I recently spoke of how my spare wasn't balanced when I needed it on a Sunday afternoon. I had to drive 200+ miles with the front left tire grossly out of balance.

In the post I mentioned that the steering seemed looser immediately after the journey. Since the incident and subsequent tire patch and rebalance, I've too felt the nibble as 2004Triton describes it (in another post). It feels almost as if the repaired tire wasn't properly balanced as it seems to go through good and bad spots on the speedometer. The only problem is, something isn't right at slow speeds...even VERY slow speeds. In fact, I feel a pronounced play-zone even when pulling into my gravel (and very uneven) driveway like my steering has been loosened.

I did a google and found a suggestion on another F150 forum to "tighten the preload on the rack and pinion." It seemed to apply only to the first few new 150's (late '03 build dates). Mine was built 08/2004 though.

I took the truck by the dealer the other day and they checked the tire balance (the repaired tire) and said it "checked." They have ordered a vibration dampener per TSB 04-25-7. I've read that doesn't do much more than add 80 lbs.

FYI: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/sh....php?p=1803764

Any suggests would be appreciated!

Mike

 

Well, here is what fixed the problem:

Added vibration dampening kit per TSB
Road-Force balanced all 4 wheels

Smooth as glass, no steering nibble.

I would guess the patched tire wasn't properly balanced...but all the wheels came back with different sized weights in different locations.
I hear the dampening kit doesn't do much of anything...but who knows. All is good now so I'm happy.

 

awesome, glad to hear they got it taken care of for you..

 

what does the dampening kit look like? is it just a steering mounted shock like on older trucks??

 

Can you take a picture of the dampener or post a part number?

 

I haven't seen the kit in person, but I'd imagine it's an assortment of weights hung at different points on the frame and/or exhaust. Part # is 4L3Z-5D008-AA, I think.

 

It is just a mass dampener (Large steel mass that bangs around into rubber pads to absorb the vibration). I'm not sure, but I hear it weighs about 80lbs. (that looks about right too) It is mounted in the back left corner of the truck. I'll grab a photo when I get home from work and post it.
-Mike

 

I added some photos of the dampener to my gallery...which I also just made.

https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=6009

Hope they help.

Mike