Actually it turned out to be 14 tires including the ones that are on the truck now. My argument has always been that the problem is not in the tires, but rather a problem in the suspension or drivetrain. My right rear tire is always weighted heavy in comparison to the other three wheels regardless of what tires have been on the truck.

In relation to the rear end Polar, is the noise in the rear inherent to a design flaw or bad parts being manufactured? No disrespect but anytime I've heard noise out of the rear, it usually means it's heading out.

The dealer is saying that the vibration I feel is within tolerances, I told him I want to see the document that defines tolerances. He looked at me like I came from outer space. What would be my next recourse when the dealer says this and that there is nothing more they can do?

 

Have you driven other Expy's? Minor rear end/drivetrain noise is characteristic of the current Expy and, to a lesser extent, the F150. Ditto some drivetrain vibration. You'd probably call it a design flaw, I just call it normal and characteristic, since it's background noise, and not something that's led to mechanical failures- which would be a different issue entirely. I suspect it's noticed more in the Expy because the trucks quieter in the first place.

The dealer saying it's within tolerances is a polite way of saying "they all do it, get over it." And, within reason, he may be correct- they do. You can swap parts until the cows come home (or Ford sez stop, whichever comes first), but I'm not sure it's physically possible to eliminate it entirely. I'm actually more sympathetic than I'm sounding- this is the kind of stuff that'll drive you crazy if you let it.

Our Expy had the typical Rr axle noise and driveline vibration, but I left it alone- only because I already knew the story, and didn't want to tie up the truck for a parts swap that wouldn't appreciably improve the situation.

"My right rear tire is always weighted heavy in comparison to the other three wheels regardless of what tires have been on the truck."

I'm not sure what you mean here?

 

exowner, if it makes you feel any better, my 05 EB 4x4 is in the dealers right now for the same thing. Rear-end howl and steering nibble. I have owned dozens of ford 4x4's and I can tell you with all certainty that they should go down the road at 75+ mph with absolutley no steering vibration or drivetrain noise, even if it's in 4 wheel drive. If it does, something is out of balance. Any noise or vibration should be tire related and easily curable. Unfortunatly not our case. The rear end gears are cheap and some howl and some don't. The front rack is sensitive to everything and if a tire or other suspension componant is out of spec, the steering nibbles. The "Nibble" deal is completly unacceptable for a vehicle anyone who says it is should try driving a vehicle that has it for a thousand miles or so. It's horrible no matter how slight the wheel is shaking. I have a 00 F-350 and it is completly silent with zero vibrations at 75+ mph, same for my 98 Expy.
Right now the Dealer has replaced the rear end gears and is replacing the 4 original Conti's with new Conti's. They claim one of the tires was bad. They also claim that Ford won't upgrade to the Michelins under a warranty/vibration issue. I should have it back by Friday. Wool c.

 

Polar,

By weighted, I mean the wheel weights used to balance the tire. No matter what tire (Conti, Goodyear, or Michelin) the right rear always has more weight than the others. I have driven almost all models of Expy's. The only one I didn't was a XLS, no baody seems to have one. Smoothest was the limited. I really couldn't tell the difference in the ride, but for sure ALL of them had a ride quality MUCH better than my current Expy. None of them had any vibration, it was heavenly.(Ahhhhhh, sweet release)

Garyle,

If you have to, take it all the way up to the Regional Rep. He was the one who authorized the install of the Michelins on mine, no cost, all warranty.

I've called the service writer and we will have the truck back to them on Mon. It would be sooner, but the forecast is for some kind of inclement weather (if you don't live in the DC area, the forecasters usually have no idea what kind of precip wil fall, i.e. rain, snow, sleet, or freezing rain).

 

now_exowner, but you have to play the game though! This is my first time in with this Xpy and the dealer is probably just following Fomoco's instructions.....IE;...."Look, we know we screwed up some of these Xpy's by putting in cheap gears and cheesy tires and so on, but it's going to be REAL expensive to fix all of them the RIGHT way sooooo.. when they come in the first time...tellem something like it's normal to have the wheel shake and the tires will wear in.... and maybe most of them won't come back. The real Ford Die hards will always come back at least 3 times in which case, fix it right then cuz they won't go away till it's fixed like the good ones on the lot.

 

Could you have a badly cast alloy wheel? It might be going out of true quickly and wearing the drivetrain, rear axle, etc?

 

I would go with that except that There has been more than one of the rims on that corner.

 

Well my 05 EB 4x4 just came back from the dealer for warranty work on the rear end (howling) and the steering wheel shaking/nibble. They replaced the ring and pinion and reshimmed it twice. It's now silent. Fingers crossed it holds up. They tried to force balance my original tires to cure the wheel shake with no luck. One tire was bad so they ordered 4 new Conti's (instead of Michelins, that bloze). Out of the 4 new Conti's , one was bad and they had to order another one. Shake/nibble is now gone, all the way past 80 and at last this 05 EB drives like you would expect.

