I am new to this site. I have a new 2004 Heritage V6 5 spd reg. cab. longbed. It has about 1300 miles on it and has been to the dealer 3 times
for a highway speed vibration. They have balanced all tires and replaced the
driveshaft twice. They claim they can not get a good driveshaft from Ford.
They told me yesterday that there are no TSB from Ford about the problem.
My question is how wide spread is this problem? My truck was built in Canada
in April 04.
Very unhappy new Ford owner..

 

Lemon law?

Check local laws, see if somehow you can get a new truck. I haven't heard of this problem.

 

Me either, especially using when the '04 Heritage uses the pre '04 new F150 parts.

Did they ever try to balance the drive shaft? Does the vibration come at a certain speed? Sounds like it could be a tire with a broken/breaking belt.

 

10 billion different things could cause vibration at high speeds. If it's something loose, it will only occur at certain speeds (resonance frequencies), but something unbalanced vibration should occur at almost all speeds. Tires could very likely be your culprit, however.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I have held in the back of my mind that it is a
tire problem. They seem to want to rule out the tires after balancing.
They have become focused on the driveshaft.
I have already contacted an attorney about the lemon law, I don't
intend for this to drag on.
I guess I will go back today and ensist that they replace the tires.

 

I hope this isnt the reason ur having problems

 

I have the the same truck that you do, also made in April 2004 at the Canada plant.

I am very happy with it, and have had zero problems.

 

I have no problem with the build location.

I have an update, I spoke with the dealer yesterday and they
now are stating that Ford admits there is a problem. I am to
bring the truck in next Monday for them to do further testing (what
ever that means).

 

Yuck!

I don't even have 500 miles on my Heritage yet, but no problems yet. I just filled it up myself for the first time ... eeeks that's a thirsty truck! Must be a 21 gallon petrol tank under there. FYI getting about 18 MPG with mixture of city and open road driving.

Far cry from the 15 gallon tank in my Taurus.

 

goodluck hope u get it taken care of, dont want you to dislike ford since ur a new ford owner sometimes these kinda things happen, its sad since its brand new but as long as u get it taken care of, and im sure u will enjoy the truck a whole lot!

 

Your lucky. That's all I got to say. Drive my truck for a week and complain about 18 MPG

Come to the gas station with me and complain about a 21 gallon tank

 

Hertage1 and All,
I just bought a similar Heritage XLT, ext. cab, V6, 5-speed and have the same issue especially at 42 MPH and 65-70 MPH. The truck has less than 500 miles on it. It also was built in Canada (I think Jan. 04 according to the tag on the door) and has "General" tires and I have always had bad luck with General. I'm trying to force them to replace the tires (including the spare to match) as they have already balanced and indexed the tires, making the problem a little worse.
Let me give a historic account:
1: First look at the truck I noticed evidence of a hard curb or tranport truck ramp scrub on right front tire and pointed it out to the salesman.
2: Upon test drive I noticed the telltale thump, thump , thump of flat spots on the tire and was told that it might take several hundred miles of driving to "DRIVE OFF" the flat spots. BALONEY, if you can't drive a flat spot off of a tire in 20-30 miles of highway, then the tire sucks!!
3: I boght the truck.
4: Took it in and they made a valiant effort to no avail and wanted to replace the tires with more of those crappy Generals but I told them I want Goodyear or BFG at the least. We'll see what happens and I'll keep you posted, please do the same.
After reading this post I'm suspecting something more than just tires. Other than this vibration/shaking/hopping problem I absolutely love the truck.
Gene

 

21 gallon tank? it should be a 25 gallon tank

 

68 horses

Mine has BFG's and I still believe that they are the real problem.
As I mentioned in my first post, that was the first thing that was done
and they were badly out of balance.
Also mine has the vibration at the same speeds you mentioned.
Does your vibration vary a little from day to day and with temperature?
I don't have shaking or hopping, it is all vibration, the seat and floor whole
cab. It's like sitting on a big vibrator, once it starts and you have been
driving awhile the harmonics will vary as your speed varies.
The dealer shop foreman that rode with me 3 days ago to stated that
he didn't think it was that bad (at first) then I responded to him how he
would enjoy traveling several hundred miles sitting on this vibrator.
(He changed his tune)
I will update as this story unfolds.

 

Heritage1,
How goes the battle?
They put all new Goodyear Wranglers on my truck and it rides much better (less harsh on rough spots) but didn't cure the problem, just changed it slightly. Please understand that the problem is not severe or violent and some may think that I'm being too picky, but the truck I traded in, '02 Ranger Edge, 4X4, 4.0, 5-speed manual, ext. cab, Goodyear Wranglers drove as smooth and perfect as could be from 0-92 MPH. A vibration will rarely get better with time, and can help cause premature failure of any and all parts related to it. The hopping is not really a hop I guess, more like a slight bouncing up and down seemingly from the rear only at the 42-45 MPH range. Now that the harshness of the General tires is gone, at about 62-63 MPH I can notice a vague roaring/rumbling that seems to have the vibration at a slower period within the rumble. The cyclic nature of this leads me to suspect driveshaft/u-joints, pinion bearing/shaft/yoke, or transmission rear shaft/bearing/yoke. Please keep me posted as to your progress and or solution as it may be a help to me in my negotiations with my dealer. You can either post a reply here or click on my name 68horses and send me an email or private message. I don't really want a different truck, I just want them to make this one right. I don't know where you're located, but I am in Las Vegas, NV. All replies will be appreciated.
Gene