I just got my truck back from the shop. My back window was rattling so bad I thought it was going to fall out. They replaced the whole gasket and now its nice and tight. I also took the truck in becasue at highway speeds I sometimes have a steering wheel nibble.

They said they did 3 test drives and didn't notice a nibble, they said mine drives better than 75% of the trucks that come in. He did say at speeds over 70 they did feel a little something but that should be expected. I don't know if I buy into that. How do your trucks ride at speeds over 70 mph, does your wheel move at all or is it nice and still. I may just have to try another dealer.

The second I left and got over 65mph it started the wheel nibble so I just don't get it

Thanks

 

When my wheels were out of balance they nibbled. When I got the wheel balance problem fixed, there was no movement whatsoever. I would imagine if there's mud gunked on the insides of the wheels or the tire pressures are higher than recommended, you might get extra feedback in the wheel. OTherwise, you shouldn't feel the road in the steering wheel.

 

Mine did it at 65 mph and you could see my hand go back and forth on the steering wheel and I was starting to accept it, but this past Sat. they rebalenced all the tires and its gone the truck rides so nice now so to me its not acceptable. I now this will not fix most nibbles but it worked for me.

 

If you have an aggressive tread tire, or are on rough roads nibble at speeds is normal.

If you have M&S type tires on smooth pavement, nibble is NOT normal.

It is true that 4x4 trucks do nibble just a little more, of course, but still the truck should drive nicely with one hand on the top of the wheel at any reasonable speed.

My two wheel drive with any of the three sets of tires/rims I have had has no nibble, viberation or wander with one hand driving at an speed.
Chris

 

hey,mine does to...it's B.S.

 

Thanks for the replies, I am 100% bone stock with the General tires on 17" wheels

I should have started off that this was my second time in the shop. The first time, I had the vibration problem at lower speeds and no nibble. That was actually much worse and drove me crazy. They fixed that with a new driveshaft and 2 brand new tires. Once they did that the vibration went away and this nibble problem just appeared.

I have no mud or anything on the truck, so thats defenitly not the problem. I just didn't know since the wheels and tires are big and heavy if thats just something thats going to happen when you get them moving fast enough. I just got it back after a week in the shop so I'm going to keep it for a little while at least, but maybe I should try another shop.

The stupid thing is, the service advisor said he actually rode in the truck and didn't notice anything abnormal, but the second I leave and get up over 65mph my hand starts moving back and forth on the wheel, which certainly sounds abnormal to me. Do any of you recommed me rotating the wheels around, could that change the nibble?

 

mine appeared @ about 2500 miles...just out of the blue...rotating your tires could change the variations of the nibble...i doubt it will go away unless the current front 1 or 2 are the only ones out of balance...try a road force balance and see what you come up with...

 

Definitely get them road force balanced and see if that helps. There is even a TSB out in which Ford states the acceptable specs for the road force balance not to exceed.

 

I should have also mentioned that my truck only has 8,700 miles on it and was in the shop the first time at about 4,500 miles where they replaced two of my tires because they failed the road force. Well I'll try the rotate and see what happens, but how on earth can tires go out of balance in 4,000 miles?

 

Acceptable is relative. I can tell you that Generals suck and generally (ha) have roadforce variances on the high side of kosher for '04+ F150. Roadforce cannot exceed 25 lbs on these trucks, numbers in the low teens are ideal.

 

Another big part of this is the dealer Techs do not properly torquing the lug nuts. Air impacts and aluminum do not mix. I had this problem with my 99 Super Duty. All aluminum wheels have this problem if not torqued. I loosened my lugs and retorqued and have not had any issues. Give it a try.

 

My tires went out of balance at 800 miles. Definitly torque your wheels down that will help. Sorry I dont know the torque specs.

 

Mine used to do it at certain speeds on certain roads! I always figured it was the constuction of the road... then I got my Bilstiens and haven't had it since. It wasn't bad before, but noticable. Never took it to the dealer.

 

i have an 05 that has the vibe in the steering and gas pedal. it is more annoying than excessive. i had an 04 that did not have it at all. if i never owned the 04 i probably would have never taken it back to the dealer. of course they drove it and did not feel it. its not the tires since the tires and wheels on the 05 came off my 04 when i traded it and like i said i never had the problem with the 04. also it is there on the 05 with the stock tires.

question for Dezervit.........did you replace all 4 shocks with bilstiens? if you did all 4 did you happen to drive it with just the backs replaced? real question is do you think that just replacing the back shocks would make much of a difference?

 

A tire may go out of balance from hitting a curb, driving into a parking block or hitting a pot hole. Or not. Luck of the draw or impact.

Low end tires are very prone to out of balance anyway.
Aggressive tread tires, Long Trails or Snow tires etc. can go out of balance if you knock a tiny chunk of rubber off the tread.

These trucks with their very stiff suspension, and Rack and Pinion steering, and large rims are more subject to tire vibrations than earlier trucks.
It's the price we pay for a truck that looks nice (big rims stock) handles like no other truck( stiff frame, Rack and Pinion) and is so quiet and smooth inside that it has no true truck feel.

If you want a truck that feels like a truck you get a Superduty.

Me, I love the sports car handling and luxury car ride and quiet.
Chris