tire hop

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Nov 8, 2003 | 10:19 PM

Nod

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Joined: Nov 1999

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From: Anderson Northern Ca

tire hop

I have been trying to diagnose the problem of tire hop on my 71 F-100 4x4 truck all summer long.All new tie rod ends, C-bushings,reset front dana 44 wheel bearings,new trac bar bushings,it has a new steering box,new steering shaft and anything else that moves under there.Well the temperature has fallen below the 85 mark for the rest of the winter and all tire shake at certain speeds and when braking has stopped alltogether!I run 32-11-15 TSL mud and snow tires from Les Schwab and have had them balanced more times than I and them would like.Is it possible that the Heckthorn shocks can't handle that size tire.I see some trucks running big tires with double and triple shock setups,is it to keep the tires on the road?When the oil in my shocks gets thicker due to the cold weather is it making the shock shaft move slower thus stopping the wheel from hopping?Last of all will dual shocks fix my problem or is there a single shock that will do the job on my truck?Any advice is appreciated.
"bowties in the rearview mirror"

Nov 9, 2003 | 04:01 AM

NM5K

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Joined: Sep 2003

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From: Houston TX

Dunno...generally, wheel hop is from either out of round tires, or out of balance. I'm sure better shocks would help damp some of the hop, but I don't know if I'd consider that a real fix or not. I'd prefer to get the tires rolling smoothly. You'll see lots of cupping wear problems if that keeps up. MK

Nov 9, 2003 | 10:26 AM

vman

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From: brimfield township,OH

Do they smooth out after awhile? My bias ply mudders are bad when it gets cold out.

Nov 9, 2003 | 04:23 PM

95frd

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From: WA

mine did that too and i thought it was the shocks and everything else, till i talked to my buddy to told me his superduty did the same thing. at like 35 they would start hopping and so i would have to step on it from 30-45 to get past that point and sometimes it wouldnt even stop. so i ended up replacing the tires and that was that.

Nov 9, 2003 | 08:38 PM

Nod

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Joined: Nov 1999

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From: Anderson Northern Ca

Tire Hop

I don't think the tires are out of round as I said I had Les Schwab balance them and time after time this summer they always did the same thing as mentioned above.vman,The ride is perfect when the weather cools down-no vibration at all-a perfect ride no flat spotting or anything.I don't know how to get them balanced any better than a tire shop does. NM5K ,if they are out of round wouldn't they hop at any temperature or does the temp affect the ability of the tire to flex out of round?95frd do you remember what size and brand of tire you and your buddy had problems with ? If it is indeed a tire size and brand I don't want to buy another problem .Thanks for all the advice,I will work on ths for awhile and will probably go with new HD shocks first next Summer and see if that fixes it ,if not, those tires are coming off and I will try another brand.
"bowties in the rearview mirror"

Nov 9, 2003 | 09:09 PM

NM5K

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Joined: Sep 2003

Posts: 497

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From: Houston TX

Yep, out of round is out of round...Should hop at any speed. But rubber is harder and retains a set longer when it's cold. Seems to me the hopping should get worse when it gets cold. That your's gets better is kind of weird. Make sure your king pins or ball joints are ok. Thats about the only other thing I can think of that might do that. But temp should make little difference in that case. Usually when a kingpin gets wore out, you start getting the dreaded ford "shimmy" at certain speeds. Usually about 35-40 mph..