I bought a 2004 Ford F-250 4x4 crew cab with a V-8 gas engine, Auto transmission and FX package. The truck has about 35000 miles on it. I am the 2<SUP>nd</SUP> owner and bought the truck with 25000 miles it. I have been having a problem with pulsating in the front end. I have had the rotors cut 2 times and they keep warping. Also the truck has a real hard ride to it, I know everybody states that these Rancho shock are the problem. Can anybody recommend a great shock for a smother ride thats not to hard on the pocketbook. I do not do any off roading or have any lift. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

These rotors are too thin to be cut at all ,maybe once but not twice.
Common problem is the caliper slide pins bind or stick causing the caliper to hang or get skewed an not retract form the rotor enough your warping
Also if the wheels are not torqued to spec by hand can cause it also.
Try ART rotors and pads or other brands for a fix.
As far as a softer ride ,your truck may have a snowplow pkg on it which is a have duty spring in the front.
No shock is going to fix that.
Chk the sticker on the door to see what the front axle gwvr is(spring lbs)
Rich

 

I just checked it dose not have a snow plow package.

 

Sorry I should have said camper pkg or heavey duty spring pkg.Also

What is the Front and rear axle gvwr lbs on the front door sticker.

Is this your first Ford solid front axle truck ?

These are heavey duty trucks and ride like trucks !
We all know it.


As far as shocks
Bilstiens
Edlebrock
or the factory standard shock (non rancho)
none will be on the cheap side

Take one of the front shocks off and test by hand see if its lost its charge
they could have went bad.
Rich

 

the rotors should not be cut. they should have been replaced. make sure to lube the slide pins often.

 

Thanks for the replies, the truck dose have the camper package. This is the first f250 4X4. I am trying to compare the ride to my Ford E350 ext van (which I have had a few over the last couple of years), it rides like a Cadillac compared to the truck and I been seeing on the forums about how bad the shocks are. Just bought the truck and hate to have to dump any money into it. I had it at the dealer and they said they cut the rotors but after about 2000 miles the pulsating started again. I brought it to Midas (who are suppose to break specialist) and they are telling me to resurface the rotors and put ceramic pads on front only, new pads on back and that will fix the problem ($600.00). Again I would hate to have them do it and find out they warp again. Which rotors would you suggest? And should I do all 4? Should I use the ones with holes for better cooling? I see in the forums they recommend ceramic pads should I do all 4 and I see there are ceramic and heavy-duty ceramic pads which do you use. Sorry for all the question but I would like to do it right the first time and not experiment with different things. Again thanks for any info you can give. Mario<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

I JUST finished my brake job on my truck today and I almost forgot what it felt like to have new brakes. I put the Powerslot rotors and Hawk pads on and highly recommend them. The lower caliper pins on both sides were seized but I managed to work them out and cleaned/greased the pins. They seem to be working good but I'd feel safer putting a new set on. Anyways, I paid ~$300 for the front rotors and pads. I know others have had great experiences with ART rotors as well, but they're almost $200 a rotor, too rich for me. Good luck.

 

Does the truck pulse only when braking? I had the warped rotor issue with the stock rotors and turning them lasted less than 10k before they pulsed again. I put ART rotors and pads on and have had no problems since.

One thing often overlooked for rough ride is the tire pressure. If you don't carry heavy loads, you should run less pressure than what's on the sidewall or on the door jamb. The door jamb pressure is assuming each axle is loaded to it's limit. For unloaded driving you'll have better tire wear, better traction and a much smoother ride if you adjust tire pressure for the load. Check www.trucktires.com for a tire inflation table for your tires. You can check your truck weight at many truck weigh stations when they're closed or at garbage transfer stations for free. Many truck stops also have scales you pay to use.

I have Rancho shocks on my truck, but they're the adjustable 9000 models. I can set dampening to suit my tastes. For unloaded driving I set them for a nice smooth ride. When I load up my very heavy and top heavy camper, I set the rears to max to dampen the sway. They work great for us camper owners.

So with my correctly set tire pressure and shocks, my dually rides very nice normally. I have recently gotten some shake in the front end, but that's probably due to the tires which are very worn.

 

You might want to also check the steering stabilizer (the factory ones are garbage, if you're still using it). I know stab's usually just mask a bigger issue (like your worn tires) but it'll help quite a bit if the factory one is trashed.

 

Thanks for the tip. I was going to replace the tires first because my troubleshooting philosophy is to change what you know is bad and then see if you still have problems. Right now, it feels like tires that are out of balance so I'm gonna try those first.