shaky ride

[raptor34]

Hi all, new Raptor owner here.

I have owed some sort or F150 for most of my adult life, so I have a lot of time in one.

I recently bought a 2020, it has 50k miles on it.

The ride quality is hard to describe, but imaging holding a cup of coffee and driving down the street at almost any speed and your arm and the cab is shaking very quickly so that you couldn't even hold the cup steady. My family can feel it as well. It almost feels like the tires are out of balance. What is weird is that is is sometimes better sometimes worse. I will go get the tires checked for balance issues, but I was wondering if anyone knows of a cause or this is just how these trucks drive. Sport mode does feel stiffer and the ride feels better, but it still has like a shake/reverberation feeling

Appreciate it and thanks for the advice!

 

[tltoronto]

Sounds like a wheel imbalance issue to be honest, but, out of curiosity, do you have aftermarket wheels on it? If so, you will need some hub centric spacers to eliminate the imbalance. The wheel nuts are centric, but not enough to completely eliminate the is alignment.

 

[raptor34]

Sounds like a wheel imbalance issue to be honest, but, out of curiosity, do you have aftermarket wheels on it? If so, you will need some hub centric spacers to eliminate the imbalance. The wheel nuts are centric, but not enough to completely eliminate the is alignment.

Looks like I do have the stock rims. I'll take it over and have the wheels balanced.

 

[Sharpie69]

I had the exact same thing happen with my 2017, it started happening about 6 or 8 months ago, I never was able to pin down what was causing it, I don't have that shake anymore after new tires, rebuilding the shocks and replacing the leaf springs. Let me know if you figure it out

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Welcome to the place, congrats on your raptor, post a pic of your raptor and a close up pic of the tread on the front tires. Are the front tires "cupped", could be your tires, maybe they havent been rotated as per the manual.

 

[FordTechOne]

Doesn't sound normal, the truck should ride smoothly. Most likely abnormal tire wear or out of balance tires. The best method to check the tires is the Hunter Road Force balancer; it puts a load on the tire to simulate the weight of the truck. The road force is measured in pounds; the maximum allowable reading for an LT tire is 35lbs, but of course the lower the better.

 

[Retired in TN]

Imbalance forces increase as a function of tire rotational speed squared. I.e,. You need vehicle speed to feel road wheel imbalance, and the vibrations will get worse as you increase speed. Steering wheel oscillation indicates “dynamic” (couple) imbalance on one or both of the front tire/wheel assemblies. Static imbalance is harmonic vibration without steering wheel oscillation. Tire/wheel vibrations are most often caused by the front tire/wheel assemblies. Those things coming from the rear are there, but feel much more muffled.

Tire flat spotting from an aggressive stop with ABS turned off can also ride like a brick at about any speed. Tire shops can mount the tire/wheel on a big rotating spindle and cut rubber off a tire to make it more round.

I assume the truck is on its 2nd set of tires? The installer might have used too much lube that is now sitting frozen inside the tire. Do you feel this vibration on warm days? This should not be a concern with original tires mounted at Ford, but aftermarket who knows.

You could have worn wheel bearings or a worn ball joint. My bet is mechanical.

 

[raptor34]

Thanks for the help all.

I had Les Schwab balance the wheels, they said that they where way off. But, I don't feel any difference and at almost any speed the cab still shakes. I'm adding a few pics of the front tires.

It's just always a taking it to the dealer.. but I guess I'll have to. Appreciate the input!

 

[raptor34]

Ugh, dealership says that Les Schwab didn't properly balance the tires and the rear passenger tire has a flat spot and is older than the other three.. the saga continues

 

[Stojanowski]

Imbalance forces increase as a function of tire rotational speed squared. I.e,. You need vehicle speed to feel road wheel imbalance, and the vibrations will get worse as you increase speed.

Tire flat spotting from an aggressive stop with ABS turned off can also ride like a brick at about any speed.

I assume the truck is on its 2nd set of tires? The installer might have used too much lube that is now sitting frozen inside the tire. Do you feel this vibration on warm days? This should not be a concern with original tires mounted at Ford, but aftermarket who knows.

You could have worn wheel bearings or a worn ball joint. My bet is mechanical.

Is this a thing? I've been chasing death wobble on my old JK and thought I got rid of it. Had new 33" BFGs on and now when it's below freezing I get death wobble pretty frequently but in the afternoon it goes away