D_Cantrell

I was just wondering if anyone has had any problems with the drive shaft on their F-150. I keep having issues with the rear end , the tires can't seem to get them balanced have even had the two rear tires replaced to no avail.

chimmike

Have the wheels been checked?

D_Cantrell

Yes, the wheels have been checked, in fact the wheels on the rear came off the front at the last tire rotation. They have replaced 2 of the Michelin defender's on the rear so far. The first tire was replaced because it was out of round. The was done after the tire was balanced 5 times. After installing the new tire, at around 75mph you get the shaking from the rear of the truck. The front tires are fine, no shake or anything in the truck or steering wheel. After 1st tire was replaced the same thing was still happening, so Discount tire replaced the driver side tire with a new one. I went to Myrtle Beach over the weekend and the thing still shakes, and it comes from the rear of the truck. I am heading back to Discount tire to see what can be done. I had a similar situation with my 2014 f150 a couple of years ago.

runningW

Why would that be the drive shaft? Have you had the alignment checked?

D_Cantrell

yes, the front alignment was checked ,and is good. Discount tire switched the tires to day. We put the shaking rear tires on the front and the not shaking front tires on the rear of the truck. Still has the shake, but just slightly better, still shaking though. Going to the dealership in the morning to have them check the drive shaft and mid shaft bearing. They did a gear swap for me about 2 months ago, something could be out of sorts. The rear tires are smooth as butter on the front.

dhmcfadin

What did they charge you for the gear swap and what gears did you swap from/to?

Newfordguy29

Does it stop when your off the pedal?

D_Cantrell

It does not stop when you let off of the pedal, but it does lessen a bit. The cost for the gear swap was: labor 6.5 hrs@ $110 per hour., 45.00 to flash the computer for the gear ratio change, plus new gear oil. It was between $750 and $775, that was including the tax. Gear cost $215, and the master bearing kit was another $129 on top of the labor. I changed from the stock 3.31 to a 3.73.


I took the truck to the dealership today, and they determined it was the drive shaft. The took the drive shaft out and rotated it 180 degrees, and reinstalled it. It is much better now. I cannot tell if the vibration is the truck or the interstate. the highways are hell here in South Carolina. I will drive it over the weekend and see how it does on better roads. I would have thought the tech would have marked the drive shaft to make sure it went back in the way it came out, oh well.

TDImark

I have a similar shake in my truck. I tried all the tire approaches you did. To no avail. It's most pronounced from 60-65 mph. The dealer agrees, but says, "it within specs." Hmmm.

It's not too severe, so I live with it. But it's good to know that what your dealer did seemed to help the vibration problem.

Thanks for the info.

EcoScrew13

Very interesting. I have this same problem. I did have a small vibration at 40-45 too and they dove into that problem and came to the conclusion my drive shaft was out of balance. But I still have a pretty bad shake at 75.