The dealer has had it for a week now and I'm driving a rental at their expense, I'm starting to like this Suburban I'm driving

 

Be careful propellerhead, I had a problem with the vibration in my old bronco and when I told the dealer that it started vibrating at 65-70 mph when it came out of their shop, his reply was they could not help me since the maximum speed limit was 65mph. He said something like the technician cannot drive or be in a customers vehicle that is breaking the law. Doesn't that sound like a bunch of B.S. ?

 

They tried that on me, telling me they can't go past the speed limit. It was frustrating that the "Service Advisor" at Gillespie Ford in San Antonio, TX didn't even offer an alternate solution. She just kept saying, "We can't go over the speed limit." But when I asked if the mechanic can ride with me, she immediately paged the shop foreman and he rode with me. The shop foreman later stated that he spends most of his day riding around with customers.

Yes, I will be writing the dealership a letter about the lack of advice from the "Service Advisor".

 

Hey I got a simillar line of BS! But when I pointed out I was doing the posted speed limit on my trip to Tulsa, they then agreed to balance my tires.

For those of you who don't know the speed limit is 75 MPH on the turnpike system and designated segments of the rural interstate system Title 47, §11-801(B)(1)

 

It seems to me that Ford has spec'd a line of cheap Conti's that aren't worth a crap similar to the Firestones they spec'd a few years back.

 

Update, Dealer called yesterday and said they sent my 03 Expy out and had the tires "hard balanced" whatever that is and found 1 bad tire. Now here's the kicker the bad tire was on the rear and they are saying it was causing the steering wheel to shake. I have had a bad tire before but never had a tire in the rear cause a shimmie. Am I that stupid or is the dealer giving my another run around ?

 

Get them to replace the tires with something other than Conti's. My dealer did.

 

Here we go again with the Continentals. Tires are made by humans who commonly make mistakes. If the tire, even a 2657017 is taking more than 1.5 oz of weight, there's an issue. Check the tire for counter balancing. This is a common mistake. Also, have the weights stripped and have the Ford dealer, in your presence, spin the tire on the high speed machine. Look for the tire to be out of round. Fix your eye on the tire at bottom level and look for slight surface issues. Have the dealership re-balance the tire and then look for the same thing. If it persists, the tire cannot be properly balanced. Also, there may be a slight issue with the rim. Look the same way. Have the dealer take the tire off if needed and make sure the rim is spinning completely smoothly on the machine. I've owned many, many Fords and the customer definately doesn't come first. You've got an initial 12,000 miles for tires, belts, hoses, brakes, etc... Remember, an out of round tire cannot be corrected by putting 5 ounces of weight on one side, that's a bunch of crap. I work part time at Sears Automotive and we see quite a bit of this in the Goodyear RT/S and APTs. Also with the Dunlop ATs. Generals, Continentals and of course Michelins we have very little issues with.

 

Yeap it seems that they've got a huge shipment of Contis for 2003 that are so out of round that they are not correctable.

 

I just (last week) purchased a 2003 EB 4x4 Expedition with the 5.4L engine (build date 2/03). On the test drive, I noticed a very slight shimmy at about 70 mph. I mentioned it to the sales person who had the balance checked and the tires rotated. When I picked up the vehicle the shimmy was much much worse. They checked balance, etc again - shimmy still there. Since I would not take delivery of vehicle until resolved, they were motivated to fix the problem. They took the tires and wheels off another new EB 4x4 Expy on lot and put them on mine (also the Continental Contitrac TR). Believe it our not - this solved the problem. The salesman (who says he use to work for Firestone so he knows something about tires) believes the shimmy was caused by one or more of the tires with a "slipped belt". He says that these will spin balance fine, but still cause a shimmy on the car when it is driven. I think the post above hit the nail on the head. Ford has a batch of Continentals that have problems. Just like in 2000-2001 that prompted the recall of the Continentals on the Expeditions because of tread separation problems.

 

Wacnstac

You and those Continentals!!!!!!! Thank God I got a good set!!!!!

 

Rahach, I think you are absolutely correct even though some here (jswanber10 who must work for Conti) don't want to believe it.

 

If these tires are such a problem (and I have a slight shimmy/vibration until the tires warm up - got worse after rotate & balance), there ought to be some place that we can all complain to the point that Ford would be forced to issue a recall ('03 EB, Contritrac TR's, 17k mi).

 

I'm in for that. The last thing I want to do is spend my next three for four saturday mornings in the service department.

 

OK guys, check this out. I spoke to the service manager at a Dodge dealership who is a friend of mine. Now, he just moved from a Ford dealership in the same state where he was a service manager and he informed me of some very interesting things. First, I'm not a total advocate of any tire except for Michelin. They are the absolute best tire on the market and I find few who won't agree. Now, The 03' Expeditions have this common problem with the stock Continental tires, that's a fact... Here we go. Continentals are constructed in the same way as a Micheline. Look at the seam where the tire is put together. Here's a fact: Tires that have a seam in the middle of the tread that goes completely around the tire are not made well. These tires have a much greater chance of having a factory defect. Tires that have a single seam going across the tread of the tire have a MUCH less chance of having a defect. Look at the cheap tires and you'll see exactly where the seam is!!! OK, so the Continentals are supposedly made well. Well, no tire is completely round, it's impossible but some are so close that they take little to no weight. The 03' Expeditions, coming with the Continentals have one significant difference than my 00'. The rims are made at a different time and also have an abnormality, they aren't completely round. Now take a slightly out of round tire and place it on a slightly out of round rim and BOOM! You've got a problem. What the dealership have to do is spin the tire on the rim until the abnormalities balance themselves out. Then, the tire takes a very small amount of weight and off you go. No kidding, I love the Continentals on my 00'. I've got the 17" rims and it rides great, but my rims are of great quality. The 03' Expeditions aren't! Most dealerships won't take the time to make the defect right because to be hones, they don't fricken know how and it takes time if they do. There isn't a TSB that my friend was aware of because if there was it would say, "replace with Michelins." Pass this on to the Ford dealershi and watch them deny. Then ask to see your bare rim spun on the balance machine and watch it hop. There's your answer.

And to all you Expedition wizards.... Thank you for the continuing forum. This is an outstanding site. I look forward to going to it each day. And, look below, I DO NOT WORK FOR CONTINENTAL!!!

Cheers