Hello all,

I have a set of nearly new 20'' MB motoring vapers on my 05 STX. After having them put on I noticed a minor vibration in the steering wheel starting at 68 through 75 mph. After a couple of weeks it became annoying so I took the truck back to the place where I purchased the tires and wheels (Discount Tire). They rebalanced them and off I went. Once on the highway I noticed the problem was still there so I returned to yet another Discount Tire store where they again rebalanced the front tires. This some what fixed the problem with only a very minor noticeable vibration. Things were great till my next service date at the dealership where they rotated my tires. I now have a huge vibration at the steering wheel and am to the point of putting my not very impressive factory wheels back on. I have spent so many days wasting away in the lobby of Discount Tire that I have thought about changing my address to receive my mail there. The most common answer that I get from their employees is that its due to the camber and toe setup on the new F150. I heard this explanation from two different stores. I asked my service guy at the dealership and he said it's tricky to balance them out, but there is no weird system that Ford is using. Is anyone else having this problem or any suggestions on how to correct it????

 

Have the tires road-force balanced. It will cost more, but will position the tire optimially on the wheel. I believe you want under a 20 pound mismatch. Do a search on the site abour road-force balancing and you will get the answers you need.

 

yeah, get them road force balanced and also you might want to get them to reset the tires on the rims. I had that same problem until they did that and also had about 1500 miles on them. It slacked off to a minor nibble barely noticable unless you are really looking for it....that is until i warped my right front rim, so now i get it all the time! :santa:

 

I still have the stock wheels but after I rotated the tires I noticed a vibe too. So I'm taking it to the dealer today. My guess is in my case the balance is just a little off. Plus I bet the tires wore a little funny and that makes a difference when the wheels are rotated. Otherwise I've had no vibe at all in the past...so the tire wear and balance is the only thing that makes sense in my case.

 

Do a search for Hunter 9700 and you ill fina a great thread about road force balancing.

You will have to locate a shop with this specific machine and get them balanced there.

 

This is my fear of aftermarket wheels... the trucks are very sensative to this stuff... now I'm gonna have to pony up huge $$ to get Welds or other top-notch balanced and forged wheels... and then hope I get a set of good tires...

 

That is exactly what I had to do after putting Eagle Wheels on and not being able to get rid of the vibe. Went with Welds and now all is great.

 

dzervit, you bring up something I've been wondering about. I really like the Weld Evo Velocitys but since the cheapest I've seen them is still over $400 each I looked at the MB Motoring Gunners. What (if anything) is better about the Welds? And yes, I'm aware that I should ask this in the wheels forum...

 

My truck came with Roush 20's from the dealer. I have had the vibe from the second day of ownership one month ago. They have regular balanced three times, gave me brand new wheels & tires, road forced balanced once and aligned twice. They are now scheduling a Ford engineer to come see me.

Really wish I would have kept my 03 FX4. The BHF 285's rode really well.

 

Have you considered how much extra unsprung weight you put on the suspension and brakes when you changed wheels?

Consider upgrading your suspension to something that is designed for the weight, and I bet your problem goes away. If the truck was meant to have that much weight hanging off the axles, they would have designed for it. Ford should take no responsibilty to warranty suspension pieces you f'ed up by changing wheels...

 

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/....jsp?techid=90

^ Outlines the differnet type of manufacturing processes used to make alloy wheels. In addition to that the quality of the casting and design make a huge impace in how the wheel performs.

Weld Wheels are perfectly true and precision balanced for better handling and an ultra-smooth, vibration-free ride. Our wheels are guaranteed to be true within .012" (industry best) and balanced within one ounce. All surfaces are 100% CNC machined. Cast wheels are not fully machined and may be as much as one pound out of balance. Every feature, window, flute, surface is precision machined for a perfecly smooth and bright surface. High strength 6061 aluminum alloy is virtually silicate and porostiy free (the same alloy used for our famous racing wheels).

Thus, the outgragous cost. You DO get what you pay for...

 

Thanks, I could probably only get halfway through that explanation before the wife throws up her hands and tells me to just buy whatever I want. I don't mind the extra bucks if I'm getting something for my money.

When you say "our wheels" are you referring to the Ford wheels or do you work for Weld or somebody?

 

Same thing happened to me. I had the 18" Vapors with 325/60/18 Nittos. On intial install it took 3 times to get them to balance. They finally got it right so I was happy, then I had them rotated and it was really bad. Proceed to spend the next 4 weeks waiting in the lobby like yourself. After 2 new tires and 5 attempts at road force, they conceded and we put the factory stuff back on. Refunded the full price. I don't really like the stock stuff but I HATE the steering wheel shimmy. Since then, the shimmy came back and I took it to the dealer. They road forced it and it was smooth as silk again. There is definitely something about these trucks. The slightest bit of incorrect balance becomes very very noticable in the steering wheel.

So, I would conclude that although, the wheels (and tires) contribute to the problem, there is something going on with the front suspension of these trucks. The fact that ford has extended their tire warranty is proof to me.

Sorry I am not much help but I do know your pain. Good luck and I hope you get lucky and get a good balance!

 

I had a set of MB's on a durango they are good rims never had a problem if you get them done at a place that knows what they are doing.