Hi folks:

My son just arrived in Denver to work stock show with his F150 [4x4], inline 6. He called to explain that he noticed a severe vibration through the gear shift at 70+ mph. Since I live in California, and he is completely new to Denver (he lives in Fort Collins), can anyone recommend a mechanic they trust in the Denver area who can diagnose vibration/drive train problems. Neither he (nor I) are serious mechanics.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Alan K

 

Is it a manual or an automatic? Floor or column shift? If it's a floor shift manual this isn't uncommon, since the stick is mounted directly to the transmission any vibrations the tranny gets goes straight into the shifter, there are no linkages to dampen it out. Mine really starts to shake at about 73, so i just don't drive that fast. He could just keep his foot out of it, that would solve the problem too.

If it's an automatic or a column shift manual then there are definitely some issues that need to be addressed.

Justin

 

Manual, on the floor. Five speed. Apparently this puppy vibrates rather violently, not just some occaisonal shakes. But it is at the higher speeds only.

Just what I told him yesterday. Drive at 55-60 in the slow lane. Problem solved.

But frankly, I think it should be looked at. At least I would feel better.

I also failed to mention that it is a 1992, and see that I posted this in the wrong forum.

 

That seems pretty good. Every truck I've ever seen with a floor shift- made me dizzy looking at the gear **** over 47mph. However, that was from the passenger seat perspective.

If he keeps his eyes on the road instead of the ****, quits lead footing around like you said, all should be ok.

Doesn't sound like the problem bothers him much if he's zipping around in a massive truck at 75mph in a new unfamiliar city.

My tone is because a vague symptom is useless.

Save your dough. If there was any problem. Believe me you'd know it. I think its pure hypochondria. Wish I had the money to suffer from that.

Best solution I know is a boot up the boy's ***. A snow shovel thrust into his hands, a finger pointing to where the driveway is, and a hearty "Welcome to Denver! This will take your mind all off that little gear **** shimmy!"

Seriously, it'll cost you just as much for nothing as it will for a real problem if you go messing around a transmission shop. So wait til a real problem occurs. I'll bet a million bucks that something else will cost you money on that truck before that transmission ever leaves him by the side of the road.

tire condition, inflation, alignment, front end parts condition. If that's ok, just wait til it becomes more pronounced. It could be yearsssss.

 

If it helps any, my truck's shifter would quit vibrating at about 82, and when you'd slow down, it would not start vibrating again till you slowed down to about 75.

I figure the 4th gear/overdrive bearing is shot as that is what happened to mine.. Figure about $500-1000 to swap it with a used one, and probably a lot more to get it rebuild.

I drove mine a long way (15K miles?), and it would still run when I parked it.

You could also consider that is might be rear u-joints or the pinion bearing going bad as well.