It's still too early to tell what I'm gonna do.
65 mph nibble
Freshman User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Jimmy, are you saying that you did or didn't have this problem since you purchased your truck? When I bought my truck, it was late in the afternoon and the tires were hot so it didn't do anything on the way home. But in the morning after the tires have been hot and cooled off during the night, there is the faintest shimmy. After a few miles it's gone. Did yours do the same, or progressed or what happened? I have 1,350 miles so far and nothing really to complain about....except that I can't drive it enough.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 251
Likes: 0
From: S.I., N.Y.
Bought my SCREW FX4 3 weeks ago and have 1500 miles on it. I must be one of the fortunate ones, since my truck wasn't built till 04. i'm constantly around 65-70 and i can't say I feel anything other than the road. The truck rides so smooth i forget how fast I'm going. I'll let you know later if I spoke too soon.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,479
Likes: 4
On another post a Ford tech explained there is a TSB to adjust rack/steering gear preload. Earlier models had this problem due to preload adjustment being out. Supposedly an easy adjustment, it requires the right size tool.
Freshman User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
My truck was built in June 2004. I do not have the rear end vibration as everyone else is describing. However, I do experience the steering wheel shimmy ON OCCASION. It's really wierd, since the only time I have this occurrance is early in the morning when going to work. I travel the interstate at 70+ mph (avg 78) and I feel this when I first start out. At first it is pretty dramatic, then tapers off, and by the time I get to my exit (12 miles) its almost gone. Could it be the tires are cold, possibly a bad or out of balance tire, or something mechanical. I can't really complain, since it only does it when the truck is cold. Afternoons going home, the ride is smooth as glass. I have the BFG 18" tires, 265/70/18, I think that's the size, and it's a SCREW Lariat 4x4 with 1700 miles.
Senior User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
Camlocker, that sounds exactly like my truck. Every morning at almost the same spot in the freeway I would get a little steering wheel shimmy which would last for a minute or two and then go away. Now that I've got 4500 miles on my truck, the shimmy now occurs right around the 70 MPH range no matter where I am or when it is. Any faster or slower and it goes away.
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New User
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
From: Carlstadt, NJ
Any vibration that you cannot fix with tire balancing, is likely a vibration from your driveshaft. I had been going back and forth rotating tires and wheels. I even had changed the wheels and tires. All with no effect untill I had replaced my driveshaft and had no vibration issues since.
You may ck your driveshaft by putting 2 offsetting hose clamps around the driveshaft - see the difference. The offsetting clamps may reduce or increase vibration, depending on the offset, however if you play with it, you'll get the results - you may balance your own driveshaft and get rid of the vibe altogether.
Best bet, go to the dealership and get your driveshaft checked; It might be it!
You may ck your driveshaft by putting 2 offsetting hose clamps around the driveshaft - see the difference. The offsetting clamps may reduce or increase vibration, depending on the offset, however if you play with it, you'll get the results - you may balance your own driveshaft and get rid of the vibe altogether.
Best bet, go to the dealership and get your driveshaft checked; It might be it!
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 511
Likes: 0
From: South Jersey
Originally Posted by Cincy F150
On Tuesday they did the Road Force balancing and found that I had a bad tire. They told me that it shouldn't be above 23 lbs but the one tire was running at 45 lbs. Not air pressure but RF. They replaced one tire and balanced all the rest and it is as smooth as glass. The nibble seems to be gone. There is also a thread on here that talks about adjusting the steering rack pressure to help. If my nibble comes back I'm going to try this since now I know that the tires are right.
