Blue,
It took me about an 1-1/2hr to do the first side and just under an hour to do the other.
You need a set of spring compressors to get the springs off,other than that it was pretty straight forward.
Made me a happy camper.
Double check the air pressure in the tires.Made a huge difference for me once I got enough in.Dont be afraid to get a little above the 35 min.

Ed

 

My truck bounces like crazy with 35-36 psi. I dropped it down to 32 psi and it seems to help a little.

I decided to pull the left front tire and throw on the oem spare. I will try a different position each day until I have tried all four. Maybe I can find a bad wheel/tire. I am determined to find a fix for the vibration and lousy ride quality.

If not, I plan to visit a tire shop about 35 miles away that has a RF Balance machine.

 

my truck has a slight shimmy in the front (worse in colder weather) and i just recently had all new rotors, brake pads, wheel bearings, tie rods, tires, and 2 wheels replaced due to an accident, and it still does it. It done the same thing before the truck was wrecked also.

 

The truck is at 45K miles now and is getting worse each day it is driven. I had a new set of Yoko Geolander's installed and RF Balanced, an alignment check and new front Monroe Reflex struts installed this past week.

I took a four hour trip north for the weekend and it seemed to be slightly better but not much. It was a relatively smooth road. On the return trip, steering wheel vibration (feels like I'm holding a gas powered weed eater or chain saw) became drastically worse to the point where my wrist was hurting. The bounce/shudder/jittery ride (almost as if I had bad front struts and rear shocks or bad leaf springs) was so bad that the base of my neck was acheing terribly.

I have gone thru a 3rd set of new tires, a new wheel, 2 RF Balances, new front rotors, pads, Monroe Reflex shocks and struts, two alignments, suspension and steering inspected twice and the issue is getting worse with every mile I put on the truck. There is a serious vibration throughout the entire truck. If I hit a minor bump in the road I can see the bed shake violently in the side view mirrors. This is my 8th full size pick-up and my fourth F-150. My '94 F150 Gen. 1 Lightning is lowered from the factory and it has a much tamer ride than the STX. How pathetic is that? I can feel the speakers thump and the exhaust vibrate slightly but this is completely different.

Is there anything else I can do or check? If not, It's gone and the wife get's a new car. But, she is working on her Master's degree and I really can't afford a new vehicle.

I'm the original owner and purchased it new in Sep. '07. This began after the Dealership installed a set of BFG Long Trail T/A Tour tires at 42K miles. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, James

 

Bent Axle? Not sure what else you can try. looks like you have run the gambit..

 

im telling you guys, its in your rearend. a bad bearing on the pinion gear. ill keep writing this every few days while you guys spend all your money on tires and alignments.

 

timmy,

I'm not saying that you are wrong but there is zero noise from the rearend. I've had bearing noise from my '01 F150 and my '94 F150 before so I would think if the pinion is going bad there woul be some noise or grinding in turns which I do not have.

Thanks for the input.

 

i didnt have any noise either, and the guy who told me about it said there usually isnt any noise from it. i cant remember if he said they were defective parts or not tho. mine did it at around 40k on my 04 heritage. my brother's 03 ext cab shortbed 2wd is around 75k and it doesnt do it. honestly i dont know how much it costs to check the bearing out but pretty much all you guys are trying the same things with no fixes. you guys should try replacing different things from each other. like one person try tires, one person try wheels, one person try shocks, etc. that way all you guys arent spending the money on something that has already not worked. i am also not saying i am right or wrong. its just worth a try. just saying...

 

timmy,

Did you have a steering wheel vibration and/or a full body shudder on bumpy or non smooth pavement? My truck feels as if I am driving down a washboard dirt road at any speed above 35 mph. The bumpier the road, the more it shudders.

James

 

perfectly smoothe road it felt like running over a washboard between speeds of 45mph and 75mph. anything above or below was fine and it didnt do it all the time. EVERYTHING shook stright up and down, there was no side to side movement.

 

Yokohama is going to buy back the new tires under their 30 day ride guarantee. I found a set of used Michelins in decent shape for $200.00 so I will have them installed. I plan on trading for a new car. I'll keep the Stang GT as a daily driver for me and drive the Lightning on good weather days.

I'll still be on here every once and awhile. Thanks for all the input.

James

 

oh sweet!, didnt notice you had a lightning. is the lightning anywhere close to the GT in accelerating? i heard it was 7.5 seconds to 60 and the stang should be around 6.5 or so if it is stock. i hate mustangs with a passion but having a lightning makes up for it lol

 

The L pulls hard off the line but the 4.10 gears slow it down on the highway while the GT pulls like a 4 cyl SVO above 3000 rpm's. I've never taken either of them to the track but they are both fun to drive. I bought the 5 spd premium pkg GT new in '02 and it has been a daily driver for the wife since then.

I am going to miss my STX. Other than the current issues it has never let me down.

 

i know how slow mustangs GTs are, i had a 96 trans am and actually raced 2 02 gts at the same time and easily beat them both. i love trans ams but also love trucks. i would pick the lightning over the gt anytime. it is a sleeper and it is rare and would be fun as hell to drive. if i had the money i would definitely try to get one.

 

This could be my final thread. After months of dealing with a steering wheel vibration and a full truck shudder on all road conditions I have given up.

I purchased a set of used '05 Alloy's with OEM Michelin tires and ran them for a few days. The shudder and bounce immediately went away but the steering wheel vibration increased slightly. My son drove it this past week and said he could definitely feel a bad vibration without me mentioning anything. I had the 2nd set of BFG tires installed on the '05 rims as I thought maybe the factory rims were overtorqued/warped during initial install of 1st set of new tires. It felt good as far as shudder and bounce were concerned but I again had the vibration in the steering wheel.

I inspected the steering rack on both ends and could see where it had been chewed up pretty good on the alignment.

I took it to work this morning after letting it sit for two days. I immediately felt a huge shimmy as if I had a flat tire. I pulled over to inspect and found all tires to be good. This continued for 30 minutes and 21 miles at highway speeds and never improved.

My conclusion? This truck has to go. The wife is getting a new car and I will drive the '02 Stang GT and my '94 Lightning on fair weather days. I may be moving North in the near future. If this occurs I will definitely be looking for a 4wd. Will it be another F150? Don't know...

I hope the dealer doesn't test drive the truck when I go to trade it in.

Thanks for all the help. I may be on here from time to time. Have a great New Year.

James