Steering Nibble 2018 F150

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My 2018 F150 has exhibited whats called steering nibble. Its a slight knocking vibration feeling in the steering wheel from 60kmh and as i get up in speed to 120kmh, the steering vibration gets worse as well as i feel the vibration in the chassis of the truck.

It is much more apparent when making lane changes to the left.... imagine driving straight and when you turn your wheel 2-3 degrees to the left and hold it there, the vibration feeling becomes worse..... turn the wheel back straight and the vibration is less...

I have new tires on the truck, which were road force balanced... the same problem was there with the previous original GoodYears....


Wondering if anyone else has gone through this issue.... I read Ford has active nibble algorithms in the EPAS.... so im assuming my F150 has it..but perhaps not working as intended
https://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatur...ibble-control/
 
Stuff like that is really frustrating.. Over the years most of my cars have been good as far as vibration issues, but I've had a couple otherwise nice cars that drove me nuts trying to fix the problem. Hopefully the dealer can quickly sort this out for you.
 
Since you can feel it as you turn the wheel ever so slightly left, this makes me wonder if a certain kind of alignment would help? (assuming this is just the nature of the beast)

Since you drive on the right side of the road, and most roads are slightly crowned for drainage, then the vehicle naturally wants to drift right if you keep the wheel absolutely straight. Holding the wheel slightly left would account for the crown and keep you between the lane lines.

A skilled(?) alignment shop could set a very slight bias so that you are actually holding the wheel straight when going straight, making the nibble less noticeable?
 
Originally Posted by carviewsonic
Stuff like that is really frustrating.. Over the years most of my cars have been good as far as vibration issues, but I've had a couple otherwise nice cars that drove me nuts trying to fix the problem. Hopefully the dealer can quickly sort this out for you.


my problem is, Ford dealerships are incompetent and dont want to spend the time to troubleshoot... ive been to 2 dealerships and they sofar said cant duplicate it.... this maybe my last ford product just due to the poor service in my area (Toronto)
 
Originally Posted by 2oldtommy
Could be a slightly bent wheel. Road force balancing will not pick this up. FWIW


oldtommy


ive tried swapping wheels with another truck and rotating... still same problem
 
Originally Posted by 2oldtommy
Could be a slightly bent wheel. Road force balancing will not pick this up. FWIW


oldtommy

Road force balancing "should" pick this up, but I have witnessed lazy techs who ignore it.
 
Originally Posted by DriveHard
bad wheel bearing
wheel bearing with excessive run-out
bad CV joint

stock rims, or aftermarket?


stock rims and tires... im thinking front bearings
 
Lift the wheel off the ground and rock it back and forth by hand to check for any looseness. With truck on the ground, look underneath while someone turns the steering wheel slightly side to side. Look for slack in parts that move without the tire moving.
 
Originally Posted by mk378
Lift the wheel off the ground and rock it back and forth by hand to check for any looseness. With truck on the ground, look underneath while someone turns the steering wheel slightly side to side. Look for slack in parts that move without the tire moving.



did all of that... no issue found
 
I can't offer any advice that will fix the actual issue.

However, my mom went through a similar issue with a new Chevy 3500 they purchased a few years ago. They had a intermittent drive line vibration in the rear from new. They tried new tires, different wheels, new driveshaft etc, the truck was in the shop I believe 10-12 times while they tried to fix it over a year time span. Sometimes with a "cannot duplicate" outcome.

Finally they got tired of it and couldn't spend more time bringing it in. They approached the dealer tactfully and were treated fair on trade for another new truck. Problem solved. The dealer stepped up and saved the brand for them, if not they would probably be driving something besides Chevy. Do they wish the truck could have been fixed, yes. Is life always perfect, no. They've been happy with the new one for a few years now.
 
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Get it up in the air, turn traction control off and drive it. Switch between 2wd and 4wd, apply brakes to simulate load on front cv joints. Try to narrow it down that way. Perhaps remove or swap front axles to see it the vibration changes or follows side to side.
 
im suspecting it might be a bad lower ball joint on the right side, thats maybe why when banking left the vibration gets worse..putting all the load on that right ball joint...if it's bad or loose it will rattle.... does it make sense?
 
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