Front end shake
 

Ok,I have an 05 f150 4x4 5.4. And I have noticed for a little while now that once in awhile,it seems like the front end,will shake like an up and down shake.Today it was the worse,now it only does it maybe once a week if that but usally its not too bad. Just a little shimmy. But today it really shook.Now when it happened I put on the overdrive,applied the brakes and even put 4x4 on and still did it. Now it does it the worse at very slow speeds even at crawling speed in an alley.I parked it at home and took it out again after 10 minutes and nothing! What could be causing this??

Also I have tried to research on here about the issue but cant find the same problem.Now i never use my e brake and i didnt have time to jack it up yet,i just wanna be steered inn the right direction so when i do jack it up i know what to look for.Im just a weekend mechanic.

front end shake can NORMALLY be traced to ball joint wear. A good test is to jack up one side with the jack under the A FRAME so the tire comes up 2 inches off the ground and A frame is basically in the "normal" position. If you jack up on the main frame, the tire and A-frame will drop a few inches and not be a good test.

With the tire off the ground. grab the top and bottom of tire and push/ pull toward the motor to see if you have any play... Grab the two sides and do the same thing... then put a 4 ft 2 x 4 edge under the tire and pry up and down on the tire and see if the lower ball joint has any excess play............ sometimes it helps to have a buddy do the wiggling while you look at what is moving. If the truck is 10 years old 4 x 4 and has never had upper or lower ball joints, that would be a good place to look first.

I think from what you're describing you're probably looking at an engine misfire, it could be the plugs or possibly a bad cop and/or even just moisture under the spark plug boots.

A few weeks ago I had plugs and cop's replaced and the ford mechanic(my neighbor) did mention that the new plugs could work loose and I would have to retighten them if it did. After they were installed,and we only broke one by the way,it ran great but I have been noticing it running a little rough latley. Maybe that could be the cause. But at crawling speeds if feels like I'm running over large stones the way it shakes. Would that cause it to feel that way?

It could be your brake calipers.

Front axle CV joints.

well, it looks like it could be ANYTHING....... you need to do some checking and narrow down what it IS NOT and what it still COULD BE.. If its the plugs or COPS, back off on the throttle while going 50 MPH and you wont feel the vibration,... normally only under LOAD for the coil/ plugs.

Well if I let go of throttle it still does it. Now it didn't do it at all today. It was raining yesterday. I wonder if water was getting somewhere causing it. I did jack both wheels up at the a frame n tried to move wheel up and down left to right and nothing. Took wheels off and used pry bar everywhere and nothing seemed to be loose. Tires are 3 years old with only 10000 miles on and looked good all around. To me it felt like an up and down shake,almost like driving over those rumble strips at a toll booth. Steering wheel shook like crazy. Now this was the worse at under 5mph. It almost feels like a bearing or something. If hub is bad does it always have play in the wheel when trying to move it? Also leaning toward the cv joint since that's pretty much the only other part that is turning. Would that also have play in it? I'm confused! !!! I don't have the money to take it to a garage and snow is right around the corner.

If the shaking didn't change while coasting it probably isn't a misfire, the rest of the information you gave is helpful but also confusing?
So more questions, Dose it not change at all in 4wd vs 2wd? is it worse or change at all when you turn the wheel? did you spin the font tires by hand with it jacked up? If you did was there any odd noises or catching? The equivalent to 5/10 mph can be duplicated by hand.

I'm also now guessing it's likely a wheel bearing or CV joint problem but which one it is I'm not sure yet, I prefer to diagnose versus throwing money at a problem.

It had no change when I put 4wd on and I did spin then and didn't hear nothing. Now the one wheel did spin a lot harder then the other. Like it was hanging up somewhere. And when it was doing it I turned into my alley near my home and it didn't seem to change at all and no noise either.

Also it kind of felt like it was slowing the truck down too when i was going in alley.Like it was hanging up somewhere. But when I applied brakes it didn't change at all. I always get the weird problems!

I'm going with the miss fire. I had a real bad miss once. Notice it first just idling at the end of my driveway. It did get a little worse after some throttle. Had just had the plugs changed maybe 3or4 weeks earlier. Here one of the plugs had a hair line crack. Could hardly see it. Take it to a ford garage just for a diagnosis.

That is still in the back of my mind but To me it feels like metal on metal kind of grind. I might try the cv joints and replace both of them since I'm not sure which side it's coming from. I seen my local advanced auto store has them for 70 each but the reviews are not too good. A 2.6 out of 5. They say they don't articulate right? Anyone ever try these? It's CARQUEST brand.

very rare to be CV joint failure........ if something is worn out, it would be the wheel bearing/ hub or the ball joints. Jack it up under the A-FRAME 2 inches... put a 2 x 4 under the edge of the tire and lift the tire up and down to see if it moves more than the truck wiggles.. You cant hide a hub failure or ball joint worn out... it will show up if its one of those.