Any 2005 owners cure the steering wheel nibble?
#16
I find it very hard to believe that the steering wheel nibble is a tire-wheel only problem. After reading countless statements from other Ford customers that have this problem I find that they were using different brand tires on different size rims on different models of F150's. 4x2, 4x4, long bed, short bed, on and on. It seems to me that you’re only temporarily hiding the symptom with a forced balance or just the right combo of rims and tires. The real problem must lie somewhere else like the steering rack or something that is more consistent with all Ford trucks. I would bet that as soon as you rotate the tires on your "fixed" F150 the problem will return.
#18
Originally Posted by extremeethan
My nibble was a hanging break caliper and I think the same for duke
#19
#20
I got a road force balance (which I almost had to choke the service manager to get) and after he swore to me, on the life of his firstborn, that it would fix the problem, I still have the nibble. I have Goodyear tires on stock rims, and Goodyear and the stealership have said the tires are ok. I'm taking the truck back this week, anyone know what to check next?
#22
One thing I noticed is that if you jack up one side of the front end and leave the other on the ground you get a good amount of back and forth movement from wiggling the wheel. I know that this is usual for any vehicle as it is wiggling the other side at the same time, but it feels like there is more movement than I have ever felt before on other vehicles. I think the problem lie's in the steering rack. Here are the reasons:
It's a new design
It's related to all the "nibble" problems
It's something that Ford does not want to fix (cost)
It's something that can easily be blamed on something else (less expensive)
If it's the weakest link in the steering chain than anything that is out of wack in the slightest amount will cause the steering nibble.
When you start to analyze the "problems" that cause the nibble you realize that taken all together none of them are the cause, but only a contributor that is just enough to cause the steering nibble problem to become noticeable.
A list of the problems that cause the nibble:
Bad tires/rims
Unbalanced tires/rims
Lug nuts to loose or to tight
Hanging disk brake calipers
Improper fitment of wheel
Uneven tire wear
It's a new design
It's related to all the "nibble" problems
It's something that Ford does not want to fix (cost)
It's something that can easily be blamed on something else (less expensive)
If it's the weakest link in the steering chain than anything that is out of wack in the slightest amount will cause the steering nibble.
When you start to analyze the "problems" that cause the nibble you realize that taken all together none of them are the cause, but only a contributor that is just enough to cause the steering nibble problem to become noticeable.
A list of the problems that cause the nibble:
Bad tires/rims
Unbalanced tires/rims
Lug nuts to loose or to tight
Hanging disk brake calipers
Improper fitment of wheel
Uneven tire wear
#23
Green Dot?
Just got back from having the wheels "Road Force Balanced" it didn't help. Then I stopped by the Ford dealer and talked with them for a while. I told them everything that I had done and they had one of the mechanics look at it. He crawled under the front of the truck and then told the service writer that I needed a new rack and pinion. He said that if it didn't have a "Green Dot" on the rack somewhere that the rack needed to be replaced. The rack is on order now and will be in next week. I am not sure if the green dot applies to other years. I'll let you know if that fixes it.
PS. My wife wants to know if Ford makes shopping carts too, she has the same problem on occasion.
PS. My wife wants to know if Ford makes shopping carts too, she has the same problem on occasion.
Last edited by MeanGene; 12-28-2006 at 07:53 PM.
#24
#25
#27
Ok i got the video uploaded to my website. See if this is what you're talking about. Road is pretty smooth and level crusing @ 65ish and I didn't touch the wheel during the clip. Some roads are worse than others.
http://impact9.com/downloads/shimmy.wmv
http://impact9.com/downloads/shimmy.wmv
#28
Originally Posted by Impact9
Ok i got the video uploaded to my website. See if this is what you're talking about. Road is pretty smooth and level crusing @ 65ish and I didn't touch the wheel during the clip. Some roads are worse than others.
http://impact9.com/downloads/shimmy.wmv
http://impact9.com/downloads/shimmy.wmv
#30