ok to make a long story short when i am driving on the freeway and i hit 70+ mph my truck goes into a severe shake almost to the point where i should pull over. lately it has gotten very bad and i am staying away from 70+ mph. also the steering wheel wobbles back and fourth no matter what my mph is. i replaced the idler arm and had the tires balanced but that didnt fix the problem. someone please help becuase i am afraid to drive the truck thinking something bad is going to happen.

 

Could be bad tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearings or even a bent or out of balance tire/rim. If you cant find the problem then you should take it in and get it checked out.

 

^^^^
good advice

what do the front tires look like?
scallpoed on the inside?
are the tires properly ballanced?

let us know

...zap!

 

tires are fine they are not cupped at all. just had the tires and rims balanced and all together between 4 tires it was off 39.75 ounces. could it be that since it was off on so much weight for like 3 months it could have done damage to the suspension? how would i be able to find out if the rim is bent or not?

 

the rim would be bent if you curbed it or hit a big pothole.
check the tie rod by laying under the front of the truck and have a helper turn the steering wheel back and forth. Leave the engine off if some part of the steering is bad then you should see alot of play and even hear it.
If the steering is ok then check the ball joints. Do a search on checking them

 

thanks i appreciate it

 

39 oz! That sounds like a lot of weights even spread out over 4 tires. Ive mounted/balanced lots of tires in my youth & even though my memory might not be the greatest I dont remember putting 9 oz on any one wheel (granted they werent running 17+" wheels back then either). I bet you have a bad wheel but check those suspension components as well.

 

the weight was off as follows:
front driver- 11.50 oz
rear driver- 15.50 oz
front pass- 10.50
rear pass- 2.50

if i continue to drive on the suspension the way it is can and will it do some major harm to the truck or me? if i take it on the freeway is the wheel going to fall of or something like that?

 

If its shaking as bad as you mention (to the point of wanting to pull over) then you really need to get it fixed as yes it can be doing more damage to suspension parts, etc. & if something is worn to the point of breakage you could have a nasty suprise when it lets go! Speaking of the wheels have you re-torqued them or checked the tightness?

 

This problem may be quite simple. If the shaking only occurs at high speeds, it is most likely that you need a basic wheel alignment and balancing. This is the most common cause of the shaking you are experiencing while driving at higher speeds.

 

I fought the same thing for a year or more, and finally broke down and bought new tires. The problem went away immediately. I had a steering wheel wobble at highway speeds, which got a little worse each day for a year. No amount of balancing would correct it. Jack up the truck and spin the front tires while watching the tread for high spots. My tires looked fine until it got really bad, by that point there was a split belt in the tire, causing a 1/2" high spot on the right front tread. Also check the tires for impending tread seperation, which my left front tire was doing. Look on the outer edge of the tire where the tread meets the sidewall, and see if there are little holes between the tread blocks. This is the tread about to remove itself from the tire, which is NO FUN at all at 70mph. It will literally try to tear your fender off, not to mention the loss of control. Tires can look fine to the untrained eye, I would look at them as the cause first.,,,,98

Main moral to the story?? Never buy Continental tires! They were literally falling apart at 30k less than the tread warranty.

 

[QUOTE=krakakru21]the weight was off as follows:
front driver- 11.50 oz
rear driver- 15.50 oz
front pass- 10.50
rear pass- 2.50

QUOTE]

Over 15oz of weights on a tire is insane! So is 10+ oz. Looks like you have either 3 bad tires or the balancers guys crack cocaine kicked in after the first one.
I have cheapo Walmart tires on my truck that everybody says need lots of weight. None has over 4 oz on the rim.

Fritz

 

You could try your spare tire on each corner to help determine which wheel/tire is out of balance.

 

Hey StngStr - GREAT shadetree troubleshoooting there, nice/easy/cheap & effective I'd say:-)

 

Hey krakakru21,
I recently installed a fabtech 6" lift on my 2005 2wd f-150 and I too had the same drastic steering wheel shake when I was on the highway or hitting higher speeds. A quick stop at the local tire shop and 4 wheel balancing later, and I'm off to the races again. Apparantly one of the previous stick on weights I had on my tires had fallen off and was the cause of my steering wheel shake. Now my truck drives smooth and it's just how I remembered it.