I have a 2001 F250 7.3. 4x2 It had the stock 16" wheels on it.
I recently came across a set of factory 2005 18" wheels off of a f250 4x4 that I put new tires on and put them on the truck. They were rubbing on the axle as the lug pattern is the same but quickly found out that the back spacing on the rim was different.
I had the tire shop put 2 wheel spacers on the front only on each side (a total of 4 large spacers ont he front) to buffer the rubbing. I'm told the spacers used are the largest they make apprs 1/4 inch in thickness. Now when I said it rubbed it was not real bad. You had to make a turn where the wheel was cut as far as it could go which is something I never need to do but just to make sure it wasnt touching I put the spacers in. Now it will still run alittle but you have to turn the wheel as far as it will go and hit a bump for it to rub.
When driving I noticed the truck steering wheel when accerlating around 40 mph or if hitting a bump at 50 to 60 mph on the interstate the steering wheel shakes from left to right real bad I beleive the technical term is shimmy. You can feel the shake in the wheel when driving at all times but it gets real bad as described above. It was shaking real bad the entire trip but I found out this was related to all of the wheel weights missing as I will discuss later in the post.
I brought the truck to a different tire shop (firestone) as the other one seemed a little shady. I got a long over due front end alignment which I was told the toe was way out but now the truck is perfectly aligned. They also balanced the tires again as they said the other place didnt put the weights on correctly and it threw them all off.
Now the problem still exists as described above. Before the tires were re balanced and the wheen alignment was done the truck would shake the entire trip and you could feel the steering wheel shimmy. So I assumed that the problem was one in the same. It turns out that when the truck shook because of the wheels being unbalanced then it would trigger the shimmy in the steering wheel. Now that the wheels are balanced then the shake it still in the steering wheel but is only there when you accelerate or at certain speed or if you hit a bump. The rest of the ride is smooth. WHen the shake starts real bad if I let off the acceleration or If I change speeds it stops shaking violently and goes back to a milder shake that is there all the time that is not as bad. The truck was not doing this before at least I do not think it was as the tires needed replaced real bad and the ride sucked but I do not remember it doing this.
Some people say it might be the spacers but it just doesnt seem that the spacer would cause this and I'm not willing to write it of as this just yet. What do you guys think is causing it?
I recently came across a set of factory 2005 18" wheels off of a f250 4x4 that I put new tires on and put them on the truck. They were rubbing on the axle as the lug pattern is the same but quickly found out that the back spacing on the rim was different.
I had the tire shop put 2 wheel spacers on the front only on each side (a total of 4 large spacers ont he front) to buffer the rubbing. I'm told the spacers used are the largest they make apprs 1/4 inch in thickness. Now when I said it rubbed it was not real bad. You had to make a turn where the wheel was cut as far as it could go which is something I never need to do but just to make sure it wasnt touching I put the spacers in. Now it will still run alittle but you have to turn the wheel as far as it will go and hit a bump for it to rub.
When driving I noticed the truck steering wheel when accerlating around 40 mph or if hitting a bump at 50 to 60 mph on the interstate the steering wheel shakes from left to right real bad I beleive the technical term is shimmy. You can feel the shake in the wheel when driving at all times but it gets real bad as described above. It was shaking real bad the entire trip but I found out this was related to all of the wheel weights missing as I will discuss later in the post.
I brought the truck to a different tire shop (firestone) as the other one seemed a little shady. I got a long over due front end alignment which I was told the toe was way out but now the truck is perfectly aligned. They also balanced the tires again as they said the other place didnt put the weights on correctly and it threw them all off.
Now the problem still exists as described above. Before the tires were re balanced and the wheen alignment was done the truck would shake the entire trip and you could feel the steering wheel shimmy. So I assumed that the problem was one in the same. It turns out that when the truck shook because of the wheels being unbalanced then it would trigger the shimmy in the steering wheel. Now that the wheels are balanced then the shake it still in the steering wheel but is only there when you accelerate or at certain speed or if you hit a bump. The rest of the ride is smooth. WHen the shake starts real bad if I let off the acceleration or If I change speeds it stops shaking violently and goes back to a milder shake that is there all the time that is not as bad. The truck was not doing this before at least I do not think it was as the tires needed replaced real bad and the ride sucked but I do not remember it doing this.
Some people say it might be the spacers but it just doesnt seem that the spacer would cause this and I'm not willing to write it of as this just yet. What do you guys think is causing it?