Hate to flog a dead horse. But I want to buy a new F150, but I am spooked by all the reports of vibration and steering wheel wiggle that seem to remain uncorrected even after numerous trips to the dealer. Does anyone have any good information about whether these problems have been fixed in the 2005 model. It seems that most of the reports involved the 2004 model. I really want to buy one of these trucks, but I am having a hard time getting past this issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I have seen a few postings that suggest the problem still exists, but not as many.
Drive the trucks, test the steering, ignore the salesman's promises.
Buy one that doesn't shimmy, shake or viberate.
Chris

 

05's do have vibrations! Drive the truck, take your time and put some miles on it. If it vibrates in the 48 to 54 mph range, it is driveline shudder, and there is no fix, avoid the truck like the plague, if the vib's come in at 60 or more, it is the sterring wheel nibble, some say fixable, I say walk away!

 

fomocojoe101 is right in his advice. I do disagree that they can't be fixed. I have read a number of 'fixed' posts.
That said, his advice is still right on the money. Why should you take the chance?
If it's just tires, tell em to fix it, and then you might drive it again. If it's 'almost fixed' say they cut it 90%, thank them very kindly, and run like hell.
Chris

 

Take a drive test, say drive around at least 10 miles on highway/around the town...

My 2004 FX4 screw has no vib at all....

But only replaced is rear limit slip clutch pack, thats it...its smooth!

YOMAN!

 

I have a 05 Scab 4x4 Lariat, about 2000 miles bought in Feb 05, manufactured in Dec 04.
Have had no vibration problems. I have the Goodyear LT 18' tires. The truck does ride a little stiffer that I would like, mostly from the front.

 

Hi, Stone F-150, LT tires on a 4x4. Have you thought about the Bilsteins? Just curious.
I don't need that much with my soft riding tires, and light two wheel, so I am going to wait till a more' sedate' set of shocks comes out.
Chris

 

Hi Chris, thanks for the reply. I see that you have something to say on almost every thread. My truck came with the Goodyear LT 275x65R-18C @ 40 PSI front & rear. The tires have a nice tread pattern and are quiet. I was thinking about the shocks or the sway bar that is on the front causing the stiffness feel coming from the front. I was waiting for something else to complain about when I take it in to Ford but can't seem to find anything else wrong with the truck. Dont know if the shocks are defective or they are just hard riding. The rear doesn't seem to ride that hard.

 

Stone F-150 It couldn't hurt to have them look at it. Might not help...

On my posting in lot's of threads, true, true. One thing is I don't mind the constant repetitive questions as much as some of the other posters, so I don't mind, well, not too much, answering the same question a dozen times.

The other thing is a fact of this forum. It has auto notification. So if I post, any follow up posts go to my e-mail, thus I can 'stay tuned' to the threads I am interested in. Otherwise, in a couple hours they fade to the bottom, and are lost on the back pages. So if I am just curious about how a thingy is working out, I post, and then if anyone responds, I get instant notification.

still another thing is, someone posts, hoping for an answer to something, maybe I don't know the answer, and nobody else is watching it. So it slides on down, the guy never gets an answer. I post and it bumps it to the top. Stupid ones, I don't do that on. But somebody with a good question is worth bumping, and not ignoring.

Hope it doesn't bug you too much,
Chris

 

Hey Chris, Your posts dont bug me at all. Thats not what I ment. You have a lot of good answers and your advise is helpful for all of us that read this forum.

 

In reference to the vibrations ,you mentioned steering nibble. What is it and why would it cause the truck to shake? I have test driven a few SCREW s.
Thank you for all your help.

 

Sterring wheel nibble, can be felt in the steering wheel, a good test is, take one of your index fingers and place it on top of the sterring wheel when you are driving at a steady speed on a smooth road, put your hand on top of the wheel and extend your index finger, works best if your finger is relaxed. If there are any vibrations in the front end you will see your finger vibrate, remember to change your speed, from time to time, try 62, 66, 72, or higher. Some say that sterring whell nibble can be fixed, I say why take a chance, drive another truck, don't let the salesman limit your drive time or milage. It takes at least twenty miles for the tires to come up to regular operating temp, and smooth out any flat spots from sitting on the lot.
Driveline shudder is another story. It has been around as far back as 1999, it can be felt in the seats, place something in the passenger seat, lets say a plastic bag,(I used a small empty cardboard box, with one lid flap open) and drive the truck at a steady speed, try 48, 50, or 52 mph, you can feel your butt vibrate (if the vib is bad) or you will see the item in the passenger seat jumping around, if the truck has this (driveline shudder) avoid it! I test drove 10 different 04 and 05, F150's (all models) and only one did not have the driveline shudder! Of the nine that had the vib some were terrible while another was just barely noticable, yet still there!

 

What vibration????