Mindglove1

Howdy fellow grease monkeys! Need some advice before screwing myself over with the dealership and with an abundance of council there is wisdom...

About a year ago my wife was cutting through a parking lot and she hit one of those concrete stoppers in the parking spots and damaged the rim & tire. The rim was cracked & slightly bent (according to our service dpt at dealership) but still functional.

When you drive past 70 the wheel she cracked would start to wobble and you could get up to 80mph without too much shakiness through out the truck.

At the time when she did it the tech told us nothing looked broken or messed up besides the bent/cracked rim so we were under the impression all we needed to replace was the rim & tire.

Well I just did that yesterday, replaced the rim & tire with brand new parts. They balanced & installed and well the ride is greatly improved up to around 80-85 we are still getting the slight wiggle. It's a perfect rim & tire NOT damaged but before our warranty runs out I was hoping to have a good idea of what this might be before I subject myself to the expensive guessing game.

The wobbling is now isolated to the front left (where she hit the concrete curb deal) and there is a TINY oscillation when you turn the wheel to the right, it makes a very low and slow humming noise.

I was thinking maybe she smashed the bearings? But the weird thing with the wobble is it's not always constant. it comes and goes and usually works itself out after a while almost like it's not setting well on the spindle and then finally spins back into centrifugal motion and it rides much smoother! This truck USED to run like glass on the road but I need opinions before I get screwed over!!! Please HELP!!!

idrive

iTrader: (3)

How are you going to get screwed over? There is most likely damage of some sort that needs repaired. You're worried the repair people are going to lie to you and screw you over when they find the problem?

At the very least it needs an alignment.

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

You waited a year to fully fix a wobbly wheel/tire and possible front suspension components? Why do you fear "being screwed? This is why I learned to work on my own vehicles, so as to not worry about dealership service department repair costs. Take it in, get it fixed (since you cant yourself) and know that when you or your wife get behind the wheel, its a safe vehicle for you both and others on the road. She hit the curb, don't try and put the blame on them or Ford for a faulty part.

BigDozer66

Well I never would have driven it after the initial contact with said curb other than getting it home and then to the dealer or front end shop to fix it.

If you don't think the dealer can fix it correctly or you don't trust them then ask for recommendations of a good front end repair shop.

Take it to them and get it fixed before it causes more trouble down the road.

Mach 1

Sounds like you are describing a wheel bearing..I would take it to a very good suspension person..and like someone pointed out at least an alignment..dont just settle for the toe adj. make sure they check the camber and caster as well and get a quality 4 wheel alignment. I bet there is another bent part? tie rod? might have damaged rack as well. hope this helps good luck.

36truck

Why did you wait a year to fix this? You most likely caused more issues waiting so long. Take it in and get it fixed.

meathooker

I'm confused why you mention warranty??

Youre worried about "being screwed" but planning on taking the truck to the dealer and have it repaired under warranty. Assuming if you take it in with the new wheel you'll neglect to mention the curb. In that scenario who's doing the "screwing"?

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

My thoughts exactly!!!! Glad someone else said it......

Kingofwylietx

The tech was obviously wrong, time to finally finish the job of getting it fixed.

I wouldn't try to get this done under factory warranty, I'm sure these guys are pretty good at figuring out when something has been damaged from some sort of hit vs having a factory defect. Seems that would be considered fraud....and not worth the possible ramifications.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

How does a factory warranty cover stupid !