I just purchased a 2002 e350 with 60k miles on it. It came with 4 brand new wrangler tires and a fresh brake job. I have found the van pulls to the right all the time and there is some shaking going on also. I does not change upon acceleration or when slowing down. The van stops straight upon applying the brakes.

The first thing i did was to have the front alignment corrected and have the front tires balanced. There was absolutly no change in the symptoms.
Second thing was to check the power steering operation by jacking up the front end and starting the van. The wheels did not turn either way at all on their own.
I have put less than 2000 miles on the van and have found that the right rear tire is wearing much faster than the others. the left side rear tire wear is normal.
From what I can tell, the parking brake is not dragging, the disc in not scored or discolored from heat, there is no sign of damage to any parts, no leaking of fluids,
I can pull on the tire in an in and out manner and feel about a 1/16 inch of play. I could not feel any with a side to side pull or push.
with only 60k miles i wouldnt expect there to be any problems with a 1 ton rear end. But I might be wrong.

Before I take it in for inspection and repairs, I am hoping someone might have some insight on this problem. Any ideas?
Thanks.

 

have you checked the ball joints. I know they are known for going bad in these vans. i hope this points you in the right direction

 

Thanks for the reply. Wouldn't bad ball joints be found in the front end realigning?

The van does not wander when i hold the steering wheel in one place. it just drifts to the right when i let go. I do have to hold the steering wheel in place all the time. if i let go of it , the van drifts like I am making a lane change.

The front tires do not show any wear yet, only that tire on the rear right side.

 

Try swapping front tires side to side. Even when new, tires can do this.....
They are defective possibly.

I doubt the ball joints are bad as any respectable shop would have NOT aligned it with worn ball joints or steering linkage.....as a matter of fact,
some shops try to sell you ball joints/ tie rod ends when you have an
alignment done..........( even when they are not worn! )

john

 

Even rear tires can cause a pull. If you switch the two front tires side to side with no improvement try switching the two rears. If none of that helps find someone with the same wheels with different tires and arrange to swap temporarily. Occasionally a vehicle will not run a particular brand or type of tire.

 

I just tried the spare on the right rear and took it for a test spin. The pulling and vibration is still there. I was hoping it was something simple like a bad tire.

I dont know much about the rear end of the 350. Is there any thing in it that would malfunctuion that might cause the right side to turn slower or drag? All 4 tires were replace at the same time. They have less than 2000 miles on them but that right rear looks like it has 6000 on it! It is wearing evenly across the top, and no cupping.
I am going to head over to the tire shop that did the alignment. There do cater to the higher end clientel and do install a lot of fancy wheels and cars there. I have some questions to ask.
My last resort is going to be to take it to the local ford dealership. I have had little (no) success with them with an electrical problem in a different e350 van I had. I really do not want to give them any more of my money ever again.

 

OK. Just got back from the tire shop. They switched the tires on the front left to right and measured the wear on the rear tires. The right rear has worn 3/32 more than the left side. They claimed it was because the right side was the drive wheel. His solution was to rotate the rears for even wear. I have driven Ford vans since the late 1960's and have always had even wear on the rears.

Has anyone encountered this wear pattern??? or am I getting some BS?
As far as the pulling syndrome goes, Yes the pulling to the right is drastically reduced. They called it "tire pull". I have heard the term but never believed it was acceptable. Sounds like a defect to me. But which tire is causing it?

So does this mean I cannot ever rotate my tires without recreating a "tire pull" again?

I do still have some vibration. The shocks are not leaking, I dont have any noticable rebounding and I have not pulled any off to check them out. They appear to be originals. Maybe at 62000 miles it is time.
I dont expect the e350 to ride like a Cadillac but I dont want to feel every little imperfection in the road either.

 

When they did the alignment did they check the thrust? Is the rear axle set parallel to the front axles? Measure from front to rear on both sides and compare. It sounds as if the rear axle is not square with the front.

 

I had vibration with new tires even after an alignment, new ball jopints and 2 balances. Finally had Ford do the 3rd balance and all the problems went away. I need to keep the tire pressure @ max 60f/80r or she'll wander.

Just got back from towing my boat 7,900 miles - got 11.6mpg w/ my V10. What a pleasure!

 

Just return from Coast Performance and a test drive. I believe the symptoms are gone. Finally. They balanced the rear tires and they are placed them on the front.
Coast Performance uses a balancing machine called a Hunter GSP9700. I looked it up on the web and it seems to be a sophisticated machine. They checked the existing balancing first, removed my weights, and spun the wheel, added new weights, then checked to see if it was correct.
The pulling is gone completly now and the shaking has stoppped. What a relief.
I will recommend these people. They are located in Costa Mesa, CA

Thanks to everyone for your imput and suggestions on my problem.

 

Here is an update to my issues with the Wrangler tires.

After driving the van for a couple weeks I have had a chance to feel the handling better. Many symptoms were reduced in severity but not eliminated completly. The van still had some pull to the right, and the oversteering problem was still there.
I replaced all the tires with Nitto Terra Grapplers 265/75 E ($134.00 ea.) and the difference is incredible. The back end of the van now follows the front the way it should. Finally. And no more steering pull at all.

I do have questions:
The stock tire was a 245/65 and I replaced with a 265/75.
Is the extra height going to effect the way the computer calculates? or does it automatically compensate for a different tire?

Also here has been disscussion on tire pressure. The door sticker recommends a lower pressure in the front tires than the rear. Many people on the forum indicate that they run the same pressure front and rear. The tire installer told me to run 60 psi front and rear.
Sould there be a lower pressure in the front tires?

2002 e350 v10 superduty with very little load 95% of the time.