Just purchased new 2006 6.0 FX4 OFF Road Lariat. This is the third power stroke I have owned, having previously owned a 7.3 2000 and a 6.0 2005. The 2006 has a shimmy in the steering wheel. The dealer has force balanced the tires twice and indicates that they cannot find a problem. The shimmy presist. It is noticable when you hit bumps. I is almost like a bump shimmy. Other this,the truck rides excellent. Has anyone else experienced this problem and what was the fix. I presenly have 900 miles on the truck. Tomorrow it is back to the dealer to possibly talk about new tires. The truck has 18" wheels. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks
Liljohn

 

On my 2005 F350 4x4 they tightened up the steering box adjustment and the problem was gone. Good luck with yours.

 

Read this TSB and see if it addresses your problem:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/full...hp?tsb=05-22-1

 

Because of the steering geometry the new ford trucks have whats called bump steer. If you lift the truck or even level out the front end the bump steer gets worse. You can remedy this by installing steering stabilizer shocks on the steering. Ford installs one already but I am not sure how much good it actually does.

If you install additional stabilizers it makes turning the steering wheel harder. It seems the problem doesn't go away just moves to a different part of the truck. IMO.

 

I am having the same exact problem. My 2007 shimmeed from day one with the factory 20" rims, I put 22" with A/T's, same problem, had them balanced twice, no change. I then added the super-lift dual shock steering stabilizer on, to my surprise did not make much of a change. Sometimes it rides smooth but most of the time it doesn't. The original 20's I sold to a friend, when he put them on the truck rode fine. I guess I got to take it in.

 

In my 05 cc psd, I got to over 40,000 miles without a shimmy. I decided to go get new tires and went to the MTATZ tires - 18 inch wheels and man, what a shimmy, i couldn't believe it. Had those rebalanced, rotated - same thing, shimmy. Went and bought another set of stock size tires (the MT's are 325/75r18) = the BFG AT's and balanced those, same thing. I was out of town and thought hell with this, i'm going to the closest Ford dealer, they said everything (balance, alignment, pressure, tire wear) was fine. Keep in mind these were almost new tires.

I thought, how in the heck did getting new tires produce a shimmy where there was not one before? And aas i was leaving the Ford dealership i thought about driving the truck through the f#@* plate window, but i didn't.

I just came to the conclusion that detroit put all these hard working mechanics and dealers in one hell of a pickle by turning this truck out to soon, what a shame.

I digress.

I was going nuts and about broke. Finally, i thought what have i got to lose?
I Went to Sears (customer satisfaction guarenteed) and told them about my problems, they aligned the truck, balanced and rotated the tires and i have no problem at all. Its weird, i drive the truck now and wait for the shimmy to start but it doesn't.

Anyway, Sears said my alignment was out by more than 4Degrees in one direction and 2 degrees in another, can't remember which, i have the form in the truck if y'all need to know.

I would check the alignment even if your truck is new - DONT do it a Ford, they never have a problem with alignment, go pay the $139.00 and if it is out, take your report and receipt back to Ford for adjustment.

Also, sears reccomended i replace the shocks and i think i will. Nothing to do directly with the steering but...

There also are power steering pump powered hydraulic cylinders that are available to help control steering on trucks, maybe this would work. I have a full hydraulic steering setup (different vehicle) from pscmotorsports.com - they also sell the other stabilizer if anyone wants to check with them.

 

Century Colorado,

That seems to describe the problem to a tee. Thanks, will be talking to dealer first thing in the morning.

Liljohn

 

I am shopping for a new truck and test drove a 06 F350 SC 4X4 and an 07. Both trucks steering wheels shimmied very bad over 55. The dealer had service look at them and mechanic said both trucks had flat spots on the tires. They ordered new tires for both trucks. I'm waiting for the dealer to call me back when there fixed to try them again.

 

Well, got truck back from dealer the second time after changing four sets of tires and TSB 05-22-1. The result is that the truck develops a vibration and steering wheel shimmy that begins at excatly 57 miles per hour and ends at 72 miles per hour. At all other speeds the truck is smooth as silk. After two days of work and to end out with this result is disappointing. The truck now acts to me like it has a tire balance issue or some other problems with the tires, wheels or drive shaft. Any other thoughts.

 

The dealer called me back and I test drove both trucks they said they fixed. One truck, the 06, was a little better and the 07 was the same. They got in a new 07 highline optioned supercab that just came of the truck. The sales guy and I took that one for a ride, sales guy drove, and you guessed it shimmied the same as the others. I don't know what to say other than I am very disapointed.

 

My 2006 CC King Ranch FX4 has 32,000 trouble free miles on it. That was until I replaced the tires three weeks ago. I developed the exact same symptoms as explained above. <o></o>

I have replaced three of the tires because the dealer could not properly balance them and the front end still shimmies. How changing tires can cause such trouble, I have no idea.
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I have decided to take it to my local tire shop had have them add some camber or caster, just a little, it may help balance things out, I have a hunch that the front end may be too perfectly balanced allowing the truck to shake. Maybe running the alignment a little off will keep the shake out, I will let you guys know…<o></o>

I am at my wits end with this thing.

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I have been told by a manager at a Goodyear facility that the tires are marked for orientation on the wheel. From what I remember on Goodyear tires it is a white mark that either goes directly at the valve stem or 180 degreees opposite. I had a set of tires that would not balance and they had to change 3 of the 4 for this problem. He also stated that they can not just remove and reinstall the tire for some reason. This caused the exact same problem for me that is being described here. I loked at my 2006 and the white marks are incorrect from the factory and my truck has these same symptoms.

 

...Moved....

 

Have done somemore checking and found that the dealer when balancing and rotating tires failed to air inflate the tires properly all were at differ inflation levels from 45lbs to 64 lbs. I tow a lot and inflated tht tire pressure to 75lbs per tire and the problem improved . I now have shimmy only betweem 65-70 mph. Still not OK but better than before. Dealer has agreed to replace the tires with some other brand of tire than Contitrac TR's. Having trouble finding anything in the right size and load range E. Anyone have any idea about a good tire to use. I have heard that the new Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor is a good tire, but have been unable to find any in the 18" size.

Just to note, took truck to a non Ford alignment and balance facility to get second opinion. They feel that the problems with the truck is all tire or wheel related, due flat spotting, out of round, broken or bad belts or a bad wheel or two.