Well, I bought this Ex a little over a month ago and finally got around to replacing some stuff.

I have a slight vibration between 50 and 60 MPH. The vibration is the same weather I am accelerating, in Neutral, Coasting down (well, a little bit worse when coasting down), in 2WD, in 4WD, turning, going straight, hot or cold.

I have replaced the following:

Rear Driveshaft U-Joints
Tires and Rims
Upper and Lower Ball Joints
Wheel Bearings
Steering Stabilizer
Cleaned and Greased the Hubs
Greased everything greasable up front

I still have the exact same vibration as when I started. I can feel the vibration in the steering wheel as well as in the body of the vehicle. I am thinking that it may be in the steering linkage. If there is a loose joint then the wheels would be allowed to jiggle a little bit. I am at a loss. What else should I check?

Also, When doing the ball joints, I noticed that the tie rod ends were quite stiff. How stiff should these be? I can't move them by hand, but they will move a little bit when moving the free end of the tie rod.

Any help will be much appreciated. I am taking it in for an alignment on Friday, and if I can't figure this vibration out, I might have them take a quick look into it.

Thanks in advance,

Greg

 

any suspension mods or all stock? does it have carrier bearing?
how did new tires and wheels balance up ?did they call for a lot of weight
i know michelin usually balance up nice
just trying to pick at it

 

No suspension modifications. Completely stock. In fact, the factory leaf spreangs are really worn out and I am looking at replacing these with the F250 leaf springs, but I would like to know how much it will change the ride.

No carrier bearing.

The new tires and wheels balanced up just fine. I actually swapped the set that I had on my 1999 F250 with the Ex ones. I have about 40K miles on these tires and have never had a problem with them.

Thanks for the reply joe chevy.

 

Could be an alignment issue or front end issue. Also does the vibration change when applying the brakes, you may have a warped rotor and a possible caliper hanging up on the slide pins, but since you feel in the steering wheel very good chance it's a front end issue.

 

Do you know if the front axles are not turning when not in 4wd? With the hubs not locked you should be able to turn the axle shafts. How are the transmission & motor mounts?

 

cbradford-

I was thinking it might be either an alignment issue or something with the front end. I will get an alignment done this Friday (since I replaced the ball joints). I will also replace the brake problem parts when I can.

Paul T-

No, the axles are not turning when in 2WD. I even went as far as to drive without the hubs installed to be 100% sure that there was no mechanical connection. Still had the problem. I have not checked the transmission and motor mounts. That is one thing that I have over looked. I will have to do that tonight. What is the best way to check these mounts to see if they are toast? Just a visual inspection, or should I put some kind of load on these to see if they move?

 

Visual +.
Unless you are the Hulk, with a stout lift, you probably can't put a static load on a 6.0. Let the engine do the work. Rev it in park, watch for excess movement.
Similar for tranny: brake on, in gear (fwd & rev), blip throttle

 

howler4x4-

Hey now, I have the 7.3L not the 6.0. Yeah, I was going to let the engine do the work. I didn't know if a visual inspection would be good enough or not. I might as well do it the proper way. I will check this tonight and see what I can see.

 

Chances are if you have a motor mount broken you would hear a clunk when accelerating hard and back off quickly, that's just my personal experience.

 

Hooboy those deezel guys are touchy


cbradford-
I've had 'em go bad silently.

Thought... good mounts will help mask a vibration problem, bad mounts may make it obvious. But that is a symptom, not the basic cause of the vibration.
They do need to be replaced, but for other reasons.

 

[quote=howler4x4;8190144]Hooboy those deezel guys are touchy

/quote]

You bet!!!

 

That's what I was thinking too...

After 9 years and 251K, my rotors were warped becuase of stuck caliper pins. Regardless, you may want to do a complete brake job and have O'Reilly's check your rotors for you. Mine were 36 mm and too far gone to machine so I got some new Wagner's with a lifetime warranty. Once I replaced them, the vibrations went away and my truck is back to it's normal self.

Make sure you have PLENTY of brake lubrication grease, I would recommend 4 packets, 2 for each side. Don't forget anti-seize for the caliper bolts!

 

Have you checked the driveshaft bolts? mine suddenly developed the same vibration, fast/slow/power up/slowing down/turning/4X4 in & out, took it to my mechanic who is a big ford guy, he checked all the same things mentioned in here, then he looked underneath and low and behold he seen where the bolts on the front shaft joint was loose. Once on the rack discovered that 2 was acuately missing and allowing the shaft to move.

Sarge

 

My vote is on the 40k tires with a new weight load and slightly different alignment.

 

delzy-

That is what I am thinking right now. It is going to the alignment shop in about 2 hours for an alignment, balancing, and rotation. We'll see after that.