2008 f250 standard cab long bed 2wd base model 5.4. This thing has been great for the last few years i i owned it but it developed a shake since i got new tires. My mechanic mounted 4 new hercules terra trac at 2's on my 18 inch wheels (275 70 18) and when i got the truck back it was shaking violently at anything over 45. Mechanic says the new tires are heavy and its affecting other things...sounds plausible. So here i am a month later with a New steering stabilizer, all new ball joints, new shocks, new u joints, and 1 new tire (he said 1 of the brand new hercules had a broken chord). The shake is 80% gone but this truck is still not the same. Anything after 65mph and it has a feint wobbly bouncy shake. I dont think its the dreaded hop that everyone gets on these. I have 2 theories:

1. These cheap tires just suck and will never be right
2. The cheap junk monroe shocks he put on are way too soft to do anything

so what do i do? Should i get some crazy shocks or will that make this truck even bouncier? Im worried about making it even stiffer than it already is.

 

If the problem started when you got the new tires, I'd say that is the cause, especially if they are the exact same size as what you had.

Take them to a different shop and have them checked out and balanced. May be cheaper than throwing money at more parts.

 

I almost want to give back these tires and get a strictly highway tread. I dont know why i let him talk me into these all terrains. The truck never sees anything except pavement. Im bringing the truck back to the same guy 1 more time and I'll see if i can swap out these tires for something less aggressive. They ride like garbage as it is. But if i drag the mechanic around and still have the shake after all that id feel pretty bad. Such a frustrating issue. Why couldnt i have just blown a spider gear or something lol

 

Take it to a shop that does tire truing and have them trued and balanced on-truck. I had it done to my DRW after putting on six new Michelin tires and fought a rear-end shimmy for a couple months. Two different Ford dealers got tired of trying to track down the issue and the second one finally sent me to a tire shop that does truing and on-vehicle balancing. Truck rides as smooth as silk now.

The shop said they get a lot of trucks in with folks putting on new, meaty A/T and M/T tires on, even from the dealers. I spent $30 a tire having it done, but after spending $1500+ on tires, it was worth it. Next time I put on new tires, I'll have a shop like that do the truing and balancing along with mounting them and save paying twice for balancing.

 

http://youtu.be/7UP97bO-MpU

interesting. I'll look into this. No luck so far on any shops near me

 

Call around to local truck customizing shops that sell big tires and wheels. Find out who they might know that does tire truing and on-vehicle balancing. I'm sure one of them will know someone with all the equipment.

 

I switched the hercules tires for 4 new firestone tranforce ht's. The truck rides and drives much much better. However i still have a tiny but of a shake that i can feel in the seat at highway speed. It seems to be worse with a trailer. I think the cheap monroe shocks just arent doing the job. I dont know what else it could be. The bounce seems to be gone, just a high speed shake.

 

I know this won't help but I'm having a highway shake on my 2004 for about five or six years now, I've done differnt tires brakes shocks front unit bearings had both driveshaft rebuilt, changed plugs 02 sensors EVERYTHING except new wheels... And guess what the truck still does it! What ticks me off the most is that one day it just started out of the blue and has never gone away, yet nothing has broken or worn out so I have no idea what it is

 

may just be the tires. I use dedicated snows, and i recall one set that would shake pretty good around 65 mph. When i put my summer tires back on, it would go away.

 

My truck sags in the front and its getting worse. Could my pinion angle be causing a shake? I want to level it but im scared to open another can of worms. My original plan before this shake was to go up 2" in the front and 1" in the back and install bilstien shocks all around.

 

The shake seems to get worse after about 30 minutes of driving. Could my cheap hydro shocks be failing? Heres a blurb from an article i read


When an oiled-filled shock absorber is put through its paces, gas bubbles in the oil can form and wreak havoc on the shock’s ability to dampen vibrations. It’s just like shaking a can of soda and quickly opening it! However, Skyjacker Nitro shocks are able to prevent disruptive gas bubbles from forming by keeping pressure within the shock high, letting you push your rig even harder off-road.

 

I have skyjacker nitro shocks, had Monroe magnums then swapped them for the skyjacker about three years ago. I had the problem before and after so....

 

Damnit lol

 

Road Force Balance? It matches the tire to the wheel for optimum balance. Also, there are some merchants who shave tires on the vehicle while they spin for roundness. They told me out-of-roundness is common for larger truck tires.


A tire shop put my truck on jacks about one inch up and slowly spun the tires. You could see the tire out-of-roundness by getting down an look at the floor while they rotate the tire and notice the space/gap change.


The tire Manufacture (Good Year) put on a whole new set, no hassles. Good Year was very good about it. I could not ask for more from Good Year Tire Service.

 

I'm pretty sure that it was on this website this year that someone posted something about having driving issues after putting new tires on. The problem turned out to be that one of the tires was slightly smaller than the other three. I think it was the circumference; he used a tape measure to check each one. Maybe try that.....you never know.