Hi all,

I'm looking at buying a new 2017 F-250. I'm stepping up from a 2013 F-150 and I went to test drive a stock Lariat yesterday and when we got on the highway I took it up to 70mph and there was noticeable steering wheel wobble. Talking like 1/4-1/2" of movement left and right when I let go of the wheel. My F-150 is rock solid at 70mph and higher. I slowed it down to 65 and it went down a little and was stable again once down to 60. The salesman tried to tell me that it was a new truck and the tires were stiff (It had 62 miles on it) and it just needed to break in a little.

My question is, does that sound accurate? I don't recall any wobble on my F-150 when it was new or when I replaced the tires this year. Or is that just a thing with these big trucks that they don't have the smoothest drive at highway speeds. I expect a brand new 2017 truck to be absolutely perfect and I don't feel comfortable buying one that already seems like it has an issue, but if this is just normal for these big trucks I guess I'd get used to it. I know I should probably drive another one to test it out but it's Sunday and dealerships are closed and I'm really curious about other owners experiences on this.

Thanks!

 

I had this issue on my ordered 2017 F-350. After 3 attempts to rebalance the tires and checking the run-out on my driveshaft, I replaced the tires and the issue was resolved. The dealership and a local tire shop simply could not balance the tires. But they were purchased off amazon and installed before I took delivery of the truck, so it was on me to replace the tires.

 

Those pesky stiff tires.

 

Could be so many things, have you dirtied a solid known truck on the same patch of road, what was the pressure in the tires? Over inflated? Ruts in the road? Definately try another truck or two, that dealer is not very good if they don't have a clue how to figure this out. Test drive at another dealer for sure. I am at 18,000 km, and can't believe how nice this truck drives and at high speeds it gets better, not worse.somethngs definately wrong with that one.

 

I drove my F-150 there and back on the same stretch of highway and it was perfectly still. The tire press was 53 in the front and 58 in the rear. No ruts in the road. The sales guy was kinda new, couple months in, so maybe he just didn't know. They have a couple other Lariats on the lot that I'll try and drive and see if they do the same thing. I definitely won't be buying it until it's solid at highway speed. I'm not buying a truck that immediately needs to be in the shop. Just wanted to confirm it should be perfectly still at 70 like I assumed.

 

since when is a wobbly steering wheel normal. i would stay far away. probly has alignment issues or even something wrong with steering components. stiff tire theory makes me laugh. salesman barely know the difference between a bumper and hood

 

Agreed. I’d say the dealer did OP a favor by insulting his intelligence. Imagine purchasing a truck from this person and trying to get anything fixed by that dealer down the road. I imagine one b.s. excuse after another. A decent salesman would say something like, “hey, you’re right. That seems off. Let’s go try another one from the lot.” I know sales =/= service, but still it reflects poorly on the type of person they hire.

 

Tires can flat spot if they sit for a time.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=42

And new trucks can ship with tires out of balance or a weight can fall off if it wasn't attached properly.
I've had 2 new trucks that had tires out of balance at delivery.

Sounds like a tire balance issue, not a big deal it happens.
If you like the truck and dealer ask the dealer to check the balance.

If you don't like the truck or the dealer don't worry about it being a problem on another truck.

 

I'm sure the OP will test drive at least 4 or 5 more new trucks that will allow him to compare notes.

 

Yeah, it's literally my first time driving a 3/4 ton truck at highway speeds so I had no clue how they "should" operate. Should the truck operate completely smooth till 90+mph? I know it's not a sports car, so genuinely curious. Just wanted to come on here for clarification. I like all the options on this one but I'm gonna test drive some others at the lot and different dealerships to see how they do. I definitely won't be signing anything until I ride with a service manager after it's been fixed and we both agree it's operating as it should.

 

it should be smooth atleast to 80mph as thats the speed limit on many highways.

ive had several tires with balance problems. steering wheel never wobbled. vibrated yes but not wobble. unless im misinterpreting your wobble terminology

flat spot is highly unlikely unless its been sitting a very long time. couple of my vehicles sit 5months without moving and no flat spots. not saying its good practice to let sit but just saying flat spots dont happen over night. then again maybe the truck has sat behind the dealer since sept 2016. check the door jam as this tell the manufacture date

im betting alignment or steering component problem if the steering wheel wobbles back and forth in a left and right motion

i think it would be beyond foolish to purchase that truck unless you can confirm 100% its just a simple tire problem. good luck

 

Not likely to be a flat spot from sitting. Polyester belted tires don't flat spot unless they have sat for a very long time. Flat spotting was common when carcasses were nylon.
Most likely a simple rebalance will take care of it. If not it's likely a belt defect which is simple to figure out by process off elimination.
Balance, drive. It the shake is still there rotate one side. If the shake is gone you know the tire you moved to the back is the problem. If it persists then you know it's the other front tire.

 

there must be 100's of other trucks to choose from in your area. why even bother with this wobbly one

 

Maybd I misinterpreted his use of the word wobble. My truck with tires out of balance caused the steering wheel to shake violently from side to side maybe 1/4” rotation at a high frequency. If I looked over to the passenger riding with me, it would cause their legs to shake heavily.

 

That's the problem, there's only about 15 trucks that I can find within 500 miles that remotely have what I want.
- White Platinum
- Lariat
- Aluminum Wheels
- Ultimate Trailer Tow camera