2017 F-150 vibration issue

[Thursty]

I need some help trouble shooting a vibration issue. I purchased this truck back in April from it's second owner with 27k miles on the clock. The seller stated that he and his wife wanted to upgrade to a bigger camper therefor he was in the market for a diesel truck. During the test drive all was well, however I did not hit the freeway and get it up to those speeds. Lesson learned. After finalizing the purchase I drove the truck home from St. George to Green River and felt an slight vibration the whole way. It started out "slight" enough but by the time I was home I didn't want to drive it anymore and was regretting my purchase. I took the truck to my fiend Jeff Edwards at Grand Tire in Moab and explained the issue to him. He looked the truck over and found no issues. He road force balanced each wheel and tire and the vibration was 90% gone but I could still feel the truck "wanting" to vibrate at about 70-75 mph. I was content with it until last week when I took it to Ken Garff for an oil change. The techs took the left side wheels off to check brake wear and upon reinstalling them the vibration returned. My family and I took the truck for a road trip to Nevada this weekend and by the time we got home I wanted to drive the thing off a cliff.

The truck, as I mentioned, is a 2017 F-150 Eco-Boost with a 6.5ft bed. The suspension is completely stock except for a leveling puck of unknown origin installed at a shop in St. George at owner number 2's request. Tires are 33x12.50x17 Nitto Ridge Grapplers with Method race wheels also installed by owner #2. I'm posting this in hopes that someone else has heard of/dealt with this issue and might have some suggestions . I'm afraid this may be the reason I'm the third owner of a 30k mile truck. I don't want this problem to beat me, but if I can't get a handle on it the truck may go to owner number four. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[RockChucker]

I think to narrow down whether it is a tire issue or something in the drivetrain, is try and find someone with stock wheels and tires, do a temporary swap and run them in the same conditions. If that doesn’t change anything, then you will probably need to start looking into something with the drive train.

Is the vibration only speed related or is it worse under a load (acceleration)? Have you hooked up a loaded trailer and gone for a drive?

 

[Unimog]

I hate to say it, but this ^^, especially after your latest experience with the brake inspection. Throw stock wheels and tires on it that are known to be smooth. Lots of things can be wrong that balancing can mask, but not fix.

 

[zgfiredude]

These types of things can be a bitch to sort. You really want to do one thing at a time so you know what it is/was. I had something similar once and went with this kind of order...1. verify that each of the wheels are round and true...likely you'll want to pull tires and spin each wheel without anything on it checking for balance, run out, and round-ness. Once you can absolutely say that the wheels are fine, move on to the same thing with the tires. Here's where the fun can come in....You may have discovered a clue with the left side work recently done and the return of the issue. It is at least curious!

My issue came down to a bad tire. The belts in the case were somehow messed up and it manifested itself with a problem like yours. So, 2. if the wheels are NOT the culprit, move to tires.....you may want to mount some others (even used) to see if the issue is eliminated by different rubber. Then, there are things like wheel bearings, bearing pre-load, drive shafts/cv joints, u-joints, wheel off-set, alignment, etc. Are the wheels hub-centric or not, and if not, should they be?

Start simple, look at one thing at a time and check off what you can identify. I'm curious about the left side work and the return of symptoms...did the wheel go back on the same location, did the wheel get mounted "clocked" the same as it was? You could start with a swap of your wheels and tires for someone else's for a test of basic wheel and tire issues and if it's still there, move on to something else.

My money is something with the after market wheels or a bad tire. Good Luck. Others posted while I was typing...so I am offering some similar advice.

Odd, but it could even be some loose inner wheel wells, air dam, steering wear/loose rack, the list is long.......start simple first.

 

[Gravy]

I'd be looking from downstream to upstream.
Make sure the lug nuts fit the aftermarket wheels correctly and the lug holes in the wheels aren't wallowed out or damaged.
Then a set of stock wheels and tires to test.
Then check axle shafts and cvs in the front
Then ujoints in the driveshaft(s)
Then tcase outputs.
Then tcase and trans mounts
Then Motor mounts.
Then Make sure the axle shaft flanges aren't bent out of true from hitting a curb... etc
Then Harmonic balancer.

 

[Thursty]

Thanks for all the suggestions. The vibration does not get worse under load but comes on around 70mph and stays the same above that. Before posting I checked with a friend who had some stock take-offs but recently sold them. Go figure. 🤦🏻‍♂️
I will start working my way upstream. Thanks again.

 

[Unimog]

That is good news! 70mph is pretty much a dead giveaway for minor tire/wheel/axle shaft problems. If it were other driveline/transmission/engine problems, it would be more likely at other speeds. I'd put my bet on tires.

 

[Hickey]

Since it came back after the brake inspection, I would lean toward a wheel or tire issue.

I've seen situations where a tech zips on the first lug nut with the impact until it hits the most ugga duggas and clamps that wheel down just slightly off center, and even after checking the torque the wheel still doesn't even out to the proper mounting position. The easiest thing you can try is jacking up the axles and backing off the lug nuts. Then re torque the lug nuts in a star pattern, but go in stages. Start at 40 lbs/ft then go to 70, then go to 100. All in a star pattern.

 

[zgfiredude]

Another thought, are the lug nuts of the proper seat type? There is conical, ball, flat and the wheels may need something other than what's installed. Though I'd bet your Moab friend would have picked up on that.

 

[mbryson]

Another thought, are the lug nuts of the proper seat type? There is conical, ball, flat and the wheels may need something other than what's installed. Though I'd bet your Moab friend would have picked up on that.

I’d be surprised if he didn’t catch that. He’s been doing tires/wheels for the 20+ years I’ve known him

 

[glockman]

I think the F150's share a lug pattern with the imports. Maybe you have lug centric wheels on a hub centric truck.

 

[Mouse]

Bent wheel? Try rotating the tires to see if the sensation moves.

 

[Spork]

Another thought, are the lug nuts of the proper seat type? There is conical, ball, flat and the wheels may need something other than what's installed. Though I'd bet your Moab friend would have picked up on that.

Thinking this may be the case also, Duplex vs ET duplex lug maybe creating vibration...

Found this https://www.tundras.com/threads/who...ys-i-don’t-need-hub-centric-rings-help.36838/ similar issue on a Tundra with method wheels.