Well yesterday I was going down the road and my 04 fx4 started shaking horribly, I could barely keep it on the road. It's not the usual vibration that many get with this truck, but was quite violent. I was going about 20mph and did it from every speed faster. I literaly thought my front wheels were falling off. I got out to check everything and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Tires have 12k on them, freshly balanced so I know that had nothing to do with it, and lugs are nice and tight. This lasted about 6 miles regardless of road, speed, etc. anyone have any ideas what could have caused this??

 

Check for overheating of the brakes. Mine had the same symptoms and it was a dragging caliper that only did it intermittently. Did happen once for the dealer, so the did the TSB for the brakes, which replaces both rotors and calipers. If you are past warranty, and you do not have an extended warranty, then it is probably going to be at your cost.

 

My wife's front end violently shakes sometimes, but not often enough!

 

Freshly balanced tires does not necessarily rule that out. Weights fall off if they aren't attached properly. I would also feel of the wheels after you drive it, if you have one that's MUCH hotter than the other one, you just might have a locked up caliper.

 

With the older Ranger's if the vehicle was off the ground with the wheels hanging something with the power steering would cause this. Extreme vibration for a couple of miles, the like it was never there. Dont know if the f150s would do this.