Harmonic droning in cab 53-60mph

[P. A. Schilke]

When I drop off the truck should I ask for this type of testing to be done or is this something they do standard with these types of complaints?

Hi Shane,

It depends on the Dealer and quality of the Tech. Some dealers do not have any NVH equipment. Others have it but techs are not trained to use it and a few have the equipment and knowledgeable tech.

Hope your dealer is in the latter category. I would recommend you ask your Service Writer if they plan to use the NVH diagnostic equipment.

BTW I have recommended this several times on these forums.....Buy a cheap mechanics stethoscope, throw away the diaphram and steel probe so you have ear pieces and a tube. The tube is very directional and can be used to search for the source of the noise, which can be helpful if all you can say it seems to be from the back or front or directly under the cab.

Since I was an NVH technical expert, I had tons of very pricey equipment to track down NVH concerns. I found these mega priced equipment, while effective that the stethoscope to be just as useful for a fraction of the cost.... Just an FYI...

best,
Phil

Sponsored

 

[Shoran12]

Mine has the same thing going on from 67-72mph. It's been exactly the same since I bought it, roughly 20k miles ago. I've never had Ford look at it but depending on what they tell you I may go through the process.

Yeah I’ll have post an update as soon as I hear anything. My appointment is set up for March 9th and if they deem these issues worthy they want to keep the truck for 48-72 hours to diagnose. So that’ll be the timeframe for updates. Mine is a 22 built in February of last year and my front axle is one serial number away from the “affected” range of problem serial numbers associated with the SSB for front axle out of balance but that’s all I have to go on.

 

[Shoran12]

Hi Shane,

It depends on the Dealer and quality of the Tech. Some dealers do not have any NVH equipment. Others have it but techs are not trained to use it and a few have the equipment and knowledgeable tech.

Hope your dealer is in the latter category. I would recommend you ask your Service Writer if they plan to use the NVH diagnostic equipment.

BTW I have recommended this several times on these forums.....Buy a cheap mechanics stethoscope, throw away the diaphram and steel probe so you have ear pieces and a tube. The tube is very directional and can be used to search for the source of the noise, which can be helpful if all you can say it seems to be from the back or front or directly under the cab.

Since I was an NVH technical expert, I had tons of very pricey equipment to track down NVH concerns. I found these mega priced equipment, while effective that the stethoscope to be just as useful for a fraction of the cost.... Just an FYI...

best,
Phil

Thank you Phil. I’ll call and ask. I don’t have jack stands so it might be hard for me to do this with a stethoscope unless I can do in from inside while driving. I will say this does feel to enter from the front of the cab somewhere but resonates around and the droning sounds like it may be relatively high speed in nature yet what I’m hearing is the rhythmic harmonics of say 3-5 deeper hums per seconds. Sounds and feels similar to air turbulence like if you had a rear window down with the fronts rolled up (kids in the back love to pop my eardrums by doing this). Its just not as pronounced. I rolled my window down to check but could tell it wasn’t wind turbulence causing this. I scheduled with the only Knoxville dealer which is the largest of two ford dealerships within a reasonable drive from me. I’ll ask about the testing. Figured I’d ask them to check tires as well but this is at 52/53-60 mph. Nothing more or less.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Thank you Phil. I’ll call and ask. I don’t have jack stands so it might be hard for me to do this with a stethoscope unless I can do in from inside while driving. I will say this does feel to enter from the front of the cab somewhere but resonates around and the droning sounds like it may be relatively high speed in nature yet what I’m hearing is the rhythmic harmonics of say 3-5 deeper hums per seconds. Sounds and feels similar to air turbulence like if you had a rear window down with the fronts rolled up (kids in the back love to pop my eardrums by doing this). Its just not as pronounced. I rolled my window down to check but could tell it wasn’t wind turbulence causing this. I scheduled with the only Knoxville dealer which is the largest of two ford dealerships within a reasonable drive from me. I’ll ask about the testing. Figured I’d ask them to check tires as well but this is at 52/53-60 mph. Nothing more or less.

