The hood movement is at the rear edge near the windshield in the center, mine flexes up and down about a half inch at 70 mph. The faster you go the worse it gets.

 

Sorry so long to get back to you. The tonneau cover is a Gemtop GT Classic. It is steel color matched, weighs under 100lbs. I'm happy with it. It is also easily removed.

Oh yeah, it also goes as fast as my hood!

 

Stay with the factory low profile deflector and i think you will not have the vibration problem.

 

I never noticed any hood vibration. I own a 4x4 Lariat and have only taken it up to about 90 and it's smooth. I travel frequently on business and have rented several 2004 SuperCrew XLT's and never noticed any problems. I actually rented several for weeks at a time before purchasing the truck. I was so impressed after putting several thousand miles on a combination of 5 different F150's that I decide to go through with my purchase. The rentals were governed at 100 but you wouldn't know you were going 100 if you didn't look at the speedo. My 4x4 Lariat with the all-terrain tires isn't as smooth as the rentals I had with the Continental tires but still no vibrations, hood or otherwise - smooth as glass.

 

i seem to be good w/ my truck.

 

I don't have a deflector and drive between 70 and 80 on a regular basis, with no vibrations. You guys running 100+ mph; do you have a chip or something? My engine cuts out at 98 mph.

 

I've seen this happen with a lot of bug deflectors. The fact is, new vehicles are designed in a wind tunnel, and I doubt that they incorporate bug deflectors when they do the testing. You're adding something that disrupts the designed air flow, and all sorts of strange things start to happen. If you have a bug deflector, try removing it and see if the problem doesn't disappear.

 

I've never heard of a truck that you couldn't install a bug deflector on. Ford offers one as a factory accessory, so it should work fine without making the hood vibrate. Wind tunnels don't simulate actual driving conditions. The truck is usually sitting still in a wind tunnel.

Mine shakes enough that its actually worn a spot where the hood seal rests on the plastic shroud. Also the black moulding under the wipers (that rests against the windshield) wears on the windshield enough to form some type of whitish powdery stuff. Squeaks like crazy when it's cold. If you drive on gravel/dirt roads you'll see the hood goes berzerk. Have to say though, that the styling of the hood looks great.

 

Well.........................

I bought my first pickup brand-new, and about 2 months after I got it I decided to get a bug deflector installed on it (Deflect-A-Shield, I think). Right after installation, I noticed the back edge of the hood vibrating up and down at highway speeds. Also, a wind noise developed at this same time, and I can only describe it as if someone had taped several strips of paper along the top edge of the windshield, and these pieces of paper were scraping against the front edge of the roof. On top of that, my wipers started lifting away from the base of the windshiled at highway speeds. Put up with this for about a week, and I went back to the place that installed it. They said that this had happened a few times before, and would remove the deflector. Sure enough, as soon as they did, all the problems disappeared.

In the years since, I've had numerous customers with the same complaint, and I ask them if they had a bug deflector installed. Nearly every time the answer was "yes," and I told them of my experience. As soon as they removed it, their problems went away. Go figure. Just my $.02.

 

I have the Ford low profile bug deflector and have no problems up to 80mph. I did have a 03 Expedition with a Ford bug shield, no vibration but it changed the windflow enough that at 50 mph plus, it would sound like it was raining cats and dogs with the air bouncing off the windshield. Their solution, take it off, but I just tolerated it.

 

Yea, it's not uncommon for a bug deflector to disrupt air flow, causing problems with wipers, washers, and wind noise. But it shouldn't cause the whole hood to vibrate. If the hood is vibrating, it doesn't take long for those rubber tit things on the underside of the deflector to wear right through the paint.

BTW, like many here, my hood vibrates more than what I feel it should...and I don't even have a bug deflector.

 

04 XLT

I have no hood or side panel vibrations, at any speeds or under crosswinds!

No bugshield either.

Joe

 

I am with you Stephen, been up to 95 and regularly at 70/75 and not one bit of sheet metal dancing. A few times in some strong cross winds also with the only problem being the wind trying to shoving the truck sideways No bug shield,

 

Same here. Never seen the hood vibrate at all. In fact this is the smoothest driving truck I've ever had even over lumps and bumps.

 

I have the Ford low profile deflector

No vibration at all at any speed,
only time I notice the back of the hood raise slightly is when goin by a semi on a 2 lane highway, but that sort of turbulance would make alot of hoods rock a bit.