Ok, I have the '04 F-150 Lariat 4x4 with 275/65 18 inch wheels. The tires are BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A. I have the recommended 35 lbs in the front and back. I checked with 2 different gauges to verify pressure.

I noticed a sound....like a fast womp....womp...womp...womp. It's not very loud at all, but you can certainly hear it if you're listening. I felt my tires today and on both front tires on the outer edges, they seem to be 'feathering'. You know, like it feels like little waves. The rear tires seem fine...no noticable waves on the outer edges of the tires or center for that matter.

Any idea what's going on? It doesn't pull left or right. Alignment seems fine as far as I can tell. 6,200 miles on the truck at this point. Thanks

 

Also, does Ford repalce the tires if they get too bad and it turns out it's out of alignment somehow or there's some other issue that's making the tires get the waves/cups/feathers or whatever you want to call them?

 

Did you have your tires rotated yet?

 

I have P265/60R18 BF Goodrich Radial Long Trail T/A’s on my Screw and had a slight vibration. Ford checked all the tires on a Hunter GSP 9700 tire machine. One tire had excessive road force. It was replaced and there was no noticeable vibration afterward. I think road force is a technical way to say out of round, but I’m not positive about that.

 

Haven't rotated yet...it's only got 6,200 miles on it. Even so, I wouldn't think the tires would get like that unless there was something going on.

 

You should rotate them at least every 5,000 miles.

 

A guy at work suggested rotating the tires. He thinks the waves on the edges of the tires are nothing more than a problem being caused by the force being put on the tires in sharp parking lot turns and such (assuming there's no real problem with the truck). Does that make sense to everyone else? Just looking for second opinion. I'll rotate the tires as soon as I can. I need to get a 3 ton jack though.

Oh by the way...I got 51 MPG on the way down the mountain to GatlinBurg (from Newfoundland Gap overlook to Gatlinburg), but I got 9.1 MPG on the way up I put it in 2nd gear to provide some engine breaking on the way down. Otherwise I would have been riding the breaks the whole way down.

 

lariatf150! I'm not trying to be a smart *** here but this is something I have always been curious about. You got 9.1 mpg on the way up at 51mpg on the way down.

If the distance traveled is the same both
directions, my math says you averaged about 30mpg for the trip up and down the hill.

that seems like a lot!
Tim

 

Oh yeah...I think my trip down made up for the low milage going up

 

There’s no way a 04 4x4 Lariat is going to get 30mpg, under any circumstances.

 

It didn't...it was just the average of the uphill (9.1 mpg) and the downhill readings (51 mpg after the gauge settled down after resetting it). The gauge read 51 mpg, downhill since it basically idled the whole way down...or revved above idle while in 2nd gear to provide engine breaking (not touching the gas pedal).

With some hills and 75 to just above 80 now and then on the highway, I averaged 16.5 mpg.