I have an 88 f-150 2wd with 225k on it. For the past couple years I've been fighting a brake vibration that I get when braking at high speeds (45 mph +). It is fairly violent and will shake you in the cab of the truck. Sometimes the truck will also pull hard to one side or another while its doing this. By hard I mean the truck will change lanes if you do not have ahold of the wheel. I have had the rotors turned once and replaced them another time, and put on new pads and calipers. I think I have more than a brake problem here.. My question is can bad lower ball joints/tie rod ends cause this? The truck drives perfect other than braking. How can I tell what is bad?
Ball Joints/tie rod ends cause brake vibration?
- Thread starter nwjones18
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Radius arm bushings woulkd be my first look.
Have you replaced the brake line on the side you are talking about?
Sometimes brake lines can cause problems that you wouldnt normally consider or think about.
I dont really see ball joins or tie rods doing this,they may could but if either one was that bad it would most likely do something while driving and not just braking.
You may want to try replacing the brake line on the side that pulls.
Sometimes brake lines can cause problems that you wouldnt normally consider or think about.
I dont really see ball joins or tie rods doing this,they may could but if either one was that bad it would most likely do something while driving and not just braking.
You may want to try replacing the brake line on the side that pulls.
I have changed the calipers and both front brake lines. It doesn't always pull in the same direction. Its normally to the right, but the other day it decided to pull to the left. I have changed the pads/rotors twice and this hasn't solved the problem. It may be a little less severe for a while, but not fixed.
how is your tire wear? could be an alignment issue causing the inconsistency you mentioned if it was always the same way i would think a brake problem, but seeing how radius arm bushings are notorious for your model i would look there to see if thats what is causing it
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
Sometimes the truck will also pull hard to one side or another while its doing this.
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
Sometimes the truck will also pull hard to one side or another while its doing this.
Any play in the front end could potentially cause vibrations or unusual manners under a hard load like braking. The stock control arm bushings on my Mazda3 are so flimsy that I can often feel some flexing and vibration under hard braking and hard first gear acceleration.
Have you checked/replaced your front wheel bearings lately?
Originally Posted By: motorguy222
Have you checked/replaced your front wheel bearings lately?
I haven't replaced the bearings, but they have been packed several times while I've been messing with the rotors. No play up/down in the tires and I'm not getting any noises from them. The tires are showing some cupping on the outside, but I had an alignment 10k ago and they are due a rotation. I took a look at the radius arm bushings this evening. No obvious problems with them, no chunks missing and they feel tight. Not sure how to test them other than that. I can feel a little looseness in the tie rod ends, but nothing much and I don't have much play in the steering. I think I might try some new rotors (lifetime warranty on the old ones) and some thermoquiets instead of the el cheapo pads I used last time.
Have you checked/replaced your front wheel bearings lately?
I haven't replaced the bearings, but they have been packed several times while I've been messing with the rotors. No play up/down in the tires and I'm not getting any noises from them. The tires are showing some cupping on the outside, but I had an alignment 10k ago and they are due a rotation. I took a look at the radius arm bushings this evening. No obvious problems with them, no chunks missing and they feel tight. Not sure how to test them other than that. I can feel a little looseness in the tie rod ends, but nothing much and I don't have much play in the steering. I think I might try some new rotors (lifetime warranty on the old ones) and some thermoquiets instead of the el cheapo pads I used last time.
check to see if you have plastic pistons in the caliper, that can cause the vibration.
The short answer is yes.
My experience isn't with anything like F-150s, but in general there are a number of suspension members whose job it is to locate the wheel in the wheel well. In doing this they set and preserve your alignment. These suspension members get connected to the frame/sub-frame and the knuckle in various ways, often bushings and ball joints.
If a bushing or ball joint is blown, something is isn't supposed to move will be allowed to move. This can be something annoying but not dangerous such as suddenly you feel a wheel out of balance no matter how many times you have it balanced or a light vibration on braking from run out or deposits that would normally be below the threshold of being felt. It can also be as dangerous as having the wheel alignment suddenly change dramatically as soon as any decent force is exerted.
Brake pistons, calipers, lines and other fixed parts aren't going to cause an out-of-round type of rotational shaking. Wheel bearings, rotors, and other parts that are spinning can, and it can be amplified by blown bushings and ball joints. A bad tire is unlikely to be glassy smooth when driving but shake you around as soon as you touch the brakes. A tire will usually vibrate any time it is spinning.
Yanking to one side could be a completely inoperative brake on one side but it's not usually violent - it would be in proportion to the amount of braking that you're applying, and I know there are lots of people out there with non-working calipers who can't tell. Yanking to one side can also be bushings, if a bushing collapses when the brakes are applied and causes one front wheel to change position.
With your combination of symptoms, I would definitely have all bushings and ball joints inspected. Ball joints can simply come apart when in bad enough shape, resulting in a front wheel suddenly going sideways and slamming up into the wheel well. I've seen a number of "street racer" Hondas sidelined this way where the owners were more concerned about light up washer jets than doing core maintenance.
If you don't know what you're looking for, take it somewhere. You could have an observer outside of the truck watch what happens when you brake hard from 5-10mph in a parking lot - look for fore/aft movement of both front wheels or anything else odd looking. Also listen for clunks.
My experience isn't with anything like F-150s, but in general there are a number of suspension members whose job it is to locate the wheel in the wheel well. In doing this they set and preserve your alignment. These suspension members get connected to the frame/sub-frame and the knuckle in various ways, often bushings and ball joints.
If a bushing or ball joint is blown, something is isn't supposed to move will be allowed to move. This can be something annoying but not dangerous such as suddenly you feel a wheel out of balance no matter how many times you have it balanced or a light vibration on braking from run out or deposits that would normally be below the threshold of being felt. It can also be as dangerous as having the wheel alignment suddenly change dramatically as soon as any decent force is exerted.
Brake pistons, calipers, lines and other fixed parts aren't going to cause an out-of-round type of rotational shaking. Wheel bearings, rotors, and other parts that are spinning can, and it can be amplified by blown bushings and ball joints. A bad tire is unlikely to be glassy smooth when driving but shake you around as soon as you touch the brakes. A tire will usually vibrate any time it is spinning.
Yanking to one side could be a completely inoperative brake on one side but it's not usually violent - it would be in proportion to the amount of braking that you're applying, and I know there are lots of people out there with non-working calipers who can't tell. Yanking to one side can also be bushings, if a bushing collapses when the brakes are applied and causes one front wheel to change position.
With your combination of symptoms, I would definitely have all bushings and ball joints inspected. Ball joints can simply come apart when in bad enough shape, resulting in a front wheel suddenly going sideways and slamming up into the wheel well. I've seen a number of "street racer" Hondas sidelined this way where the owners were more concerned about light up washer jets than doing core maintenance.
If you don't know what you're looking for, take it somewhere. You could have an observer outside of the truck watch what happens when you brake hard from 5-10mph in a parking lot - look for fore/aft movement of both front wheels or anything else odd looking. Also listen for clunks.
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