Yesterday, I took my truck back in for service. Told them to look at the following three things:

1) Passenger side tailgate strap too long/loose.

2) Steering wheel shimmy/nibble - For me, this only happens during the first 5 minutes of driving after my truck has been sitting for a while (i.e. overnight). After that, it's gone.

3) Just this past Saturday morning, I stopped getting air flow from the vents at the rear of the flow-through center console. Then that afternoon, the main climate control **** stopped functioning except for panel vents and off. No air from the rear vents at the back of the flow-through center console, no floor air and no defrost. A/C and recirculation buttons still work, just cannot direct the airflow to anywhere but the main dash panel vents.

Well, they just called me with a status:
1) New tailgate strap is on order since they didn't have them in stock. My guess is the new one will have the same problem based on other people's posts here that have noticed it.

2) They were able to reproduce the shimmy/nibble, and it happened exactly like I described it to them. It also disappeared shortly after their first test drive. They have no idea what caused it.

3) Climate control is fixed. Don't know what was wrong, they didn't mention it, and I forgot to ask.

Because of #2 and what the service tech called a "potential driveability issue", they requested to keep my truck overnight so they could try to reproduce the shimmy/nibble again in the morning. I agreed because I want it fixed. I'll post more info to this thread as I get it.

 

for the tailgate strap do what I did. Called my salesman said that I hated being lied to (they told me the straps were supposed to be different lengths) and would appreciate his assistance on going out to the lot removing a strap from one of their trucks and fixing mine. he agreed.

jansen

 

I have a hypothesis for the shimmy... perhaps its a tire out of round. Since the air in the tire is more compressed in the morning, it might be more noticable until the temp raises. I'd say try rotating the tires to see if the shimmy changes.

 

Well, I got my truck back yesterday late afternoon. I was going to post this last night, but didn't have the time.

Per the topic numbers of my original post:

1) Passenger side tailgate strap is still on order. They're going to call me when it comes in.

2) The service techs were able to reproduce the steering wheel shimmy/nibble twice over the two days that they had my truck. Both times only lasted about 5 minutes on the first drive of the day, and they had to let it sit overnight in order to reproduce it. After the initial 5 minutes each time, it was gone and it did not happen again for the rest of the day.

They are still stumped as to what is causing the problem. One of them said the whole truck shakes, not just the steering wheel. According to the guy I talked to yesterday, they've been over everything - tires, suspension, transmission and engine. Now that I think about it, they didn't mention anything about the drive shaft. I'll have to ask them about that.

Currently, the paperwork on this is "open". They've got calls in to Ford engineers for help. They'll call me back when they hear something.

3) Climate control problem was that a vacuum line came off somehow.

More updates will follow when I receive the information.

 

If you got your truck in November of 2003 you most likely have 12,000 or more miles on it. I would also guess that you have the no good Continental tires on it.

My truck also after 12,000 miles developed a minor vibration in the morning until the tires warm up.

You can have the tires rotated or get a better brand of tire. Some tire brands have an inherited characteristic of getting a flat spot after setting overnight, cooling down and creating a vibration until they warm up.

 

My truck seems to nibble after the tires, eng. trans. steering box or whatever heat up for 5-10 miles... Only slight nibble till then...

 

I've got a little over 13,000 miles on it. The tires are brand "General", 17 inch, "P" model not "LT". The vibration I experience is way more than "minor". The shimmy/nibble in the steering wheel is very pronounced especially when I let go of it for a bit. I can see it turn left/right by itself at least a 1/2 inch each way (1 inch total travel). I think it's the tires that are causing it because it goes away within a short time, but the guys at the Ford dealer where I took it seem to think it's something else. I might as well let them look if they want to.

 

Silvrdragon, mine does exactly how you described the shimmy in the steering wheel. Did they rotate/ balance your tires? I took mine in and "they could not reproduce my issue" and gave the truck back to me. This was in the afternoon when the tires were warm and the truck had been driven for a while. It does it more prominent in the morning after it has sat all night. It typically lasts around 5-10 miles and goes away or very faint. I figure I'd get them rotated/ balanced using a Road Force machine by another dealer that I've dealt with in the past for excellent service. Keep us posted!

 

camlocker,
I think that is a smart choice. I belive it's in the tires in most cases.
What brand tires are on your truck?

