GEN 2 Drive Quality Question - Vibrations

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Matthew Meier

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Hi all,

New to me raptor owner here (2018 with 40k miles) and had a question about the drive quality you experience with yours.

Took the truck for the test drive before I bought it and thought it rode great. Completed the purchase and headed home.

After driving it for a few days though the novelty has worn off quickly. The ride quality does not seem that great, and when on the highway I'm feeling some vibrations in the steering wheel, accelerator pedal, and driver seat at speed - even when going slow around town. Compared to what I'm reading I thought the ride was supposed to be smooth.

Took it to get road force balanced, aligned, and rotated the other day and that seemed to help a bit, but I think the (now rear) tires are already cupped and may need replacing.

I'm wondering if I'm just too perceptive of the bumps? It feels like I'm going over gravel even on smooth pavement. There are long stretches of pavement on the highway that have regular grooves for each concrete patch and I can feel each one through the steering wheel. The larger bumps and ruts the truck handles like a champ, but the ride quality of vibrations into the cabin is not something I expected in a Raptor on all types of road.

Is something wrong with mine or are yours similar? Do you feel the road through the steering wheel even on the highway? I've owned F150's before and never had a thought like I do now. I understand the cabin shaking, but my seat and steering wheel? Could this feeling of stiffness and feedback be indicative I need new shocks?

Attaching a picture of my alignment as well. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,
digitalarchitect

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GCATX

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Put the tires at mid 30's psi and see if it makes a difference. Some variation between 32 and 38 seem to be most common. It really makes a difference. Also, make sure the button on the center console, behind the shifter is not pushed. That will turn off lane keeping assist, which shakes the steering wheel if you're drunk or not paying attention to the road lines.
 
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Matthew Meier

Matthew Meier

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Welcome to the place and congrats on your raptor. What tires are on your truck? Post a couple pics of the front and rear tires. Also what is the tire pressure at?
Thank you! Happy to be here!

I have the BFG K02's. These seem relatively new - they have about 12/32" of tread depth left on them. That said, the front tires did have some pretty bad cupping along that inner edge. Not sure if this is due to suspension or needing a rebalance (which it did need). That balance has since been done, and those tires sent to the back.

After that I decreased the tire pressure to 36 up front and 35 in the rear (cold).

I will also try the lane keep assist button, but it definitely happens all the time even when I'm centered in the lane and that not activated. Regardless it can't hurt!

Thank you both. I'll update with more information soon!

Best,
digitalarchitect

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rear_sideview.jpg

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CoronaRaptor

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Looks to be lots of tread left. Hard to see the cupping in the pictures, but if you noticed it, then it will affect the ride quality. Maybe the last owner didn't rotate properly or at all, either way you may have to live with it until new tires are in the budget.
 
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Matthew Meier

Matthew Meier

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Looks to be lots of tread left. Hard to see the cupping in the pictures, but if you noticed it, then it will affect the ride quality. Maybe the last owner didn't rotate properly or at all, either way you may have to live with it until new tires are in the budget.

Spot on, tons of tread left! Why I feel so bad about potentially getting rid of them. Previous owner did not rotate them at all...

The cupping is on the inside edge, definitely hard to see. I'd say about 2/32" - 3/32" of difference using my depth gauge.

Dropped the tire pressure to 35/34 f/r cold this evening and on most roads it feels great! The issue comes with roads with any kind of ungulations. Comes right into the seat and the cabin. Bigger bumps and hills are fine, it's the small stuff like concrete patches on the highway that make the cabin feel rough. Any idea what that could stem from?

40k miles maybe I need to rebuild shocks? They feel great handling the big stuff though...

Picture attached of what kind of concrete I'm referring too. The kind with patches that they set at a time.

pave1.jpg
 

CoronaRaptor

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Spot on, tons of tread left! Why I feel so bad about potentially getting rid of them. Previous owner did not rotate them at all...

The cupping is on the inside edge, definitely hard to see. I'd say about 2/32" - 3/32" of difference using my depth gauge.

Dropped the tire pressure to 35/34 f/r cold this evening and on most roads it feels great! The issue comes with roads with any kind of ungulations. Comes right into the seat and the cabin. Bigger bumps and hills are fine, it's the small stuff like concrete patches on the highway that make the cabin feel rough. Any idea what that could stem from?

40k miles maybe I need to rebuild shocks? They feel great handling the big stuff though...

Picture attached of what kind of concrete I'm referring too. The kind with patches that they set at a time.

View attachment 153895
Maybe try putting a bit of weight in the box, see if that helps. Concrete is bad for that vibration in the rear. It's hard to say how the last owner drove it, so maybe rebuilt shocks are in order. If it was just a street princess, I doubt they need it. Have you checked them for oil leaks and such? Cheers
 
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Matthew Meier

Matthew Meier

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Maybe try putting a bit of weight in the box, see if that helps. Concrete is bad for that vibration in the rear. It's hard to say how the last owner drove it, so maybe rebuilt shocks are in order. If it was just a street princess, I doubt they need it. Have you checked them for oil leaks and such? Cheers

Good shout! I went into my apartment buildings gym and stole 4 45lb plates to sit on the back. Still a vibration.

I haven't checked them closely for leaks, but a quick look at them and they look clean. I'll see if I can pop the wheels off later and get a better look.

At this point I may take it to 4 Wheel Parts or something for a full suspension inspection and see if they can find anything.

So frustrating! Thank you for all your help.

Best,
digitalarchitect
 

goblues38

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check your wheels, inside the rim behind the brakes. I did some off road stuff a few weeks ago and the ride at highway speed was pretty crappy the next week or 2.

Not untill i did a complete wash and got in there with a pressure washer multiple times did i notice a lot of caked on mud in the inner rim. Throwing off my balance.

Hopefully, they didn't due your road force balance when the rims were dirty. As the rims get clean, it would make it out of balance again.

just some things to check.

also...it is a truck....supposed to have a little roughness :)
 

Jackkk

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I have a 2018 with 40,000. I rotate every 8000 mi. I started to hear my tires at highway speeds at 27,000 mi, so i replaced them and sold the old tires to a Gen 1 owner that needed an extra swap tire set. Maybe you are feeling the cupping???
 
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