2003 E350 Front End Vibration

monkeytoe9 · 03-26-2008, 09:36 PM

Hi. Jason here. I have a 2003 E350 15 passenger V10 van. It has 106,XXX miles and has been giving me trouble for the last few months now. I noticed a popping sound while making a hard right turn. Haven't heard that sound again. Sounded like a spring load uncoiling. After that I noticed a vibration in my front end. Eventually this vibration got so bad that I couldn't drive it over 65 mPH. At this speed it felt like the front passenger tire was bouncing and my passenger seat was like a massage chair..vibrating away. So I went to a tire shop for balancing. The guy showed me that the tires were "bad" and like an idiot i bought it. New tires, no improvement. Had the tires balanced, aligned, and rotated 3 different times. I replaced the shocks..all 4. Still no improvement. Replaced the U joints and stablizer bar bushings..no improvement. I crawled under the van and found that there is a plastic shroud that sits in front of the passenger side I beam. This plastic cover has been eaten away and there is a black vertical mark on the I beam. This tells me that it IS bouncing. Had a friend ride beside me but didn't see any bouncing. Today I had the rubber bushings that hold the I beam to the frame checked. They're still good. Had the rotor checked also and its not warped. Had the tires balanced while on the van and this helped a little. When I hit 65, it happened again. I've taken it to the Ford dealership and they hosed me for about $400. They told me it was a bent rim...bought it...no results.
Any suggestions?

kdr358 · 03-30-2008, 10:10 PM

It could be a shot ignition coil my old E-450 v10 had 2 coils go out at 65,xxx miles and i had the same problems you had and check your ball joints and wheel bearings

soon2retire · 05-05-2008, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeytoe9

Hi. Jason here. I have a 2003 E350 15 passenger V10 van. It has 106,XXX miles and has been giving me trouble for the last few months now. I noticed a popping sound while making a hard right turn. Haven't heard that sound again. Sounded like a spring load uncoiling. After that I noticed a vibration in my front end. Eventually this vibration got so bad that I couldn't drive it over 65 mPH. At this speed it felt like the front passenger tire was bouncing and my passenger seat was like a massage chair..vibrating away. So I went to a tire shop for balancing. The guy showed me that the tires were "bad" and like an idiot i bought it. New tires, no improvement. Had the tires balanced, aligned, and rotated 3 different times. I replaced the shocks..all 4. Still no improvement. Replaced the U joints and stablizer bar bushings..no improvement. I crawled under the van and found that there is a plastic shroud that sits in front of the passenger side I beam. This plastic cover has been eaten away and there is a black vertical mark on the I beam. This tells me that it IS bouncing. Had a friend ride beside me but didn't see any bouncing. Today I had the rubber bushings that hold the I beam to the frame checked. They're still good. Had the rotor checked also and its not warped. Had the tires balanced while on the van and this helped a little. When I hit 65, it happened again. I've taken it to the Ford dealership and they hosed me for about $400. They told me it was a bent rim...bought it...no results.
Any suggestions?

Jason, have you checked the pivot pin on the I-beams? A Ford mechanic, of all people, once told me he had a similar problems to yours and after all of the other attempted fixes, replaced the pivot pin and solved his problem. Just something for you to check.