, it is the right front, watch the antenna. I also wonder if the lugs are torqued to the proper rating. Just offering a few things to think about.

 

did you try a tire rotation from side to side?


Maybe consider just the outsides

 

I cannot locate it as to being front or rear caused. I am starting to wonder if it is a combination of me being too subjective for what I think I recall the ride to be vs. a lot of road construction and poor road conditions. That and it seems that my truck is sitting longer periods of time and could be flat spotting the tires.

I did lower the tire pressure yesterday, then this morning I drove the truck at various speeds and did not notice the evil wiggle wobble feel. After I got home I checked the tire pressure because it was cooler than yesterday afternoon when I lowered the tire pressure. The rear tire pressure was at 61#, the front was at 62#. I have since raised the front up to 70# but have yet to drive it. I'm thinking I will then try 65# front and leave the rear at 60# unless I am hooked up to the fifth wheel.

 

How many miles on the new tires. Some tires require a 500 mile break in period.

 

Did you keep your old shocks? Some of the issues you described was the same problem I had with the 9000's.


Good luck...

 

Interesting. Developed somewhat of a similar problem with my 2004 drw. My 'bounce' showed up around 75mph. I wonder if it was due to the Rancho 9000.

I never really thought about it before. I don't think I had the issue with the other shocks (Bilstein).

 

Could be the infamous SuperDuty 'hop'.

Plenty of talk out there about it. The best cheap fix I can come up with is to either ignore it or run the tires at lower pressures.

I doubt it is the tires flat spotting. I had an old Chevy with bias ply tires and that thing would shake your fillings out for the first few hundred yards after it sat for a day or so. Then the tires would true up and be fine until it sat for a while again.

 

mine will hop at the 45 mph range empty. I just ignore it.


Product of a heavy duty suspension and long wheel base. I change the speed if it irrates me..which it doesn't after having no suspension in tanks and such.


Loaded very smooth, where it counts.

 

Well Troy, let me say this about that!!!! Your love for the Rancho 9000 shocks and the thought of this being shock related did cross my mind....LOL!!! And to be honest still weighs in the rear memory storage compartment of my brain cell remaining.

I wish that I had kept the old shocks now just for the opportunity to check out the possibility without the need to purchase new shocks.

As for miles on the new tires they are under 500 miles to date.

I have had some improved success with adjusting the shock setting and tire pressure..

Maybe I am trying to convince myself to up grade from my 2013 Lariat 4x4 DRW with 29K on the mile meter to a new 2016 Platinum DRW 4x4. My bumper to bumper warranty expires in 6,000 miles, plus I would pick up the fancier interior, nav system and moon roof all for between $15K to $20K difference.

I have been offered $43K for my truck. But then I would have to start removing things like my grille guard, aux fuel tank, headache rack, aux LED driving/fog lights and wiring. Not to mention my talking back up alarm that say "Attention, Attention, this vehicle is backing up". Drives my wife crazy, so it is a definite keeper item...LOL.

Plus I could off set part of my trade difference by telling myself that I am not needing to go a head and purchase that Ford ESP warranty...that saves me a few thousand dollars right there. Or at least postpones the purchase for another 36/36K.

 

When I put new rear tires on one of our Dodge 5500 maintenance trucks, it squirmed all over the road. It took three sets of tires before it stopped. We changed position, air pressure on the previous two sets with no joy. Put the third set on, no problem.

 

Jonjren, I have a 2015 drw diesel I just bought a few months ago and was considering the4 rancho 9000 shocks. I had a 2008 gasser single rear wheel truck before this one and ran bilstiens for years, and had just replaced them with the 9000's like a month before I sold it. It made a great improvement in the ride, it was much smoother than the bilstiens but did not get to run them for any length of time. How much of a difference did they make on your truck, did it smooth out the ride any, and how long have you had them, and what setting do you keep them at loaded or unloaded? Thanks for your input. By then way I have a set of bilstiens and some almost new 9000's for an 2008 f-250 cc lb if any one is interested, just let me know I have no use for them and will give a great price for someone on this forum. By the way, have you considered the steering stabilizer shock as the cause of the wobble? I had a similar issue on my 2008 when I first bought it and replaced it with a bilstien and it helped a lot.

 

Yeah I hated to say it, but I thought I would throw it on the table for discussion.

 

My truck does it around 46mph and again around 68-70.

Nobody agrees with me but I think the rubber bushing that houses the carrier bearing is too soft and allows the driveshaft to get into a rhythmic vibration. The bounce is only felt in the middle of the truck, just shakes the seats and cup holders. If the bounce were coming from an axle, my air gauge for the air bags would oscillate too, it does not. The needle stays stone dead still when I get the bouncing going.

Any time I have a trailer in tow, or, something heavy enough in the truck, there is zero bounce. Perfectly smooth at all speeds.

I installed 5100 series shocks last week, no change.

So, my opinion. I've searched for a red urethane carrier bearing housing, nobody makes one. Get under the truck, push and pull on the driveshaft and watch the bearing housing. For my tastes, the amount of effort it takes to wiggle the drive shaft is far too easy in relation to how much it weighs, and how much it gets bumped around driving. I've considered driving some shims into the space between the rubber gaps to firm it up. I might try it.