# 2001 Ford F-150 Heavy Vibrations



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

My neighbor has a 2001 Ford F-150 4x4. He's had it about a year now. When he first got it, it would occasionally kind of vibrate randomly in forward, reverse, accelerating, changing gears (auto), whatever. Now it is like ten times worse and he can't seem to find anyone with the answer to what it is causing the problem. Have read of people saying torque converter, carrier bearing, wheel bearing. I rode with him today and it feels like it's coming from right under the floorboard but I guess it could be transferring from somewhere else.

He said he's checked the u-joints, wheel bearings, OD on/off - few other things I can't recall at the moment. I think he said it doesn't do it while coasting, mainly acceleration. Let off the accelerator and it stops vibrating. Again, it is random and sometimes worse than others. But it really does sound/feel like crap. It kind of "feels" like gears skipping over each other, the vibration itself. Shakes the whole truck. Anyone else heard of this problem with these trucks and what could be causing it?


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Check the motor mounts


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## Travis in Louisiana (May 14, 2002)

I was thinking motor mounts, transmission mounts. You might want to go to a FORD forum, and explain what is going on. I use the auto forums all the time to ask questions.


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## foxtrapper (Dec 23, 2003)

Just an FYI, that sound OEM normal. Ford has a well known, well documented, track record of severe vibration problems with that era F150. Fords position is its normal and they will *not* fix it. 

On the various boards, you will see a myriad of "fixes", which ends up making it pretty clear that the problem is with the whole truck, not simple a bad batch of axles or u-joints.


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## Elevenpoint (Nov 17, 2009)

Not a Ford, but my 1997 Saturn had a vibration and has had one for awhile including everything in the car squeaking and rattling...and I chalked it up to the 275,000 miles on it.....vibration seemed worse lately especially on acceleration, replaced one of the motor mounts yesterday and it is quiet as can be now.


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## Our Little Farm (Apr 26, 2010)

We also have a 2005 Ford F150 with vibrations that come up through the floor board. Have not found a cause, and it is obviously not as bad as yours. 
Other than that, I love my truck.


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## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

He hadn't mentioned whether he had checked the motor or transmission mounts. I'll pass him that info. I had already checked quite a few of the other auto forums and couldn't find one that had nailed down a single cause. It does seem like a pretty common problem. If I get a chance this coming weekend I might see if we can rig the camcorder up underneath the truck, drive around in his driveway and narrow down the area where the sound is coming from. Worth a shot I guess.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

If it only occurs at certain speeds, it could also be a drive shaft that was never balanced properly. Seen that before on a Ford. Getting worse over time might rule that out.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

On a non Ford vehicle I traced a major vibration to an out of round new tire. The tire balancer used by the tire seller did not locate this fault with the tire.


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## Travis in Louisiana (May 14, 2002)

Usually vibrations or shaking in the front of the vehicle are felt in the steering wheel, and vibration or shaking in the back of the vehicle are felt in the seat. Yes, I would check the balance of the tires and possibly would rotate them to see if the vibration changes.


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## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

Let me try this scenario as an example. Let's say you have rubber chocks behind your tires and the truck is sitting on smooth concrete. Using reverse as an example, it would be as if the truck was struggling/pushing against the chocks and the chocks were skipping along the concrete under the pressure. That is the feel of it. It used to be like this mostly while he was driving off, in forward or reverse. But it has just gotten to the point where it does it quite frequently as you're driving along with your foot on the gas. It must have done it a minimum of 50 times yesterday while we were out trying to find someone that might know what was wrong with it. But all we got was...:shrug:

If we get a chance to do the video thing this weekend, I'll see if I can get it posted here.


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