Softer Suspension?

[azerik]

I did not tell the service writer that I had lowered the car. The shop noticed it independently. By way of update, though, the BlueCruise issue has resolved itself. A tech at my suspension shop told me that he has done mods on Teslas which caused an initial issue with the self driving but those resolved after a few drives. So maybe these systems have some compensation capability. It seems like they would have to be flexible for the reasons you mentioned, like loading. By the way, I totally agree that dealer service writers will invent excuses not to work on a car. That's why I didn't tell them in the first place. I was actually impressed that they noticed the lowering. The module destruction just has to be BS.

Yep, I had a PITA dealer blame the springs and Koni's for causing 'the axles to lock up, because of the angle of the tires'. Still in spec camber. They refused to do much with the car other than joyride it behind a gravel truck on the freeway. So. Here I am, installing the Rally 'kit' so I can have it aligned there and tell them to explain all the vibration and shaking I have. (Which appears to all be axles and bearing, which has been from day 1 that I owned the car and only once dind't shake like hell which was the last time the aligned it 2 days before I lowered it and took it to another shop to have aligned 3 times 'as good as it gets'. I'm at my wits end with blindly hunting down what is going on. Not saying the Eibach bars and springs are bad in anyway, it's my car/luck.

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[moncobb]

Yep, I had a PITA dealer blame the springs and Koni's for causing 'the axles to lock up, because of the angle of the tires'. Still in spec camber. They refused to do much with the car other than joyride it behind a gravel truck on the freeway. So. Here I am, installing the Rally 'kit' so I can have it aligned there and tell them to explain all the vibration and shaking I have. (Which appears to all be axles and bearing, which has been from day 1 that I owned the car and only once dind't shake like hell which was the last time the aligned it 2 days before I lowered it and took it to another shop to have aligned 3 times 'as good as it gets'. I'm at my wits end with blindly hunting down what is going on. Not saying the Eibach bars and springs are bad in anyway, it's my car/luck.

I kept the original springs. So maybe if I have an issue that needs a dealer (I'm out of warranty now), I'll put the stock springs back on before I take it in. Better idea is to take it to my suspension shop if it needs anything in that area. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

 

[moncobb]

Re the shaking, I'm guessing you've eliminated driveline (U joint) and rear motor issues?

 

[azerik]

I have had a hard shake in the steering wheel. Like it requires a LOT of effort to hold the wheel from shaking. The car it's self, it's not. Just the steering wheel. New brakes/rotors/3 sets of tire/3 sets of wheels/2 new axles/4 alignments/countless rebalancing of tires. Nothing 'keeps'. Everything helps for a little while. The shake is from 65mph to (what used to be 72) 80~ish. It comes and goes based on ambient temp, drive time etc. I've lost my marbles trying to solve this car. (It's just my car, others don't have this issue at all)

 

[moncobb]

Hm. I haven't heard of that one. Is the shaking more of a vibration or is it a side to side steering wobble? And if you let go of the wheel does it turn the car?

 

[moncobb]

This is a long shot, but long ago a tire shop installed a set of directional tires on the wrong side (the car was not a Mach e). It caused something similar to what you describe. I couldn't figure it out and it drove me nuts until one day I just stumbled on the tire directional arrows pointing the wrong way.

 

[azerik]

4 seats of tires and several wheels and countless rebalancing has done nothing for it.
It's a shake of just the steering wheel. Car tracks fine, don't even feel in the car it but you can see it and feel it in the steering wheel. But it's not really the point of this thread. but here ya go. I'm done chasing and fighting it. it's headed to the dealer soon enough.

 

[moncobb]

God that's weird. Lane departure warning gone mad..... I'll be sure to let you know when the gods reveal the answer to me.

 

[NateZhao]

4 seats of tires and several wheels and countless rebalancing has done nothing for it.
It's a shake of just the steering wheel. Car tracks fine, don't even feel in the car it but you can see it and feel it in the steering wheel. But it's not really the point of this thread. but here ya go. I'm done chasing and fighting it. it's headed to the dealer soon enough.

Erik, based on your description, this is a typical steering nibble. It only occurs at 70 mph because at this speed, the vibrations from the unbalanced forces coincide with the frequency of the steering system, creating resonance. Usually, 99% of these situations are due to wheel imbalance.

You have this issue once you got the car? Or after some modifications you did?

 

[4sallypat]

Yep, I had a PITA dealer blame the springs and Koni's for causing 'the axles to lock up, because of the angle of the tires'. Still in spec camber. They refused to do much with the car other than joyride it behind a gravel truck on the freeway. So. Here I am, installing the Rally 'kit' so I can have it aligned there and tell them to explain all the vibration and shaking I have. (Which appears to all be axles and bearing, which has been from day 1 that I owned the car and only once dind't shake like hell which was the last time the aligned it 2 days before I lowered it and took it to another shop to have aligned 3 times 'as good as it gets'. I'm at my wits end with blindly hunting down what is going on. Not saying the Eibach bars and springs are bad in anyway, it's my car/luck.

Did the Rally kit help or issue remain the same ?

