Maybe around urban Detroit where you're from. Most of the roads there are pretty tame.

Take it a nasty road or a dirt/gravel road and the thing goes berserk. Vibrations, shimmies, shudders, and quivers. The steering wheel goes back and forth and the rebounce is horrible. The rattle and squeaks really come out. And those General's throw rocks like Pete Rose...ting...ting...smack...bang...ting. I guess if I drove on smooth paved roads all the time all I'd have to put up with is a subtle but constant chasis vibration, and it might not be so bad.

 

i can vouch after living in detroit area for 6 years, highway 94 is anything but tame.

the truck does feel solid when handling big potholes, curbs, two tracks, etc. it is just the little stuff in the raods that makes me literally ornery going home on fridays. even my buddies noticed it when we go to lunch. ( i like to drive most of the time, go figure)

i did drive the "bad section" today with the steering tilt unlocked. this reduced the impact to my hands some.

oh.....and another thing....it was raining. slow people were in my way as i ran 10 erands at lunch and this thing acts like it has traction control. i wot'd it and spun the posi and the throttle went all over the place, dropping off sharply, and then slowly pulling back in. I will be the first to download an aftermarket throttle mapping program that doesn't lean out my engine and has convention (not smart logic) throttle control.

I still love my truck.... just a few things are getting to me

 

First, I'm no engine-ear. I'm just a guy who has worked on his own stuff all his life and is very mechanically inclined. I LOVE this thread! I have thought from the beginning of reading these vibration posts and since I've owned my truck(only 1000 miles on it now) that it could have something to do with the frame. I myself think its a combination of the following things.

The Frame...as mentioned before stiffer isn't always better.

Rear shock placement...If you don't know this, or haven't noticed, Ford put the rear shocks on the OUTSIDE of the springs. I think this, combined with how light truck rear-ends are, has a huge impact on how 'squirrelly' the truck feels on washboard roads. Think about it. When shocks are mounted closer to the center of the axle,(like on ALL other vehicles) it takes LESS force to compress them. It's like leverage. Picture a teeter-totter. If your buddy is sitting on one end you can make him go 'UP' with little effort by pushing down on the OPPOSITE end. Take that same buddy and try to make him go 'UP' by lifting on HIS end and you will wind up with a hernia!!. The rear shocks on these trucks are asked to do so much more now because they do ALL the work. The frame won't give, not good. Don't get me wrong either, the frames on these trucks aren't BAD or DEFECTIVE, their actually too good IMHO. I garauntee if you take your brand new 04 over a washboard road, then drive a 97-03 model over the same road the 97-03 will ride better. Now having said all that I just have to say that I LOVE my 04 XLT 4x4...............

 

Has anyone else noticed their driver side windshield wiper shaking? Every now and then, over bumps, I will see it shake. Now thats a stiff, solid truck.

 

Ford tightened up the SD frames for 05 I think they just made em thicker.....still not boxed.
As far as the f150 goes I think ford realizes that millions of people are using their trucks for daily drivers and never use them on dirt roads or for work..I think they are making them road savvy, but comprimising other area's...Its a market thing..
Ford will probably rework the suspension to help the woes.....

 

I've got an '04 SCab 4x4 and I recognized the feel of it the first time I drove one...it feels like a USAF 6x6 with power steering, automatic transmission, plush seats and a super short turning radius...in other works a heavy duty, go anywhere feel. I do experince the vibraton issue with short period bumps and I'm not crazy about it, but it hasn't vibrated me off the road yet...my main concern is what the long term effects will be (rattles, things breaking, etc.) and I plan to talk to my dealer about the dampener fix the first time I take it in. Bottom line (IMHO)...the pluses far outweigh the minuses.

 

my grandpa has a 2004 f150 on order it will be in next week the dealer said. i will let you know what goes on with it. he ordered it so he knew it would not come with general tires. it will have michilins or continentals. it also ahs the 5.4 and trailer tow.

 

My 2004 F150 4x4 has the same vibrations. I had it in for service yesterday and they could not fix the problem. They think it has something to do with the tires. I have an appointment to take it back in on June 16. They want to replace a tire or two. After reading a few threads about this, no one has had a solution (correct me if I'm wrong). Is this dampener fix associated with the TSB (3-20-8) mentioned in another thread? Also where online can I find TSB's issued by Ford?

I also love this truck and would like to keep it running for a long time. I hope this minor annoyance doesn't cause problems in the future.

 

Wish I could, but can't.

I've been experiencing the same problem for over two months. Neither a vibration dampener, new driveshaft, steering rack, differential, tires, or multiple road force balances have significantly affected the vibration in my 2004 Scab 4x2.

 

I'm not an engineer, but it seems to me that everything comes with a trade off. While the '04 might not respond to certain road irregularities as well as some other trucks, the handling is unbelievable for a truck of this size. I notice that while my SCrew has an unbelievable ride on most kinds of road surfaces (even wash-board gravel roads), it has a considerably less smooth ride on certain roads. Overall though, it seems like a reasonable trade-off to me. I give a thumbs up to the new frame design.

 

I had a ring and pinion inside the rearend replaced. This fixed the vibration for a bit, but now it is returning.