Be sure to let us know what kind of results you have with the tire rotation.

 

@ camlocker,
I know they rotated the tires, and the shimmy/nibble problem still happened again the next day in the morning during their first test drive. I don't think they have done any balancing or "road force" stuff to them yet.

 

try the roadforce balance. I had the Lariat 4x2 SCREW with the 18" BFG Long Trails, I had the nibble intermittently, dealer did the roadforce balance and it eliminated the problem. I sold the BFG Long Trails on Lariat wheels and put on a set of FX4 wheels and larger 275-65-18 BFG Rugged Trails(with only 120 miles on them) and the nibble was back worse than ever. The dealer didn't want to do another roadforce balance under warranty, they said it would cost me $120. I took it to Discount Tire and had them roadforce balance for $80 and the nibble was completely eliminated again. I think the new frame is so stiff that the truck is very sensitive to the tires being the slightest bit out of balance, and Ford isn't doing the best job of getting these tires perfectly balanced from the factory. These frames are transmitting every little imbalance to the steering wheel.

 

You are getting flat spots from teh truck sitting for long periods of time in 1 spot! (example-over night!) That is one of the first steps in the T.S.B procedure for finding out a problem with steering nible/vibration. Drive for 30 miles and see if problem goes away. If it does then it's flat spots in the tires.

 

I too have the "nibble". It gets better after about 2-3 miles of travel. I haven't washed my truck for abouit 2 weeks but did so tonight. I finally figured out what causes the "nibble - it's all that brake dust!!!

You see - the brake dust settles towards the bottom of the wheel upon sitting - but once you travel down the road, the centrifugal force slings the brake dust out evenly and therfore the "nibble" becomes less!

Another theory I'm working on is that UFO's have something to do with the nibble - I haven't figured it out completely yet though but thought I might mention it to my dealer.

 

1) Passenger side tailgate strap came in. I stopped by the dealer yesterday, and they put it on. Now it's even a little bit looser than the original one, but not much. The service department told me to go see the body shop guys to check the alignment of everything. They found no problems with alignment of the tailgate or anything else they looked at in the rear. All parties have come to the conclusion that the straps, being mass produced as they are, have length (read: quality control) issues. I'm just going to leave it as is and not bother with it any more. We were all jokingly suggesting that I order the driver side strap to see if I get a longer one for that side to even them out.

2) They had no update on the steering wheel shimmy/nibble problem. The service techs' boss was on vacation, so they weren't able to talk to him about it on how to proceed. They were going to do that today or tomorrow, and then get back to me.

I mentioned the "road force balance", and the guy that I was talking to didn't know what that is. Another guy in the service area gave the first guy the basics about it. He also said that he doesn't think any of the dealers in my area have the machine that does that type of balance. In order to do that for me, they'll probably have to send me to a tires only type specialty place and then reimburse me for the cost of the road force balance. I'm waiting on them for how to proceed with this as well.

3) Climate control still working well after the fix. No more updates needed.

 

Keeping the same numbering scheme as my posts above...
1) Passenger side tailgate strap - no further updates.

2) The steering wheel shimmy/nibble problem is still intermitent. I printed up a whole bunch of road force balance information that I found on the web and gave it to the service techs. See #3.

3) The climate control rear vents in the flow-through center console stopped working again. I dropped my truck off on Monday afternoon, and picked it up yesterday. The vents are working again, but the service tech informed me that they contacted Ford about it. Ford informed them that the air plenum (spelling?) parts are defective. Over time and use, something with them can come apart and cause the air flow directors to stop working. They can be put back together, but with time and use they'll just come apart again. According to Ford, the parts have been redesigned because they have had lots of problem reports with the initial design. A completely new set is on order for my truck, and they should be here in about a week. At that point, I'll have to take my truck in again for the replacement.

From #2 above, the service techs said that they want to do the climate control parts replacement and the road force balance at the same time. They will have to sublet my truck out to another tire place because the dealership does not have a road force balance machine. Most likely they'll have to keep my truck for 2-3 days to get everything done. As such, they offered me a free rental car for the inconvenience. Last time I got one from them, it was a Taurus, which was OK. I'm sure I'll get at least that this time, too, but I wonder what I can talk them into?

Another update will follow in about a week and a half after I take my truck in and get it back from the future work described above.