Hi Shane,

From your description it sounds like you have what we call a Beating Moan (okay...get forum members minds out of the gutter..) This is where you have two noise sources that are very close in frequency...makes for a bit of a challenge to track down. Ever hear a multi engine jet with two engines slightly out of rpm from each other. Orders if determined for example can help. Take the engine...RPM is first order engine, firing frequency is 2nd order for a inline 4 cylinder as there are two explosions per revolution of a running engine, and with frequency determination you can home in of likely candidates. Cab moans are many times the pick up box headboard beating against the cab back panel and checking cab to frame bolts for tightness, loosening the box bolts and adjusting the box a bit can sometimes help If box headboard, you can jamb something plyable like a tennis ball or inner tube from a bike and evaluate the vehicle in the offending mph range for example of quick and dirty tests...

NVH has three basic approaches... Id the excitation and change it. Locate the responder and change it or isolate one from another. Engine and cab body mounts are idolators for example. Tire balance can be a excitation which can be eleminated with balance weights and pick up box headboard centering is changing the responder...

Okay....Enough....

Best,
Phil

 

[9zero1790]

What issues did you tell them you had if you don’t mind me asking? Did they tell you if they had any idea long will they expect to have your truck?

I told them transmission shift lags esp. 1-2-3 up and down. will not stay in tenth gear, bearing has dragging sound, vibrations at certain speeds, really rough shifts when cold. They will likely not get to it until monday. no news on how long. I brought them the center support bearing for the driveshaft just in case that was part of the issue they find. may take away some of the wait time to get the part i hope.

 

[Shoran12]

I told them transmission shift lags esp. 1-2-3 up and down. will not stay in tenth gear, bearing has dragging sound, vibrations at certain speeds, really rough shifts when cold. They will likely not get to it until monday. no news on how long. I brought them the center support bearing for the driveshaft just in case that was part of the issue they find. may take away some of the wait time to get the part i hope.

Well I hope it works out. I’m hoping I can get a rental car when I drop mine off however I planned it during a week that my wife has off in the event they won’t give me one. My gut tells me they’ll say everything is normal with mine but it’s worth a shot. I asked to drive with the tech when I scheduled the appointment.

 

[9zero1790]

im have the same concern. "we cant find anything wrong". im trying to remain positive this dealer will be the diamond in a bag of coal lol.

 

[Shoran12]

im have the same concern. "we cant find anything wrong". im trying to remain positive this dealer will be the diamond in a bag of coal lol.

Yeah same. Either way I’m still keeping the truck and will probably do my best not to obsess over it which is easier said than done. Will try a tune after that if all else fails. If I void my warranty later so be it. I’ve never thought twice about how my previous trucks drove so this one being different combined with the price tags in todays market see me taking it in to get looked at. If these trucks were 15k cheaper I wouldn’t have ever made an appointment.

 

[got3fords]

Could be something as simple as bad tires. I have had unexplained road noise before and completely surprised it went away with new tires. Have they been rotated correctly, how many miles on them?

 

[9zero1790]

i think eventually ford dealers will take care of us. may be a rough ride to get to that. in your case the parts i would suspect for the sound are not terribly pricey. wheel bearings center support brake calipers etc. if dealers dont get it fixed you may want to do the process of elimination starting with whats least costly to swap out. Bennie from levittown ford gives r5g members good prices if you need the parts.

 

[Shoran12]

Could be something as simple as bad tires. I have had unexplained road noise before and completely surprised it went away with new tires. Have they been rotated correctly, how many miles on them?

Good point. Possibly not but this truck is low mileage. I purchased my truck with 1700 on it and I believe they had done a tire rotation and oil change according to what they said at the dealer. When I got home I noticed the oil life hadn’t been reset and was pretty low. I called the dealer and they claimed they had changed the oil. I didn’t trust that they had actually changed oil so I took it to the dealer closer to me and used ford points for an oil change. I worried about driving an excessive number of miles without a first oil change if they didn’t actually do what they said. I believed they rotated the tires again at the second dealer as part of their service yet I had just asked for only an oil change. Didn’t think anything of it. Truck now has 5500 miles on it. It was driven 1700 miles in 9 month with the first owner. So maybe not enough miles to matter at all but I’m guessing the tires were rotated twice in a weeks span. These stock Bridgestone Duellers do ride a bit rough at slow speeds however.

 

[Shoran12]

i think eventually ford dealers will take care of us. may be a rough ride to get to that. in your case the parts i would suspect for the sound are not terribly pricey. wheel bearings center support brake calipers etc. if dealers dont get it fixed you may want to do the process of elimination starting with whats least costly to swap out. Bennie from levittown ford gives r5g members good prices if you need the parts.

