New Tires..let the shaking begin

[Gypsy me]

aftermarket wheels and tires???? they got to be kidding right? It's the shaft...no matter how it's looked at



I think it's margarita time.....

 

[Mike Ioco]

I have a very similar vibration. I know I had some on my original firestone's, but that was 60-70K miles ago. I"ve had Scorpion's on there ever since, and it's only worse. I brought it to the service dept once, hoping they'd find a TSB on the driveshaft or something, but they noticed the cupping on my tires, so I took it to the tire store to get a rotation and new shocks. The way my tires look now, I won't even bother taking it to the service dept.



I'm due for new tires real soon, and I'm cautious about going with the oversize Pirellie's again, becuase I'm sure that I'll still have a vibration, and I'm sure Ford will blame it on the tires. I'm wondering how I can go about getting a set of stock tires on there temporarily, so that Ford can diagnose the REAL issue.

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

Changing the size of your tires or lifting the truck changes the angle on the drive shaft. This will exhastibate any exiting vibration.

 

[Mike Ioco]

Good point, Mike. Who has had success getting this fixed with aftermarket, oversize tires?

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

The "out of balance" steel drive shafts are BS. The Trac is on a 14" longer frame than the explorer. The bending moment on the extended drive shaft becomes extremely sensitive to any out of balance condition. Some engineer forgot to carry the "1" when calculating the problem caused by the added length. Using aluminum reduces the mass and therefore the force causing the vibration is also reduced. Doesn't it sound to reason that if it were only a simple mechanical imbalance problem, that it would be cheaper for FORD to re-balance the steel shaft rather than replace it?



Wheel mass also exhaserbates the problem as does slightly out of round tires. That is why the problem seems to get better or worse when one of these components is changed. That's the way I see it.

 

[2]

Mike C, there are a few on this site who had their steel driveshaft 'balanced' because they were out of warranty, they said it fixed their problem.

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

Olaf W, that is interesting. Do you know if the driveshafts balanced in place or were they balanced on the bench? If the steel shafts can be aftermarket balanced, I can't figure out why FORD pays to use new Aluminum shafts as replacements unless they have to be rebalanced in place.

 

[2]

From what I remember (I tried searching put couldn't find the related threads) they pulled them off and took them in to get rebalanced. I distinctly remember two members that did that and it cured their problems. One was quite a frequent poster, I just can't remember who it was for the life of me. I was one of the ones that had the driveshaft replace under warrany by Ford, that is why I was following those threads.

 

[2]

Finally found it. Here is one, I am done looking now, but I am sure there was another person as well.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Actually, before Ford came out with the TSB and the Aluminum shaft a fair amount of people had their shafts re-balanced with good results...



Who knows why Ford finds it cheaper to replace then to re-balance. Could have to do with the machinery or the labor of the re-balancing?????

 

[Gypsy me]

maybe they know the aluminum one is really faulty but are not willing to just up and admitt it?

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

GM, do you mean aluminum or steel one is faulty?

 

[2]

GM, the aluminum one is the one that fixed the problem.