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Front end shake had me chasing ghosts until a tire guy set me straight
Had a 2014 F150 come in last week with a bad shake at 65 mph. I checked ball joints, tie rods, balance weights, even the steering rack. Customer was ready to drop $800 on parts. Then an old timer from the shop next door walked over and asked if I checked the road force on the tires. I hadn't, and sure enough one tire had 35 pounds of runout. Slapped a different set of takeoffs on and the truck rode smooth as glass. Has anyone else gotten burned by chasing suspension parts when it was just a tire issue?
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brooke4753mo ago
Yeah, "chasing ghosts" is exactly right. I used to be the guy who would throw parts at suspension first, but a bad tire humbled me once, now I always check road force before anything else.
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kim_martin3mo ago
My 2012 F150 proved that to me last year. Road force came back fine on all four corners, but the damn thing still vibrated at 68 mph. Turned out to be a seized caliper dragging just enough to warp the rotor ever so slightly. Tires are definitely the first thing to check, but I've seen people waste money on new rubber when the real problem was a bad wheel bearing or a bent control arm. Sometimes you gotta look past the obvious suspects, y'know lol.
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