On our recent shakedown cruise I noticed I had a distinct vibration between 50 and 55 mph. I was able to do various tests to see if I could isolate it, engine, tires, drive-train, etc. I placed the shift lever in “N” and the vibration was still there so that ruled out engine. I was thinking it might be a tire had a flat spot or out of round, or a drive shaft u-joint or something. It wasn’t real bad, but was noticeable.
I ran across a posting on one of the forums where someone else had a similar vibration, One of the posters called my attention to a TSB issued by Ford in 2000, READ HERE, It described my vibration to a “T”, so I decided to look into it.
This TSB is dated 2000, the centering issue will apply to early model 19.5 inch rims, probably up through 2000. Later models they made the lug holes smaller and these rims center much better.
Basically, the TSB says to balance the tires on the rims with a certain procedure, then, to use special sleeve tools to center the wheels on the hubs. HUM
The front hubs have little tabs on them to center the hub, and the rear is centered by the bub itself. A couple months ago I bought new tires for the front and moved the original fronts to the rear dullies. When I installed the wheels and tires I simply assumed the front tabs and rear hub would center the wheels. According to the TSB, not so much.
The worst measurement I had was 0.017 inches on the front left tire.
To check on the centering, I got my feeler gauges out and measured the clearance between the wheel rim and the tabs and hub. The smallest gauge I tried was a .003, If it was less than .003, I called it zero. You can see from the measurements that instead of the wheels be centered by the tabs, the wheels were resting on a couple of the tabs when the lugs were installed.
IMPORTANT NOTE – See my remarks at the end regarding these measurements
To help correct this, I ordered a set of SPC Technologies centering sleeves from Amazon. ($43). These sleeves slide onto three of the studs to help center the rim on the hub. The rest of the lug nut are snugged up to hold the rim in place, then then the sleeves are removed and the three remaining lugs are installed..
The sleeves are temporary inserted over the lugs bolts to center the wheels. The fronts are a little easier to do than the dullies.
I raised the wheels off the ground and removed the lugs at the 12, 7 and 4 o’clock positions and loosened the other 5 lug nuts one turn so the wheel(s) are loose on the hub. I applied a thin coat of oil on the sleeves. Wiggle and rotate the wheel, at the same time, use a soft rubber mallet to lightly tap the sleeves in. If the sleeve isn’t moving, rotate the wheel and tap on the other sleeves while rotating the wheel. The sleeves need to be all the way in and bottomed out against the hub to properly center the wheel.. When I tapped the sleeves lightly, I could hear the sound when they bottomed out. The front sleeves went will go in a lot farther than the rear.
HINT – Before putting the wheels on the hubs, push one of the sleeves all the way on one of the lugs and observe how far it stick out over the lug when its bottomed out.
Once I was sure that all three sleeves were all the way in and the wheel was resting on the sleeves, I then tightened the five lug nuts with my impact driver.. Remove one sleeve at a time and install and tighten the lug. Torqued the nuts to 150 ft lbs, Then lower the wheels off the jacks.
ROAD TEST
WOW – What a difference – A short 20 minute test drive at various speeds on smooth highway showed the vibration was completely gone, not only was the 50mph vibration gone, but there was no vibration at any speed in the steering wheel.
CONCLUSION
I did not remove the wheels from the hubs for the BEFORE/ AFTER measurement, I just loosened the lug nuts, but the rims stayed on the hubs. The measurements showed that wheels did move a little bit when the sleeves were installed. The measurement numbers were a little better distributed evenly around the hub, but if I was going strictly by these measurements, I would not have deemed them to be “centered”.
I suspect minor difference in the hubs plus the wear on the rims may have caused slight variations that caused the readings to not show a centering. My conclusion is , you cannot center the rims on the hubs based on measuring the tabs. Centering via the studs with sleeves is the easiest and most accurate method of centering the rims.
We have a 1995 Bounder 34J with a Ford chassis…should we have the same concern or is this unrelated to the Ford chassis?
I don’t feel any specific vibration in the steering wheel but it’s old and doesn’t drive like a newer one.
Barret, Probably not. The TSB calls out 1999. 2000, and 2001 chassis specifically.
Quick note : The year of the chassis may not be the same as the year of the mobile home . I have a 1998 Suncruiser by the chassis is a 1997 Ford F53 . Mobile home manufactures used to purchase chassis in bulk two or three times a year . Not sure if they still do that or if they use the ” just in time ” assembly method . Either way , verify the chassis year to make sure this very information applies to your unit .
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Dear Sir:
My wife and I bought our 2001 F-53 Chassis in the form of a Gulfstream Sun Voyager as a brand new purchase. After 18 years of use, it needed a little freshening and lot of mechanical TLC. Your site has been invaluable and my 17 year old son and I have really enjoyed all of our repairs and the engineering expertise that you have brought to bear. We know your website took a lot of time, but it has given us the confidence to take on repairs we never could have done without your help and we have both really enjoyed the process. This wheel centering knowledge is a gem and we used it at the local Wingfoot tire to address tire balancing. Thanks again for your help.
I couldn’t have said it better and I wholeheartedly agree.
I bought the centering sleeve tools on your recommendation. My chassis is a 2003 Ford F-53 (14mm studs) and my wheels have been vibrating since I bought new tires. I’ve had them balanced twice ay two different places, with zero affect. I hope this fixes my vibration; it does start about 53 MPH, to not sure if it ever goes away at speeds above that.
Thanks for your web-site.
Mike
Verify that your chassis is part of this TSB. If the sleeves fit inside the lug holes on the wheel, then yes, they will help.
Fords solution was to make the wheels lug holes smaller.
I noticed the TSB included a remedy that uses 4 centering pilots not 3.
Also, they say to torque the lug nuts to 140 ft lbs not 150ft lbs.
I wonder if that makes much of a difference.
I assume you’re talking about the centering sleeves. 3 or 5 shouldn’t make any difference, The sleeve kit I bought only came with three. I’d go with the 150 lbs on the torque.