I just bought an 04 FX4 about 2 months ago and had the exact same experience, when I drove the truck on the test drive it was fine, then after driving it on other roads with manhole covers and cracks and bumps the truck will chatter or vibrate almost out of control, scary. This is the first Ford I've ever boughten and I am blown away. The other major problem is a steering vibration that everyone has reported on the forums, vibrates between 60 and 75mph. Had it in the shop about 3 times, for balancing, finally they just replaced the rims and tires on it and it seemed better at first, but it still vibrates on the highway. They are giving me the run around and have told me that it's just something I'll have to live with. I'm very frustrated and am thinking of filing a Lemon suit against the Dealership to get a refund if they can't fix it. Any help on filing a lemon law suit would help, I don't even know where to start or what it will cost or how long it usually takes.

 

Mine rides great after 10,000 miles. ( maybe I'm just used to a Dodge that rides like a truck )

 

I Have A Screw 4x4 That Just Turned 1,000 Miles And It's The Smoothest Riding Truck I've Ever Rode In. I Have Noticed When I Cross The Rail Road Tracks Near My House I Get More Steering Feedback Than I Am Used To But I Can Live With That. As Far As The Bed Vibration Issue I Can't Explain That But I Did Test Drive One That Had A Viberation That Felt Like A Wheel Balance Issue And It Was So Bad When I Got To About 45mph I Looked In The Rear View And The Bed Looked As If It Were Going To Come Off The Frame. The Dealer Said The Tires Get Flat Spotted When Sitting For Several Months(small Rural Dealer). I Personally Think The Bed Shakes Because They May Spend More $ To Make The Frame Stiffer They Make Everything Cheaper And Cheaper Every Year, I.e. I Noticed Last Night There Is No Light Under The Hood. I Know Thats Petty But Hey How Much Could That Convience Cost, Besides Do Thay Think No One Ever Checks Their Oil At Night. As Far As The Person Commenting On The Components Rusting I Have Notived The Same Thing But Thats Just Surface Rust On Uncoted Metals(probably Another Cutback To Save A Few Bucks) I Don't Think It Would Ever Compromise The Integrity Of Those Components.

Love My Truck!!!

 

Rick
Wow, I thought it was me, and thought I was going off the deep end. I am contemplating a 2004 4WD 5.4 V8 XLT F-150 Crew Cab but on 2 test drives both trucks felt jumpy and loose in the front end. One of the trucks was a F-150 Super Crew 4.6V8 2WD XLT. Now to read others with the same observations. The other was same except 4WD. Both with tow packages. Surely Ford wouldn't release a truck with this crappy feel to it, ha! IMHO, it is too conincidental for the two trucks to behave the same without some kind of a basic problem in the design. Let's not forget that is is the first years for this new design and there are probably some bugs in the design. The roads are bad here in Massachusetts but isn't this truck suppose to be a smoother riding vehicle. My '86 F-350 rode smoother. My '98 E-150 van give a very smooth ride. Please include vehicle specific details when describing the problems, maybe it is unique to certain styles, i.e. Crew Cab, Super Cab, Regular Cab, engine size, 4WD, etc.
Thanks to people providing comments,
Rick

 

Hello again,
Regarding the vibrating bed, maybe some ruber isolators have been left out between the frame rails and the bed. Just a thought. That Toyota Tundra is looking pretty good at this point although I hate to do it.
Ford
Rick

 

I think the "problem" with the bed is that it's significantly taller than previous years. The bed is now deeper, and therefore has more leverage with the same support. I too have noticed that the bed shakes a lot under normal driving, but I really think it's just because it is so much taller than previous years. Think of a large cardboard box with no lid..the sides are easily flexed and the whole shape of the box can easily be distorted. Now think of a small cardboard box with no lid...harder to deform/flex because the height/length and width ratios are smaller. For our trucks, the bed sizes are exactly the same as previous years, but now they are even taller, so more flexing is a must. I have thought that a simple way to help solve this is to make use of those 2x4 (maybe 2x6) slots in the bed. Cut a piece of wood that fits snuggly into those slots to help brace the bed, and also create dividers for your bed! We gained a deeper bed this year from for, but it sacrificed it's rigidity.

 

Try throwing a couple hundred pounds of sand bags in the bed and then do the tailgate test or drive it around a bit. The sand will dampen most vibrations.

 

My 04 F150 Scab FX4 rides great no problems yet. Rides as good as the "99 f150 xlt Scab 2WD that I had. I love this truck so far.

 

I have short bed, Regular Cab and I couldnt ask for a better ride. Its an XLT also. I drive in on smooth roads and I drive it alot on crappy roads. It doesnt ride like a car, but it is the best riding pickup truck I have ever owned or rode in.

Anyone gettin a new truck, dont be scared. I love it!

 

What air pressure are your tires at?

-Tim

 

I disagree. Mine rides as smooth or smoother than any car I've been in. No shimmies or shakes as of yet 3,000 miles and counting. If anything it's riding better every day.

 

I agree with your disagreement! That was a while ago that I wrote that and I renege that statement; the F150 is very, very smooth. Also I can see how someone would interpret from what I wrote that I have shimmies - I don't.

So to clarify... the F150 is one of the smoothest riding vehicles I've driven and I have no shimmies or shakes. Love my truck.

 

My first time time here. 2004 F150 Supercrew, 2-wheel drive, 3500 miles now. I took my truck back to the dealer after only 600 miles with the front end shudder you are talking about. They went for a drive with me and definitely noticed a very bad afterbounce or shudder, after the bumps. Especially on RR tracks, the shudder or bounce repeates 4-6 times before it settles down. Now with 3500 miles, I am starting to get a lot of interior noises and vibrations. You can feel the shudder and bounce over a lot of the uneveness in the road. They tried to put a dampening kit on that was recommended by Ford, but found out after they took the the bumper off that it did not fit with the hitch reciever. We drove a reguler cab with an 8 foot bed and it drove fine, a Supercab drove fine, the 4X4 we drove was fine. All of these were driven over the same roads at all different speeds.
Next they tried new tires and wheels off of another new truck, and the shudder was the same, it was not in the wheels or tires. The loaner vehicle they gave me drove fine, a very basic reguler cab with an 8 foot bed.
Field Service Engineer drove my vehicle and ordered new shocks. He felt they affected the ride about 10 per cent and thought that a light truck was just going to ride like that. The new shocks make my 2-wheel drive ride like a 4-wheel drive and don't help the shudder at all. My passengers even ask me what is wrong with my truck. I would rather have my old shocks back. Now they tell me that there is nothing else they can do because they do not have any other parts to try. I would like to know what application the new shocks were originally designed for; part number of the shocks they removed is 4L3Z-18125BB, part number of the shocks they installed is S4L3Z-18125-CA. I've had this truck since October of 2004, purchased it new. I am not very pleased with it. The vibrations and shudders are getting worse. It does not seem like a new truck experience.
It is getting old and now it"s my bedtime; I would be asleep by now if I was a little more computer literate and a faster two-finger typist. Does any one have any advice or options. I don"t have any more time to spend working on this problem, and I am getting tired of driving this truck.

Sincerely,
Tretter on Old Rt. 66

 

Mike, do you have 04 or 05?

 

My truck is a 4X2 SCREW and the box wobbles when I go over washborard roads etc. I agree that the frame is much stiffer...cant say much for the box isolators though. You know, these boxes got about 4" taller, that will raise the center of gravity and cause them to be more suseptible to wobbling. Wonder if we could tie one shock absorber from the frame to each corner of the bed...that would dampen the side-to-side motion of the bed...