JCsTruck
Well-known member
- First Name
- John
- Joined
- May 26, 2024
- Threads
- 17
- Messages
- 881
- Reaction score
- 883
- Location
- Worcester MA
- Vehicles
- 2025 Reg Cab 2WD Work Truck XL with 2.7 + 2024 Supercab XL 4x4 with 5.0 V8
- Occupation
- Project Manager, formerly Construction Superintendent, formerly ASE A1-A8 Tech.
I have lots of experience with my 2014 and vibrations and here is a list of the issues and results over 237k miles of driving it.
I had installed many sets of Firestone tires on this truck. All had to be taken back to the shop due to vibrations above 65 mph but most of the time a rebalance would fix or improve the issue. I forget the exact situations now but one time after going back multiple times, and them not be able to get them in balance, I took it to another shop that said a rim was bent. I replaced the rim and it was within 99% so I lived with it. I did not drive my truck off road, tow with it, or abuse it in any way so how a steel rim got bent escapes me.
When I had the shop install my third set of Firestone Destination tires (~220k miles now) the vibrations were really bad. I took it to multiple shops and replaced two more “bent rims” and the vibrations improved but still persisted. On the last go around while the tech was replacing another bent rim he noted to me that the tire seemed to have excessive runout (wobble) and told me that tires today are not made as well as they used to be. He suggested I take the truck back to the original tire shop and tell them his findings and ask them to change the Firestone tires out for something else. He suggested Michelin tires and another brand (I forget now) so I had the shop remove the horribly made Firestone tires and put on Micheline LTX tires on it which cost another $360. That fixed all my issues and the truck was smooth all the way up to 85 (as fast as I was willing to test it to). I will never buy Firestone tires again. Total and complete garbage.
At about 170k miles I started having weird vibrations above 50 mph and noises too. Long story short and multiple trips to different shops I ended up at a specialty axle shop that rebuilt the entire axle. They replaced the pinion bearing and axles bearings and they replaced the ring and pinion gears. That made the truck 100% as smooth as glass. I was replacing the diff fluid regularly but probably at around 60k intervals. If I had done 30k intervals it might have lasted much longer. This truck was mostly used to commute from Worcester to Boston (~100 miles round trip highway) so it had an easy life but later when I would check the axle temperature with an infrared thermometer I was getting temperatures of 180 to 190°F just driving on the highway without any load in the bed or towing anything
. If you tow then be very careful!
If you have a high frequency vibration at lower speeds then I would suspect the drive shaft and any spinning component within that circuit because those parts spin at much faster speeds then the wheels do. If its more of a shimmy and at higher speeds then I would suspect the wheel, tire, or axle itself. Check for bent rims, check for tires that are out of round or have excessive runout. Check for axles that are bent or have runout at the flange. All of these things were discussed above so if you think about it, the tires are the usual suspects but the wheels/rims and connected parts are all just as important but oftentimes overlooked and assumed good. The multiple bent rims really miffs me because they are heavy duty steel rims and I drive 90% highway and don't abuse the truck. I didnt recall hitting any potholes either yet somehow I ended up replacing three of the original rims over the life of that truck.
I have recently learned that Ford has had issues with lack of grease in the driveshaft transmission yoke which can cause some vibrations, but mostly weird transmission shifting, and especially a bump that is felt after coming to a complete stop. This can be fixed with a special grease from Ford (forget the type, @Dakar09 knows which one) and its document on this forum. I also discovered that Ford may have let debris get trapped between the drive shaft u-joint cap mating surfaces during assembly that causes the driveshaft to wobble just slightly and creates a small vibration at high speeds. The fix is to remove the caps, clean the mating surfaces, and then put them back together with new bolts. Make sure you index them and torque them to spec as those are very important connections that you want to be 100% done right.
I had installed many sets of Firestone tires on this truck. All had to be taken back to the shop due to vibrations above 65 mph but most of the time a rebalance would fix or improve the issue. I forget the exact situations now but one time after going back multiple times, and them not be able to get them in balance, I took it to another shop that said a rim was bent. I replaced the rim and it was within 99% so I lived with it. I did not drive my truck off road, tow with it, or abuse it in any way so how a steel rim got bent escapes me.
When I had the shop install my third set of Firestone Destination tires (~220k miles now) the vibrations were really bad. I took it to multiple shops and replaced two more “bent rims” and the vibrations improved but still persisted. On the last go around while the tech was replacing another bent rim he noted to me that the tire seemed to have excessive runout (wobble) and told me that tires today are not made as well as they used to be. He suggested I take the truck back to the original tire shop and tell them his findings and ask them to change the Firestone tires out for something else. He suggested Michelin tires and another brand (I forget now) so I had the shop remove the horribly made Firestone tires and put on Micheline LTX tires on it which cost another $360. That fixed all my issues and the truck was smooth all the way up to 85 (as fast as I was willing to test it to). I will never buy Firestone tires again. Total and complete garbage.
At about 170k miles I started having weird vibrations above 50 mph and noises too. Long story short and multiple trips to different shops I ended up at a specialty axle shop that rebuilt the entire axle. They replaced the pinion bearing and axles bearings and they replaced the ring and pinion gears. That made the truck 100% as smooth as glass. I was replacing the diff fluid regularly but probably at around 60k intervals. If I had done 30k intervals it might have lasted much longer. This truck was mostly used to commute from Worcester to Boston (~100 miles round trip highway) so it had an easy life but later when I would check the axle temperature with an infrared thermometer I was getting temperatures of 180 to 190°F just driving on the highway without any load in the bed or towing anything
. If you tow then be very careful!If you have a high frequency vibration at lower speeds then I would suspect the drive shaft and any spinning component within that circuit because those parts spin at much faster speeds then the wheels do. If its more of a shimmy and at higher speeds then I would suspect the wheel, tire, or axle itself. Check for bent rims, check for tires that are out of round or have excessive runout. Check for axles that are bent or have runout at the flange. All of these things were discussed above so if you think about it, the tires are the usual suspects but the wheels/rims and connected parts are all just as important but oftentimes overlooked and assumed good. The multiple bent rims really miffs me because they are heavy duty steel rims and I drive 90% highway and don't abuse the truck. I didnt recall hitting any potholes either yet somehow I ended up replacing three of the original rims over the life of that truck.
I have recently learned that Ford has had issues with lack of grease in the driveshaft transmission yoke which can cause some vibrations, but mostly weird transmission shifting, and especially a bump that is felt after coming to a complete stop. This can be fixed with a special grease from Ford (forget the type, @Dakar09 knows which one) and its document on this forum. I also discovered that Ford may have let debris get trapped between the drive shaft u-joint cap mating surfaces during assembly that causes the driveshaft to wobble just slightly and creates a small vibration at high speeds. The fix is to remove the caps, clean the mating surfaces, and then put them back together with new bolts. Make sure you index them and torque them to spec as those are very important connections that you want to be 100% done right.
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