1996 f-250, 4x4, powerstroke, supercab, manual tranny, 160,000 miles. i have a noticable vibration from 35 through 58 mph (38 through 42 being the worst). it is exactly like what you would feel with an out of balance tire/ wheel and not a drive shaft. This is the new stuff in the front end: 1. Brand new tires (on stock aluminum rims) which have been rebalanced twice, and rotated twice to check for any problems there (one has a silght high spot approx. a strong 1/8"). 2. All new tie- rod ends. 3. All new ball joints. 4. 3000 miles on a rebuilt tranny. 5. A recent front end alignment. 6. I checked for broken springs, broken shackles, loose steering sector, pitman arm, those rubber spring bushings, loose u-bolts, cracked rims, and you name it. Nothing. I feel it is a continous vibration. i had a tire/ front end alignment guy have a look at it and he felt it was an intermitant vibration. he could not determine what the cause was. i did have my 7x24 gooseneck hooked up the other day and that seemed to magnify the problem. any ideas?

bryan

 

mine does the same thing between 35 and 42 mph and comes back again at 67 mph, i put new tires on it cause it needed them bad.and i had an alignmet done also, i dont think mine is the drive shaft either cause when i change the gears in or out of OD or 2nd at lower speed it does the same thing. havent had the front end rebuilt or drive shaft done. did have the front wheel bearings done still didnt help. havent taken it to a shop for fear of spending the money and get no good response or they cant figure it out. I hope some one can help us out for ideas, this a great site with good people and good info so hope it wont take long for a response. good luck with the help.

 

i have gone through my wheel bearings recently also. new shocks might help, but it won't stop the cause. the truck still has the stock shocks. i have heard (rumor) that the disk/rotor and drums can get out of balance, is this so?. yes this is a great site. and i am assured i will get some great feedback!

bryan

 

i'm not sure about the rotors or drums being out of balance, i do know these items can warp but if that did happen the vibration would be all the time i guess never had that happen yet. i did have my brakes and rotors checked when i baught the tires and firestone (yeah i know blah) said they were still in good shape.

 

>1996 f-250, 4x4, powerstroke, supercab, manual tranny,
>160,000 miles. i have a noticable vibration from 35 through
>58 mph (38 through 42 being the worst). it is exactly like
>what you would feel with an out of balance tire/ wheel and
>not a drive shaft. This is the new stuff in the front end:
>1. Brand new tires (on stock aluminum rims) which have been
>rebalanced twice, and rotated twice to check for any
>problems there (one has a silght high spot approx. a strong
>1/8"). 2. All new tie- rod ends. 3. All new ball joints.
>4. 3000 miles on a rebuilt tranny. 5. A recent front end
>alignment. 6. I checked for broken springs, broken
>shackles, loose steering sector, pitman arm, those rubber
>spring bushings, loose u-bolts, cracked rims, and you name
>it. Nothing. I feel it is a continous vibration. i had a
>tire/ front end alignment guy have a look at it and he felt
>it was an intermitant vibration. he could not determine
>what the cause was. i did have my 7x24 gooseneck hooked up
>the other day and that seemed to magnify the problem. any
>ideas?
>
>bryan

is the high spot repeated around the tire?

If the same spot is repeating it's way around the tire, then your shocks are your problem, as they are not holding the tire to the road. This causes the tire to skip, and would be your source of shaking.

160000 miles on stock shocks....may be time for new ones any way.

P.S. what size tire are we talking about, 245/75/16 ?

 

i'm not 100% sure what you mean by "repeated". there is one high spot (aprox. 1/8 of an inch), one low spot (aprox. 1/16th of an inch), other wise normal. i jacked the wheel up and placed a hammer handle near the face and rotated it by hand to figure this out. the other tires were nearly perfect. its hard to believe this small abnormality would make it shake so.
"the same spot is repeating it's way around the tire"; could you futher explain this as well. are you saying that with a good shock, this small high spot would not cause the shaking? but with a poor shock it will shake?
the tires are 235/ 85/ 16's, 10 ply, load range "E".
thanks for the help guy's!

bryan

 

If rotating the tires front to rear doesn't help, and trailer magnifies it, I'd seriously suspect a bent axle.

Jared

 

>i'm not 100% sure what you mean by "repeated". there is one
>high spot (aprox. 1/8 of an inch), one low spot (aprox.
>1/16th of an inch), other wise normal. i jacked the wheel
>up and placed a hammer handle near the face and rotated it
>by hand to figure this out. the other tires were nearly
>perfect. its hard to believe this small abnormality would
>make it shake so.
>"the same spot is repeating it's way around the tire"; could
>you futher explain this as well. are you saying that with a
>good shock, this small high spot would not cause the
>shaking? but with a poor shock it will shake?
>the tires are 235/ 85/ 16's, 10 ply, load range "E".
>thanks for the help guy's!
>
>bryan


It would like like some one took a sander to areas of the tire, i.e. flat spots would be repeated every so many X inches, the circumference of the tire.

When you spun the tire using the hammer trick did it bounce alot?

This is really starting to sound like a broken belt tire.

Is your spare the same size? If so put it on in place of the tire with the funny spot, and take it for a spin, If your problem goes away, its your tire.

If not then I agree with Ford-six about the bent axel.

 

the tires do not have enough miles on them to have a flat spots from wear, only 3000 miles. with full float rears and IFS front, i do not understand the bent axle idea. putting on the spare minimumized the shake, but i still felt it was there to some extent. tire did not bounce alot using the hammer trick.

thanks for the help guys.

bryan

 

I had an 85 f250 4x4 that I bought new. It also had a vibration that felt like a tire out of balance. Many experts looked at it including dealers and drive line specialists. Non could find or resolve the problem. I drove it for three or four years until I could not take it anymore. I put it up on jackstands and ran all wheels at different speeds. The right rear wheel would bounce up and down like it had a high spot on it. I changed tires, same problem. It turned out to be the hub/drum with a bad run out on the lug bolts. When they drilled the holes at the factory it was off centered by about 10-20 thousands, not enough to look bad on a dial indicator but when the tire height was added it caused a vibration. Put on a new hub and drove it another 150,000. it rode like a limo, not like my 2001 Super Duty Supercab

Dwayne

 

thanks Dwayne, i will check into that. i recently removed the drive shaft and drove it. it still shook. but we did eliminate that possibility.

bryan

 

the latest is: that i had the best mechanic i know look at it. he installed new shocks to no avail. he couldn't figure out the shake source either, but he knows of a dealer who has some kind of electronic gaget they can install on your vehicle and pin point the source of the vibration/ shake. the service man there thought that it was the dual-mass clutch. i told him it still shakes with the clutch depressed, to which he had no answer. that tester will be hooked up this friday. hope this works.

bryan

 

well gentlemen, i checked the rear end fluid level and behold it was full, but there was a high amount of fine filings on the magnetic plug. after calling my mechanic, he feels it is a carrier bearing going out. so i'll be taking the pickup to him on the 26th and he'll pull the rear cover off and have a look. i am sighing a breath of releif that we may have found the source, but i am also worried that other components are going to be bad in there as well. i will update you when it is all said and done or if something else arrises (sp?).
bryan

 

 

my mechanic pulled the rear cover and found the pinion bearings to be in rough shape. i didn't ask if he replaced the carrier bearings, i assumed he did. but, we still have the shake!!!!! i am leaving for a two week vacation tomorrow, so i left the pickup with him to try and resolve the problem. i will check in on the trip if possible, but i assume i won't be. so when i get back i'll surely check in again.
thanks guys.

bryan