If you find some one that balances them while on the truck it is better than balancing them off the truck becalus they will also be balancing the lug nuts and roter for the brakes and pick up on any problems with the wheel bearings at the same time. but I dont think that balancing is your problem becalus you say it is intermittent. and changes all of the time. but it could be the shocks or a bad tire also. I know it is frustrating and I wish I were closer and could take it for a drive. I could figure it out real fast for you.

 

I have something similar to that i noticed it only when i actually had my foot on the as, thats when it was the worts right around 70mph... told my dads about it and he drove it, he didnt hear anything.... I noticed this sound shortly after my U-Joint (at least i think thats what it is) startyed making noise. Greesed it, helped some what on noise, but i havent gotten any vibes on the highway, and i travel it quite a bit... i also had that front end noise as well.... realle bad thunk when you have it close to the lock.. could this be tied to the universal joint at all?

 

I also vote bad balance. I had to take my tires back THREE TIMES to get balanced before they finally found that 3 of tires were WAYYY out of round and had to be replaced. They gave me new tires at a prorated price.

Like one of the previous posters mentioned, your sure fire way of ruling out wheels and tires and isolating the vibration to your front end would be to rotate the front tires to the rear and test drive.

-Chris

 

Check u joints going down road and out of 4x4 the front axles do start to spin (momentum/ drag) . Could be a bad joint . It happen to me I spun ,replaced about everything, It was after I put new joint on front it went away. As if auto hubs they can try to engage when axle spins.

Cheack front bearings for play .

But it could be tires balance. I had mine done several times and at 40'ish you could feel it. I took new tire/stock rims off and put on other set and was fine. Balance took 6 times for them to get those BF's smooth. Why I dont use them.

LOST

 

So in my case it could be the front U joint? Even if the front was unlocked? I have the Auto 4x4...

This does make sense now that i think of it. Its really noisy when I'm backing up, then when i start to drive, its noisy for about 3 seconds... hmmm, so should i look at the front end U joint?

 

axle u joints??????? i got similar problem and when i turn the driveshaft the right tire turns slightly left and right when i gets tight and i have a horrible clunk when turning im changin it today so ill post results just a note when i lock hubs in and move truck steering wheel goes left and right half turn each way back and forth proving i have a bad u joint

 

Alright.

Get this: took it to the local Ford dealer, had the master tech looking at it and he said there's NOTHING wrong up front - all the parts and connections are good. I even asked him to look at the radius arm bushings that were already done and the terminus of each I-beam at the inboard side, he said no problems. He started looking further aft, and said that the driveshaft may be bent and out of balance, and that the diff is questionable (making noise under examination and testing). Also mentioned that the rear springs were missing their clamps...he balanced the rear wheels again just to rule those out, but said they were good to begin with. The U-joints were good, the axle shafts themselves aren't bent or damaged. Wheels are not bent or flatted.

How then, am I feeling this up front and hearing noise from the front end? Or maybe I've been chasing this damn thing so long that I just can't figure out WHERE it's coming from anymore and just assume it's (or will it to be) up front.

Guess I'll do a diff lube change with some Lucas gear oil and get the driveshaft checked. If those don't help, I'm done screwing with it and I'll just drive it until it completely destroys itself. Gonna also flush the steering fluid and Lucas it as well, can't hurt.

/irritated

 

a diff lube change with some Lucas gear oil will do nothing to help a sever vibration in the deferential. but it wont hurt anything ether. If you get some one to put it on a lift then start it and run it up to 60 MPH you will see if it is coming frome the drive train and where.

 

i dont know i had a shop tell me i needed balljoints because of my problem i changed my wheel u joints today and vibration was gone steers smooth