Guys I'm looking at buying a 2003 F150 with 17,999 miles. I noticed a vibration in the truck when it's in 4 wheel drive high driving down the road. The vibration occurs when I let off the gas or put it in neutral (coasting). The ford place said the tortion bars have been cranked out and a leaf has been added in the rear and this is the problem causer. I haven't bought the truck just yet and don't know if I should now. Will this affect the alignment of the truck in the future? Will it mess of transfer case, u joints or CV joints? If I can get the warranty to cover the front end should I ge the truck? It has everything I want and these trucks are hard to come by. Please reply soon if you have alot of experience with trucks that have had the tortion bars cranked up some. THANK YOU...


Darren K
Wartburg, TN

 

torsion bars aren't gonna make it vibrate unless the alighnment is off,and then it would still do it all the time.if its doin that now at 18,000 don't buy it.if the dealer is tryin to sell you this truck and say its fine they're not gonna fix it under warranty.

 

The service mananger is the one that informed me the bars had been cranked. They are aware of it. If I can get them to cover the front end (transfer case, u joint and CV joint) under the 3 year 72000 mile warranty, and sign a contract saying they will cover it if it gets worse or breaks do, should I buy the truck?? Thanks for a quick response and many more would be appreciated.

Darren

 

That is sometimes indicative of a driveline being out of alignment. It happens sometimes with a rear driveshaft becoming too short when a vehicle is lifted. You will notice it when you let off the gas because the axle wrap pushes the driveshaft in under acceleration. As for the front I am not sure if the same thing could be happening. Look at the slip yokes and see if there is a lot of shinny metal sticking out or if it looks like there is a ring where it might have been shiny sticking out. The torsion bars being cranked can effect the alignment but a good alignment man can probably take care of it for you.

Hope that helps

Mike

 

Well guys, I bought the truck. The contract was written to cover transfer case, U joints and CV joints the full extent of my warranty 3 years or 72,000 miles. I just couldn't pass it up since I've had such a hard time finding a 5 speed with exactly what I wanted. I've got a pic pasted on my computer and would like to put it on my profile. Anyone know how I can accomplish that? Thanks,

Darren K

 

Good luck with the truck, sounds like the dealer is trying to work with you on it so that is always nice. But I doubt simply cranking the torsion bars and adding a leaf will cause too serious problems (other than bad alignment as has been mentioned).

To post a pic, the best thing would be to create a gallery here (just click "Photo Galleries" on the menu up top) and its pretty self explanatory from there.

 

I hope it doesn't cause any problems. I've got an alignment guy taking a look at it on Monday to see what he thinks. On high sight I never use 4x4 until I pull the boat out on the ramp at the lake. If its snowing I'll take the 1980 F150 and bag her up some.

Darrenk