Has anyone noticed that the vibration is worse while your driving by yourself, or is it the same with passengers?

The reason I ask, everytime I drive alone, I can get it to vibrate between 45 - 55, but I have noticed that while the vibration is still appearant with a passenger, or multiple passengers, its not as bad.

One other thing that I noticed while cleaning my interior. . . I was cleaning my drivers seat with leather cleaner and while rubbing siide to side (driver to passenger) on the back of the seat (where your back rests) it was making a reverb sound throughout the cab, much like the sound when the whole truck vibrates. . . . just something to check.....not sure if its linked to the vibe issue, but begining to wonder if the issue is with the cab......

 

I really believe this issue is with the drive shaft. I have been researching this issue via the Internet and when folks have the drive shaft replaced mutiple times the problem seems to go away providing they get one that is in spec.

I believe Benb's situation is a perfect example.

Ron

 

You guys are describing the same vibration that I have lived with for years. I tried everything short of replacing my rear-end to cure the vibration with no luck. My 98 SC 150 Offroad 5.4L has the same rear-end as most of your 04 150s - 9.75 LS. My tires are 265 17”.

Here is what I have done over the years:

3 sets of tires, all balanced numerous times by 3 different shops (Goodyear, Dunlop, Uniroyal)
Rotated wheels to different positions
New shocks all the way around (oem)
Loosened exhaust to relax it and remounted it
Added exhaust dampeners to key locations
Flushed trans three times
Replaced U-joints on drive shaft
Greased the yoke several times
Indexed the drive shaft looking for sweet spot – never found it
Changed rear-end fluid and added friction modifier (twice)
Loosened up rear leaf spring mounts and re-tightened
Replaced rear brake drums
Verified correct angle of driveshaft

At 175,000 miles, the truck still vibrates everytime I drive. It’s never been in an accident. Most noticeable when driving up inclines where the load increases, and between 60-65 mph. The steering wheel really doesn’t shake that much. The shake kind of feels like a whopping sound, and is louder with the windows open. Outside temperature sometimes has an effect.

Does anyone know who makes the 9.75 rear-end for Ford, is it Dana?
Is it possible the rear axles & bearings have too much play in them?
Do trucks with the 8.8” rear-end have similar vibrations?

 

Have you tried some of the test to narrow it down like finding the peak speed vibration and putting the trans in neutral to see if it goes away.

I agree with PAlongbow it is the driveshaft, the vibrations change when you change it or rotate it. In my case anyway. Going back to the shop 8/9, going to push for a new rear axle and try a different driveshaft.

 

Update: Ford representative is arriving at my the dealership on Thursday to work on my truck. For some reason the dealer has not noticed any vibration; however everyone that has taken a ride in my truck has felt the vibration.

I'll keep everyone updated....

Ron

 

I'm having similar problems with vibration on my new FX-4, the vibration is not to serious, but it's enough to make me upset every time i drive it. Do you guy's think that maybe it could be the rotors, i know they always use cheap factory ones, maybe their warped. Mine didn't start vibrating until after the 2000 mile mark.
I took it in and the dealer said it was in the tires, they rebalanced and rotated them. still vibrating bewteen 45 to 60 MPH.My vibration is not as pronounced as some others, so the dealer just wants me to ignore it. It's to bad cause my Dodge drove beautiful.
If Ford dosen't fix this problem their gonna be hurting.

 

With Rotors you feel a pulsation when braking I've never had anything like this

Mine was fine as I mentioned before then as the day got warmer there was a slight vibration. Stared out the Next Morning it was fine then again as the day got warmer there was a slight vibration. This leaves me thinking Tires at least with mine & I think in 2000 Miles the Tires will go snaky again.



I've been looking at Tires my Size currently is 255/70/17 & 275/65/17 would be the same diameter & I'm thinking Yokohama Geolander A/T 2


Just being prepared if they deny Warrenty on the Tires

 

My vib is also more pronouced in the warmer weather or after driving for a while. I can can rotate my tires around though and vibe still stays pretty much the same.

 

Thanks to this site and all of you, on the day I was to pick up my ordered 04 4x4 F150, (Last weel in July) I took it for a test drive on new pavement and @ 45 mph the vibration started. (truck was made June 2004) I told the dealer "thanks but no thanks" I'll keep my 2002 4x4 off road f150. I wish you all good luck with Ford I'm on the side lines watching, if Ford come up with a permanent repair I'll be driving a different product in the future.

 

Could be you made a big mistake...When I picked mine up it had a shake at 45 and the steering wheel shook aalso..Told them to fix it or no sale..T All it needed was a new tire and balancing..This is the best pickup I ever owned!

 

Dealer said, was not tire, they were honest with me they said they have a week invested and sill can't correct the vibration issue and they are now letting customers know that there are vibration troubles with some F150's before they sell them to their customers. An honest car dealer is refreshing, they will have my future business

 

All of you pushing Ford for a new drive shaft to solve the vibration issues. I read posts that say the sticker on the replacements say scrap if dropped or small dings / dents. That being said, all of you with replacement drive shafts, you better not drive your F150 in the rain or snow because after a year the more than surface rust would throw your replacement drive shaft out of balance, better push for a stainless steel drive shaft.

 

Too Late I've drivin in Plenty of Rain already including Gravel roads if it goes out of Balance again they can replace it again

I bought it to go places, I didn't pay $$$$$ to just LOOK at it.

It'll see Snow & Ice again in a Month or 2

 

PaLongbow:
I sure hope that the rep that showed up to work on your truck is not the one that we have here. I have been out of town for a couple weeks and just got back up here to see how the vibration game is going. My dealer turned my truck over to the rep the day after a tech rode with me and agreed that I still had a vibration after the D/S replacement and the dampener installation. Well the dude drove my truck and said there was no defect and no malfunction. I was told that was the end of the line for me. The dealer did not have permission to work on it any more.

So off to Northwestern NY I go towing my bass boat. Needless to say it still was vibrating and at higher speeds it was really noticeable. On an uphill mountain climb on the Interstates it really got hairy. I took it to a dealer up there and sure enough after a short ride they agreed it is still vibrating. Put it on a lift and found that the entire driveshaft was way out of whack. Made an emergency order for one only to find that they are on backorder. So I limped home with a copy of their repair order and promptly got hold of my salesman who in turn went to the General manager. Bottom line. I am waiting for word from the big boss on what they are going to do now. I think they want to put in another driveshaft and see what that does. I am close to getting another truck. My gut feeling is that this will not fix the problem. I do not intend to wait forever for a D/S either.
The folks at that dealership up in WNY told me that the D/S in my truck was the worse they have ever seen. So much for the replacement.
I hope to know more in a day or two and will post the results as I get them.

 

I think some of the posted comments are wrong. I think that there are so many hits on this thread because so many people are experiencing a problem. But not so many people are willing to write a message.
Aclass action suit might be a possibility, But lawyers are rich enough. I have another idea with your help.
Too many comments are not listed without pertinent data.
We have many clear heads on this thread and many with a great deal of automotive knowledge. It may be that we can solve it because we want to solve it.
A new thread where we can compare our problems apples to apples sounds like a good idea if you will all contribute.
I will start one and hope. The idea being that we will write down out truck specifics and see if we can find a link or common conclusion. Look for "Vibration Poll".