Hey guys,
I’ve been trying to fix a problem with a rough riding Super Duty and I’m all out of ideas and need some help. I purchased a 04 F250 4x4 within the past few months and it’s always had a pretty rough ride at speed. 60mph+. When I initially purchased the truck I noticed the front tires had some wear like I had never seen before. The tread on the front tires was worn only in the middle 2-3 inches around the tires, and only on every other piece of tread.

The truck is riding on BFG Rugged Trail 265/75/16 tires. I believe these are the same tires that came from the factory. I really don’t want to replace them as they have a lot of tread left on them, maybe 50-60%.

I started out by rotating the tires to put the fronts on the rear. Obviously since they were so badly worn they needed to be rotated to the rear to wear correctly. I figured a few months of stomping on the throttle and the rears would be worn down and it would ride smooth again. I knew it would ride rough now that the badly worn tires were on the rear, but I expected the front to now be smooth again, it started that same frontal vibration.

I put the truck on jack stands at my house and checked the ball joints and the tie rod ends. They are solid as a rock. The previous owner had replaced them and they looked just fine to me, no play could be felt at all when trying to really muscle on the tire while it was in the air. I then decided to replace the steering stabilizer. This helped a good bit with the overall feel of the truck and taking care of bump steer but did not solve the rough ride problem. I then took the truck into firestone for a front end alignment. (An alignment was needed due to a toe out problem. This helped but again did not totally resolve the problem.) While there I had the tech checked ball joints and tie rod ends, and concurred with my opinion that they were in good condition.

After reading on the forums about how crappy the factory shocks were I replaced them with new Monroe shocks. (Again, improved the overall feel of the truck but did nothing to solve the rough ride, or vibration at speed.) I finally decided to take the truck in and get the tires balanced. (This did it, totally fixed the problem for about 10 minutes.) After balancing the tires I remember pulling out of Discount Tire thinking I had totally fixed the problem and all is well now. I was thrilled. I knew how this thing was suppose to ride, but it just was as rough as could be. About 2-3 days the vibration came back.

I lived with it for another month second guessing what all I had done or thinking that a wheel weight had fallen off. I had some free time yesterday and I took it back in to get the tires balanced. After pulling out it’s perfect but I can tell it’s slowly going back to the way it was.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

I know you hate to have to replace the tires but after reading everything you've done and my experince with tires I would find some tires for cheap maybe try Craigslist in your area or find someone that has the same truck as you and swap tires drive it down the road and see if it fixes the problem and if it does you know its the tires.

 

If after getting the tires rebalanced, the issue goes away, but then comes back, it sounds like a problem with the tires. One option if you really dont want new tires is to internally balance with either powder or little plastic BB's. This will result in the wheel balancing itself all the time. I know a few guys that have big tires for off roading and this is what they use.

 

The only thing that makes me wonder is how in the heck the tires got so badly worn up front in the first place. I don't have any background as I bought the truck from the dealer, but I am scared that if I replace the tires the exact same thing will happen again, and I would HATE to ruin $1000 in tires.

 

After rereading your original post, it almost sounds like the tires were over inflated. That would be the only reason to wear out the center of the tire. Maybe get a set of cheap tires for the front and try running them for a while. Even a set of decent used ones if you can find them. (try junk yards)

 

Ever since I've had the truck I have them running 50psi up front 70 in the rear and I haven't towed a thing. The only additions I have to the truck have been ranch hand replacement bumpers front and rear, as well as a headache rack.

It probably added 500-600lbs in weight but that's it.

 

I meant maybe the previous owner had them over inflated, since the wear was there when you bought it. But I am curious as to why you are running different pressures as well. You should have them all the same, and use what the tire manufacturer recommends for that tire as well.

 

I've run them according to the sticker on the gas cap door. Since these are OE Tires I just pressured them according to what Ford recommended them at. That being said they are Load Range E tires, and IIRC they call for 80PSI on the sidewalls. I suspect that would be a very rough ride though.