 

The part I can't figure out is why you guys don't just throw Bridgestone Revos on the truck and call it good? Example- our first Grand Marquis came with low-end michelins, the second with Goodyears. They were round, they held air- and that pretty much describes their good points right there. Threw on a set of Toyo Proxes TPT's on both cars, and the tires absolutely transformed the cars. The Marquis is actually a great handling car- but you'd never know it running OEM rubber. When we bought our Expy, I knew about the Conti's in advance (FTE threads), so I mentally budgeted a set of Revos into the purchase, and solved the problem before it became a problem.

 

Too many threads indicating the nibble might not be the tires alone. Figured I would let Ford sort it out at their cost in case the rack was junk. At least I now know for myself that the newer tires eliminated the shake 100 percent and not just partially. New tires on the way in the near future.

 

Not to ride the horse off of the cliff, but I shouldn't have to buy another set of tires right off of the lot to get it to ride correctly.(if that is truly what the problem is) I admit I didn't investigate enough before buying my Expy, but this seems to be an engineering issue (or part or tire selection issue) that should be resovled by Ford, not my wallet. (45k out of my pocket should be enough) I hope I don't sound soapboxish but this is one of the problems with manufacturers today, they race a product through development, and if it seems close enough and the masses will buy the line that this is the way it is supposed to work, or just give up, then this is what the establishment will believe is acceptable. I think it is our right and duty to hold the big three to a higher quality standard than what we have come to expect from them.(you know the line, "Well, what do you expect from US made vehicles??) If enough customers keep the line that they won't accept crap, they will be forced to not produce crap. Again, no disrespect to anyone involved in producing these vehicles, we all know the push comes from way above the guy installing brake rotors on the assembly line. Just my $.02.

Dave

 

now_exowner Not to ride the horse off of the cliff, but I shouldn't have to buy another set of tires right off of the lot to get it to ride correctly.(if that is truly what the problem is) I admit I didn't investigate enough before buying my Expy, but this seems to be an engineering issue (or part or tire selection issue) that should be resovled by Ford, not my wallet. (45k out of my pocket should be enough) I hope I don't sound soapboxish but this is one of the problems with manufacturers today, they race a product through development, and if it seems close enough and the masses will buy the line that this is the way it is supposed to work, or just give up, then this is what the establishment will believe is acceptable. I think it is our right and duty to hold the big three to a higher quality standard than what we have come to expect from them.(you know the line, "Well, what do you expect from US made vehicles??) If enough customers keep the line that they won't accept crap, they will be forced to not produce crap. Again, no disrespect to anyone involved in producing these vehicles, we all know the push comes from way above the guy installing brake rotors on the assembly line. Just my $.02.

Dave

In principle, I'd agree with you- but I've replaced tires on a Honda before for similiar reasons. Check what's underneath a new base Camry. There are a number of explanations as to why a manufacturer can't/won't put the best tires on a given vehicle: low bid is the most popular one, but sometimes the tire manufacturer just doesn't want to participate in the OEM bidding game, or just doesn't have the production volume to accomodate them. Sooo... while it's very easy to blame Ford, it doesn't solve the problem. And buying brand X isn't a guarantee of escaping it- unless you plan on spending a whole lot more than $45K. I know it sounds like a whole lotta money (it is), but in the overall scheme of automobildom, that qualifies as mid-priced for a SUV.

 

Maybe I've been blessed in the car purchase world, but I have never had tires been a cause for a problematic ride. But into my previous rant, in the tire case, my local service dept has given every line that would lead the uneducated to just take what they say (i.e. "Well, this is a truck ride, not a car") as gospel and just swallow it. That was more the point, Engineers develop a product and send it down the pike with a problem, the dealers are mystified how this came through and have to scratch their heads and try to fix this, all without tarnishing the nameplate they sell. I mean, who would buy a brand when the service dept. is complaining that the manufacturer makes a piece of junk that they have to try to fix? This kind of mentality reminds me of the movie "Gung Ho" with Michael Keaton. The quote that rings true is, "just make the car, let the dealer worry about the warranty". or something to that affect.

The bottom line I'm trying to stress is that if the manufacturer takes a little more time developing their products, work out the kinks, and present a truly quality product, this board wouldn't half as thick as it is.

On the other front, the shop foreman is supposed to take her out for a run again. I talked to him and explained at what speeds to notice what my wife and I have found. We'll see what happens.

Dave

 

Just did a quick read here, but if it isnt the tires or a wheel, maybe you've got a bent axle.... I can believe anyone would go through sooo many tires!!

 

Try telling that to my beloved service writer, shop foreman, service tech........

If you saw the movie "Finding Nemo", all the seagulls would only say "mine,mine,mine". When I talk to my service dept, I get tires, tires, tires.

Maybe it's the rims??? Tires, tires, tires

How about a suspension component?? tires, tires, tires

You get my drift??

Dave