In the January 05' Issue of Motor Trend on page 34 there is a letter from a reader who is upset with MT for picking the F-150 as truck of the year. He details his vibration problems and refers to the truck as a POS. As much as I like Ford, I am glad to see some negative publicity regarding the vibration problems as I too have the vibe. Their most recent idea to fix the vibe was to bolt on a vibration dampener to hide the problem instead fixing it. I wouldn't allow them to put that BS on my truck and I will file with the dsb soon.

 

$5 says it was zuesdog who wrote them.

 

I too am glad to see someone sending a letter to put the spotlight on this issue. I am awaiting my DSB decision. I hope to have it soon, as my hearing was on Dec 7th. Should it not go in my favor I plan on contacting the local news agency, filing with their consumer protection division, turning my paperwork with quotes from the FSE saying it isn't fixed and that it may be as good as it gets. My feelings are that if Ford will not step up and help me out then I will use every option available to me to help them loose the #1 sales position for trucks.


Jansen

 

How can the F150 be called a POS by this person when 1 maybe 2% of owners have that problem?

I understand it's frustrating but when 98-99% have perfect trucks, I would hardly generalize them as a POS.

 

My Blazing Yellow STX is at the dealer now and after the service department evaluated it they came to conclusion everything on the bottom of the truck vibrated and they would not attempt to fix it. A Ford engineer is coming next Wednesday the 15th to look at it since the dealer doesn't know where to start.

When I initially turned it in for service, the service writer said they came up with a formula that 1 out of 9 vibrate that the dealership sells. Like myself, it's when you hook a trailer to it is when the vibration is magnified drastically. If someone hasn't pulled a trailer they may not know they have one that vibrates.

I'm not trying to be an ****, but when you get tossed in this darn vibe tribe catagory life begins to SUCK! 1 out of 9 in my opinion, is more than 98 - 99% satisfied.

 

Mine doesn't have a driveline vibration, but I do have a steering wheel nibble when it's cold. I was reading some updated TSBs at work today, and one mentioned that if the vibration goes away after about 20 miles of driving, it's from flatspotted tires and considered normal. WTF? If that's the case, then I want new tires, dammit, this is a truck, not a duece and a half. I know it's a heavy truck, but flat spotting? Yeah, right.

 

Anyone have a soft copy by chance? I'll have to see if I can find that issue somewhere.

 

I find it hard to believe that 1 out of every 9 trucks has the vibe. On the whole that would work out to almost 50% of these trucks having this problem, doubtful. A poll done on this very site came up with only about 2% with vibe.

I test drove 5 of these trucks before I puchased my XLT. By the above calculations at least 2 of the 5 should have had vibration but didn't. All 5 drove perfect, and I also don't believe that putting a trailer on them would have caused them to vibe. Something so severe would show itself just because of the weight that these trucks carry around.

That dealer needs to recheck their math.

 

ummm... Your math is what needs checking. How does '1 out of 9' equal '2 out of 5' or '50%'? Or is this simply a reflection of today's public school system?


I'm not on either side on the vibe issue, just lurking on the sideline watching the crazy posts.

 

Just making a point, which is still valid by the way. Following the calculation that 1 of 9 have vibe that would work out to 12% of the '04's having this problem. Simply not true.

 

The 2004/05 Acura TL's are having a big problem with the Bridgestone tires flatspotting overnight and causing vibrations. And that car weighs about 1,200 pounds less than the F-150.

 

I think you're right on target, nates.

Sometimes bad publicity is good publicity. Yesterday I was at the dealer test driving a 2005 Mustang GT and got to talking about my F- 150 with the salesman. He was very familiar the "V" problem and said that several had returned from test drives complaining of it. He's lost sales over it. After driving the 'Stang and then riding in my buddies 2004 Silverado, I hopped back in my Lariat and drove home. Yeah mine has some moderate vibration and I have tried to ignore it for over a year. But, I like the truck too much to start complaining about something I probably can't change. It's not perfect, but I'm still proud to own it. Anyhow, by getting this issue out in open even more, Ford is bound to make a better effort to address it.

Oh, and the new '05 Mustangs are a hoot. I gotta get me one!

 

Actually the TL weighs about 1 ton less than the F-150 does, and it has a flatspotting problem.

 

I looked at both MT mags today at the book store and could not find any articles. They were marked as Jan/Feb. 05. Am I looking at the wrong issue?

 

I don't have the magazine in front of me, but it was a letter to the editor in the newest issue of Motor Trend. Not Truck Trend.