OK, so I've had my 99 250 PSD for about 3 months now. I have a vibration in the front end that I cant track down. When I'm on the road it'll start after hitting a little bump...then it'll stop at the next bump, so forth and so on. No noise is coming from the front. It doesn't matter if it the hubs are locked or free. The tires have about 3K on them since they were put on. It feels like it's coming from the driver's side, but not entirely certain. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

Have you checked your swaybar bushings? Check your tie rods and ball joints also. How about your shock bushings?Roy

 

does it do it when your on the brakes or off? the steering wheel doesnt pull does it

 

I've crawled under there a few times since I started noticing it. I've pulled, yanked, tapped, and looked at everything. My front end guy did the alignment with the new tires when I bought it, and said everything looked great especially considering the mileage. Everything feels tight. The only other thing that shows any wear is the steering. There's about about 1 1/2" of play in the steering wheel before the tires actually move. Dunno if that normal with these or not.

 

Doesn't change when braking, and it doesn't pull.

 

How old are the shocks ?

 

Good question, lol. I really don't know...look old...like maybe original?

 

If you can't see anything else , I would start there mine had the original shocks on it when I got it with 122,000 miles and they were toast. If you change them go with Bilsteins.

 

If it starts and stops with bumps, it could be your front inner axle bearing or as some call them "needle bearings". They support the axle shafts, and when they get worn they allow the axle to move and sometines engage and disengage the front 4x4 hubs on their own.

Depending on the miles since their last servicing or maybe they've never been serviced at all, Even if that's not the problem, you could stop a future problem from developing. When they go bad, they can ruin the axle shaft, hub bearing assembly and the 4x4 hubs. This can also ruin your wallet as replacing all the parts and seals does not come cheap. Ford recommends servicing every 60,000 miles.

Follow this to a great write up on the servicing procedure:
Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Needle Bearing Maintenance Web Page

Don't forget to post back when you do find the problem, whatever it might be, to help people in the future solve their problems too.


good luck,

Austin

 

sorry double posted

 

Thanks for the input, Austin. I'm gonna swap out the shocks first, since that's the cheapest and simplest and see what happens from there. I will be sure to post follow ups as I get into. Thanks again.

 

The page that you posted is for the Auto hubs. Will this be the same basic procedure that I would use on my Manual hubs?

 

Yep, the unit bearing assembly is the same for both.

 

My 02 is doing the same thing and I was also told it would probably be that inner bearing on the hubs.

 

I'm betting the needle bearings also. I have seen numerous threads where the posters said that their vibrations came and went and it turned out to be the needle bearings.