Yeah, I always do my best to be very respectful at dealerships without being a pushover. It’s always a process I hate to partake in. I’ll give it an honest go with these guys and be fair with the techs. Who knows, maybe there is nothing “wrong” with mine and it’s just the process of the trucks learning or engine harmonics I’m over analyzing. I’ve been known to do that from time to time. Unfortunately any day I take off is either vacation or unpaid so I can only give up so much time. Plus I’d rather be taking my kids out fishing or sailing on my massive yacht with supermodels on those days off ?. Only thing I know for sure is that my kids getting this truck in 8 years and it’s his problem then. ?

 

[got3fords]

Good point. Possibly not but this truck is low mileage. I purchased my truck with 1700 on it and I believe they had done a tire rotation and oil change according to what they said at the dealer. When I got home I noticed the oil life hadn’t been reset and was pretty low. I called the dealer and they claimed they had changed the oil. I didn’t trust that they had actually changed oil so I took it to the dealer closer to me and used ford points for an oil change. I worried about driving an excessive number of miles without a first oil change if they didn’t actually do what they said. I believed they rotated the tires again at the second dealer as part of their service yet I had just asked for only an oil change. Didn’t think anything of it. Truck now has 5500 miles on it. It was driven 1700 miles in 9 month with the first owner. So maybe not enough miles to matter at all but I’m guessing the tires were rotated twice in a weeks span. These stock Bridgestone Duellers do ride a bit rough at slow speeds however.

With that low mileage I would not suspect tires, unless one just happened to have a bad cord or something. But if they are all wearing evenly probably not it.

 

[Shoran12]

With that low mileage I would not suspect tires, unless one just happened to have a bad cord or something. But if they are all wearing evenly probably not it.

Yeah this has been here since I bought the truck. I didn’t notice it too much until the other day when I had the radio down. Set the cruise at 57mph on a flat road I can hear it. Same with sport mode so not rpm dependent. Who knows, the bodies on these newer trucks are so thin maybe it’s normal driveshaft resonance due to the two price design. It won’t do it accelerating or decelerating or on most inclines or declines. It took me almost 4000 miles to really pay attention to it so I can live with it but before I do any suspension upgrades I may as well have it looked at. Same goes for the transmission downshifting shifting like crap in tow or sport mode. Normal is better but lugs like crazy but there are tons of posts about that. Sport and tow feel like a first time driver trying to break and go intermittently.

 

[WNCblueridge]

Good luck, hope they get the prob sorted. Mine does more than droning. It's more severe vibes at speeds above 55-60 mph with all the other annoyances you mentioned. All while truck was still stock. Had alignments & road force balancing done and inquired about NVH software to isolate the source to several dealerships. They all said they have no such tool or method for diagnosing vibes. It was then I realized they don't care about rectifying the issue. Sometimes the truck does drive butter smooth over 60mph and sometimes it's violently shaking.

So I’ll preface this and say I really do enjoy this truck so I’m not complaining but want to get things looked at while I’m still in warranty and on a day my wife has off so I’ll have a ride home. I have an appointment at the larger ford dealer in my area early March. Posting this in the event it may help someone else out in the future.
I’ve had a minor droning at roughly 53-60 mph but never paid it much attention. Chalked it up to truck characteristics or possible wind turbulence. Well today with the radio off I noticed it a bit more. It comes on at a constant speed (no acceleration or deceleration) and is felt kind of like a harmonic resonant wave throughout the cab within this speed range. It’s not wind turbulence and engine rpm doesn’t seem to change it (although it may appear slightly louder in Sport mode but the jury is still out on that) I noticed there is an SSB for an unbalanced front axle and my axle number is 1 below the affected range. Maybe this is it? Maybe drive shaft or front differential? Tires? Tires are stock. Anyway I’ll be getting this looked as well as transmission shifting because well I may as well since I’m taking the day off anyway. I don't think I’m bringing up the take off shudder or auto stop start solenoid click I have because I don’t want to come to a dealership with a list of problems and look like I’m crazy (which I am but this I already know ?).
Anyway not crapping on the truck just posting this and a follow update (depending on if my concerns are looked at) so it may be referenced by future OCD Ranger owners much like me. Suspension goes on this Friday so hoping they won’t give me crap about it but I’ve had this appointment scheduled for some time and won’t cancel it. I’ll do a follow up on that as well.

Where do you go to find the SSB/TSB for affected axles

Sponsored