My Eibach bars and and springs have not affected my ride - it's gotten to be a better ride.

Still have the OEM stock just in case, but last time at the dealer, the service advisor asked if I liked the Eibach parts over factory.

I do love the Rally wheels and +2 tires which really makes the ride fun!

 

[azerik]

Erik, based on your description, this is a typical steering nibble. It only occurs at 70 mph because at this speed, the vibrations from the unbalanced forces coincide with the frequency of the steering system, creating resonance. Usually, 99% of these situations are due to wheel imbalance.

You have this issue once you got the car? Or after some modifications you did?

It's always been there. Tires, balance, modifications always make changes but it seldomly goes away fully. I can get it to where it nearly is gone but if I take my hand off the wheel you can see it. Usually better in the summer. Got this bad when i put 265/45/'s on that Discount mounted/balanced(which they's ALWAYS had a heck of a time doing). When it was the best I'd paid $200 for mount and balance from WSI. The wider tires seem to help translate this to the wheel. The vibration sometimes has a hum along with it, that you can feel through the whole car. It too comes and goes and changes with everything I change, but it's always back.
I'm hunting a pair for new front struts for the Rally spring install once I have those, and the springs I'll be pulling the whole thing apart. I've also retorqued the wheel hubs on all 4 corners. I'll say this. When the Dealer did the alignment it didn't shake (2 years ago) for the 2 days it was aligned, then I installed the Eibach springs like 2 days later so it mighta just been that I was happy.

Did the Rally kit help or issue remain the same ?

Havn't gotten it yet. But the new rear shocks (from ~2025 model year) did raise the back up about 1/2 inch from the Koni's and made such an improvement on the cabin noise that I'm not in a rush to replace the springs.

I honestly think the hub bearings or axles are to blame. The only way to find that out is presseing the axle out and replacing the bearings for ~$200 each (really about $100 from Rockauto). I have a 100/8 ESP on the car so I plan on using that instead of coming out of pocket like I have since I bought it.

 

[NateZhao]

It's always been there. Tires, balance, modifications always make changes but it seldomly goes away fully. I can get it to where it nearly is gone but if I take my hand off the wheel you can see it. Usually better in the summer. Got this bad when i put 265/45/'s on that Discount mounted/balanced(which they's ALWAYS had a heck of a time doing). When it was the best I'd paid $200 for mount and balance from WSI. The wider tires seem to help translate this to the wheel. The vibration sometimes has a hum along with it, that you can feel through the whole car. It too comes and goes and changes with everything I change, but it's always back.
I'm hunting a pair for new front struts for the Rally spring install once I have those, and the springs I'll be pulling the whole thing apart. I've also retorqued the wheel hubs on all 4 corners. I'll say this. When the Dealer did the alignment it didn't shake (2 years ago) for the 2 days it was aligned, then I installed the Eibach springs like 2 days later so it mighta just been that I was happy.


Havn't gotten it yet. But the new rear shocks (from ~2025 model year) did raise the back up about 1/2 inch from the Koni's and made such an improvement on the cabin noise that I'm not in a rush to replace the springs.

I honestly think the hub bearings or axles are to blame. The only way to find that out is presseing the axle out and replacing the bearings for ~$200 each (really about $100 from Rockauto). I have a 100/8 ESP on the car so I plan on using that instead of coming out of pocket like I have since I bought it.

Erik, Ford has a feature to suppress nibble called ANC (Active Nibble Control). Normally, if your wheel dynamic balance isn't good, ANC will help stabilize the steering wheel. It seems ANC isn't working, which means the problem is most likely not with your wheels. The problem lies in the transmission path from the wheels to the steering wheel. You mentioned it's better in summer, so it's very likely that the modes of one or more chassis bushings overlap with the steering system, causing resonance. Have you disconnected the lower control arm bushing before?

 

[azerik]

Never disconnected the fronts, I did have to disconnect the rears for the spring replacements, which I’ll be doing again next week hopefully.
This is a forceful, I kid you not you can not stop this shake, shake of the wheel. Turning right (like a large sweeping turn at -70) the shake changes. Depending on how tight that turn is it might got almost all the way away. Turning left is worse, no matter the turn radius.
I wonder if there is a pid that can be watched for ANC.

 

[NateZhao]

Never disconnected the fronts, I did have to disconnect the rears for the spring replacements, which I’ll be doing again next week hopefully.
This is a forceful, I kid you not you can not stop this shake, shake of the wheel. Turning right (like a large sweeping turn at -70) the shake changes. Depending on how tight that turn is it might got almost all the way away. Turning left is worse, no matter the turn radius.
I wonder if there is a pid that can be watched for ANC.

If there's a problem with your wheels, the wheel speed sensor will receive periodic oscillation signals, which the ANC will detect and activate.

Since your ANC isn't working, it means your wheel speed is fine, and the problem isn't with the wheels.

I want to help, but it's difficult to locate the problem. It could be a problem with a single component, or it could be a problem with all the components combined. It's a case-by-case problem, I suggest having it systematically checked by a dealer.

 

[azerik]

That's the plan because I've spent over 3 years trying to resolve it.

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