F-250 question.....

**Krash** · #1 03-01-2012, 07:38 PM

Okay,
Several weeks ago I started noticing a "vibration" while driving to work. Whenever I would hit a bump in the road I would feel and hear what sounded like a rough road or rumble strips. Sometimes it would just stop,other times not until I slowed down to 25mph.
I started trying different things to locate it and discovered that I could switch into 4wd high and it would stop right away and then go back to 2wd. Also,locking in the manual hubs would prevent it from happening at all. I decided to disassemble and grease the manual hubs. NO CHANGE!
Since then I have replaced the carrier bearing and U-joints,plus rotated the tires. NO CHANGE!
Does anybody have a suggestion of where to look next. I'm out of ideas.
Thanks.

**sotexhookset** · #2 03-01-2012, 07:48 PM

Pitman arm? Just saying because I had an 08' F250 (small lift) that pretty much did that and eventually figured it out to be that.

**DSL_PWR** · #3 03-02-2012, 06:33 AM

Check the front axles. Could be a CV joint if locking the hubs stops it.

**Mako232** · #4 03-02-2012, 09:01 AM

That happened to mine. Had to replace the front hubs and bearings. Expensive.

**ReelWork** · #5 03-02-2012, 09:32 AM

Sounds like Death Wobble... Do you have steering stabilizers installed? That is the fix for most. You can view "Death Wobble" on YouTube.

**oceanwaves08** · #6 03-02-2012, 04:55 PM

X2 on the Death Wobble. Check air pressure in tire, if full buy new tires. That will fix it 95% of the time. The other 5% is steering stabilizer.

**ReelWork** · #7 03-02-2012, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oceanwaves08

X2 on the Death Wobble. Check air pressure in tire, if full buy new tires. That will fix it 95% of the time. The other 5% is steering stabilizer.

Actually death wobble is probably more common than 5% at least as far as benefiting from a steering stabilizer is concerned - especially in certain years. The term "death wobble" is more indicative of severe oscillating of the wheels and components, however what we would commonly accept as just a slight wobble is still causing wear (believe it or not, my 2011 had wobbling problems because the steering is so loose on these - fixed by adding Bilstein stabilizers with Top Gun Customz brackets... After adding stabilizers to my 2011 F250, I would probably add them to any solid front axle for that very reason...

The addition of stabilizers reduces steering component and axle wear by reducing the wobbling that causes these components to fail prematurely.

Check this out... Particularly around 1:05 and 1:35

You Tube

**ShadMan** · #8 03-02-2012, 08:27 PM

Steering stabilizers don't fix death wobble, they just mask the symptoms. Figure out what's wrong in your steering, suspension, or tires and fix the root issue if you want a permanent fix. Jeeps are notorious for death wobble, but I'd never heard of it in a F250 before. Could be as simple as tire pressure.

**Krash** · #9 03-02-2012, 08:47 PM

Got some fresh eyes on it today and found the u-joint on the passenger side to have slack in it. Took it apart and found that the axle seal is bad. I will attempt to get it replaced this weekend.
Thanks for everyone's input.

**sotexhookset** · #10 03-03-2012, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShadMan

Steering stabilizers don't fix death wobble, they just mask the symptoms. Figure out what's wrong in your steering, suspension, or tires and fix the root issue if you want a permanent fix. Jeeps are notorious for death wobble, but I'd never heard of it in a F250 before. Could be as simple as tire pressure.

Had an Excursion (3/4 ton) that did it real bad between 40-50 mph sometimes with a certain set of tires. Changed the tires and problem solved.