Guys,

First off let me say thanks for this great site and useful information. Now to the problem. Test drove the truck before buying on Friday and didn't notice the vibration issue but didn't get it up to speed for very long but on the way home there was a terrible vibration in the steering wheel. The vibration started in around 35-40 but got worse as speed increased. Felt like it was out of balance, bent rim, or drive shaft out of balance.

I came here and started reading to see if it was just me and found a thread on the f450s having issues but mainly felt in the floor.

This is NOT the way I wanted to start out the new journey with the truck and have been disappointed. I've called the dealership and heading back in on Wednesday so they can look at it. Am I the only one? If it is just a balance issue or even a bad tire I'm still ok but nothing worse than having issues, just sick at my stomach right now...

Open to ideas or suggestions on other possible causes.

Thanks,
L.I.T.

 

What year and model and cab and bed length truck did you buy that would be a good place to start you haven't given us much to go on other than it's got 20 miles on it and it has a vibration since its only got 20 miles on it so obviously it's under warranty so letting the dealer take care of should be the way to go especially since it sounds like it's easily replicated when you get up to speed.

 

L.I.T,
There has been quite a few comments on F-250's and 350's over time on what I call a harmonic vibration at around 45 to 50 mph. I first noticed it in my friends F-350 a 2011 Lariat stretch cab. I bought a 2014 Lariat stretch cab F-350 and I get the vibration at around 45-48 mph. If I speed up beyond 50 it goes away, if I slow down below 45 it goes away but it never continues to vibrate at any other speeds. I knew another fellow who complained of a terrible vibration on his F-250 that did it at various speeds to the point he got rid of the truck as he thought it to be dangerous to drive.
Maybe there are more people on FTE that know why this happens, I would like to hear why as well, you sure would think Ford would have made a change to correct this by now.

 

Sometimes a wheel out of balance will cause this or a bad tire. Even new tires may have bad spots in them and missed by inspectors.

 

Thanks guys so not the only one. Will update on what dealer finds on Wednesday. More details on truck:
2016
F250
4x4
Crew cab
XLT
6 1/2' bed

Just disheartening that you have issues on a new truck like this... I know problems happen and hoping for an easy fix.

Again, thanks everyone.

 

"Harmonic vibration" is pretty spot on I would say. I have the same issue at around 70 MPH. The whole truck becomes a paint mixer (thankfully the steering wheel does not shake). I'm thinking of trading in for a Toyota and I only just bought my 2016 F-350 SRW in March :-(

 

my 03 F350 4x4 reg cab does this at around 50 mph, vibrates the heck out of my feet, I was going to crawl under it this weekend to see what I could see, maybe tires, alignment, driveshaft? who knows, but it's made 2 trips from Chicago area to Memphis area pulling an enclosed trailer in the last couple of months and hasn't given me any problems or breakdowns other than the vibration.

 

My concern is over time the constant vibration will wear out other components and at a minimum cause excessive squeaks and rattles. Tomorrow will tell if they can make it stop.

 

Bought a new 2016 F250 4X4 XLT 6.7 when they 1st arrived on the lots. At the 1st oil change told them it really had a bad shimmy at 72 mph and up. They put it on the alignment machine and found nothing. Then checked the 18" tires, Continentals I believe. The tires were balanced and all was fine. I had them balance the Michelin 20" tires on my new F350 before I drove it away from the lot.

 

Thanks CaptnJohn, Mine are Continentals so I sure hope that is all it is. Will know soon.

 

On a new truck I would think it is a balance issue. Hopefully that's all it is.

 

Update after a day at the dealership.

Tech drove it and saw the issue so I'm in luck first hurdle cleared. Next went to the balance machine and all tires were balanced and no weights needed. Final diagnosis was flat spots on the tires from sitting on the lot. Fix is to drive it a few hundred miles and see if it improves so not changes made. Will monitor and keep everyone posted. Have a long road trip coming up this weekend so hoping it fixes itself. If not looks like new set of tires worst case.

Thanks all

 

Hopefully tires are all it is and it resolves itself. Would the tires be covered under warranty if they don't straighten out? Back when I bought mine it had the exploding Firestone tires and I had three blowouts by 15,000 miles. They weren't covered by warranty and even after they figured out what the problem was mine were a size too big to be covered by their settlement.

 

They implied it would be taken care of should it not straighten itself out and the fact they admitted it was flat spots due to it sitting on the lot too long so should be ok. My hope is it fixes itself and not another day to the dealership but not a major issue and solvable either way.

 

Definitely keep us posted. I put brand new tires on mine so flat spots would not explain my issue (which is the same as yours).