It's time for a brake system and steering and suspension system inspection.
Fords have way more steering and suspension parts problems than all other manufacturers combined. Ball joints and tie rod ends will separate leading to loss of control and crashes. Inspecting those parts and identifying those in need of replacement can get rather involved so you'll want to have that done at a tire and alignment shop. It's not unheard of for a part to break in as little as 700 miles after the noise is first heard.
The first thing they'll look at is those ball joints and tie rod ends because failure of those is so common, but experienced mechanics know to not stop looking when they find the obvious problems. They will continue the inspection with shock absorbers, control arm bushings, and anti-sway bar links and bushings. They will measure the front and rear ride height. Ford has a real lot of trouble with tire wear issues, and since they didn't care to build in some key adjustments, correcting sagged ride height is the best that can be done to get the best life out of the tires.
Grinding noises typically are caused by worn brake pads. Ford uses relatively soft metal for their rotors to reduce the amount of noise that is transferred into the truck during braking, but because of that lack of noise, by the time you DO hear it, the rotors are usually worn too far to machine legally and will have to be replaced too.
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Wednesday, April 30th, 2014 AT 11:46 AM
