I'm still working on getting the front end problems on my 2001 F250 2wd worked out but I recently looked over the specs on the 2002 and up F250/350 trucks in both 2 and 4wd and noticed that they have a front stabilizer bar as standard equipment. Is anyone familiar with this and is this something Ford added to the front end of these trucks because of front end problems with earlier models. Any info would be greatly appreciated. By the way I filed a complaint with the NHTSA about the front end on my truck rather than wait for Ford not to fix it while it's still under warranty.

 

You need to give us more info on the truck.
any mods to the truck?
most of the time its
tires
ball joints
rotors
bearing runout
steering box or componets

The steering stabilizer (as far as know is only on 4wh trucks and with plow pkg or cammper pkg) was not put on 2wh trucks.

The steering stabilizer is not your fix for shimmy and wasn't added to fords trucks to fix it.

you need to find the real problem.

Rich

 

To FortyFords. Thanks for your reply and to answer some of your questions the entire front end was checked out by my local dealership and they said they could find nothing wrong. The truck has aftermarket wheels on it but they were put on just after I purchased the truck new. The severe shimmy started around 17000 miles and has gotten worse. It takes a bump in the road to set it off and it won't stop until I slow down. I've been told that out of balance tires, under or overinflation, front end alignment, not rotating tires, etc. will cause the truck to do this. Is this something that is just inherant to heavy duty trucks as I've driven many different vehicles in my life and have never had a front end shimmy due to any of the above problems. I've got a 1989 F150 that has had tie rod ends worn to the point of almost coming apart, tires out of balance, front end out of alignment and underinflated tires but never experienced a front end shimmy under any circumstances since I've owned it. If any of these problems would cause the Super Duty front end to shimmy then I say the truck has a problem with the design ot the front end. This is a dangerous situation due to the severity of the shimmy when it happens and if everything related to the front end has to be 100% perfect all the time then, once again, I say something is wrong with this truck.

 

To FortyFords. I just wanted to add that the shimmy I experience is not a slight one that maybe could be caused by things not being adjusted properly in the front end but this is a severe truck shaking experience that just isn't normal. It shakes hard enough that if there is a weak link in the front end it will unfortunately show itself at a most inopportune time and could result in an accident.

 

make sure you don't have a bent rim. Put you rear tires on the front and try that. A shimmy usually has to start and keep going. Tires can start it and a sloppy front end can make it worse...Make sure your rims are the correct offset. Get hold of a set of stock tires and rims and try that..If you are running larger tires you might have worn the front end and the larger tires could be your problem...

 

Thanks for your reply 99f350sd. The tires are the stock ones that came on the truck and they are mounted on American Racing polished aluminum wheels 16x8. There is absolutely no vibration in the front end as in balance problem or bent wheel at any speed.

 

Could be a tire problem. have you taken the rears and put them on the front? You have to be a detective with this stuff and start eliminating possibilities.

 

I haven't rotated the tires but I have closely inspected them and can see no abnormalities and the wear on the front is very even which indicates there isn't an alignment problem and also the front and rears show about the same amount of tread wear after 24000 miles. I will try the rear to front rotation just to eliminate that possibility to my problem.

 

A broken belt in a tire will cause shimmy.As will bad front end parts.But worn front end parts won't neccesarily cause a problem.
The main thing to look at with a relitively new vehicle would be rims and tires.....I still think you might have something loose in the front that they didn't find.

Good luck

 

I had the same problem on my work truck a 2002 F250SD 4X4.It gets a lot of hard use working in a mine.The mechanic sent it for an alignment and it was good as ell as all front end parts.He then took the wheels off to balance and upon removing the tire found the cords were breaking from the inside of the tire.The tires were replaced problem solved!The old tires were Firestone M/S, I hope this helps.GMAN

 

The front end components have been gone over by the dealership and also by myself and another mechanic . I hope the tire rotation will help.

 

jack up the front end and spin the wheels and if it has a bad tire or a bent rim you will see it