Bennyandthejets

Well I had my two rear ties replaced and the vibration is gone. I guess the lowered suspension brought out an imperfection in the tire/balance that was not noticeable beforehand. Smooth as silk now.

I count myself as one of the lucky '05s that always had a very quiet rear end. At this point (knocking on wood here) I think I might be just about done with mods. Plus she's getting older now. Nearly 63k...I'm guessing with the tune and all that I'll be due for an engine overhaul at around 80k.

tdbrown75

I hear you Benny, my Dad has an 05 that's really quiet too, can't hear a single NVH issue at any/all speeds and under all conditions. Mine on the other hand has been plagued with rear end-noise since I got it. At this stage I'm going to embrace it and add some additional suspension mods which will only make it worse, but it's about to be retired as my DD so what the heck at this stage.

Mine only really makes noise on "float" going over 70MPH which I find interesting. It's a humming/drumming sound, low pitched and sounds a lot like road noise or the harmonics you hear sitting in a small propeller driven plane. It's not loud, easy to drown out with the radio and no one but me would ever notice unless I point it out. Tires could certainly be a factor too, but I'd expect a constant sound if that was the issue. Did you ever pay enough attention to yours to figure out all the conditions?

I did find it interesting your panhard bar solved some of your vibration issues. I'm going to be adding one to mine (the rear is a little over 1/4 off) to center it back up to spec and to add some rigidity in the corners. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll actually quiet mine down too, but I doubt it.

Tim

tdbrown75

I should add I also have NITTO NT555 tires. The front two are visibly out of round. Nothing drastic and the tire shop claims they should balance out. Overall they handle well but despite their popularity I won't be buying another set.

Tim

Bennyandthejets

These tires are pretty loud but I managed to get 30k out of them. I had originally wanted to go with the bfg's but they were on backorder. before the wear was much worse on the rears. I think there is an outside chance that the new suspension will balance this out a bit.

Yes the panhard bar did definitely make a difference. However my rear end was more than 1/2" out. I also had caster bolts installed just to be perfect.

slidejob

I have a 170K on my 05', you won't need a rebuild @ 80K, just getting broken in!

ARBO

I have the same "Foose" kit on my car. @ 130mph still smooth, I must have good round tires Great little kit I think.

Bennyandthejets

That is great news. I knew these engines were reliable but dang. Have you had any issues, major or minor? I change the oil every 5k and use mobil1. It has run perfect since day one.

Bennyandthejets

I agree. For the money it's really incredible. The fastest I believe I've been up to is only about 110. Felt very smooth and controlled. Front end seems much more pinned down at those speeds than it used to.

tdbrown75

Glad you guys are happy with your kits. After weeks in the garage and 4 different dealers/speed shops I give up on mine. I'm just disgusted with the car at this point, if it wouldn't cost me a divorce I'd be trading it for a 2011 (after test driving to ensure it's vibration free of course).

Tim

pegasusphototx

:s hame::stfu::cen sored::jasonandsco tt::blamesh eep::e yebrow:

tdbrown75

WOW! I don't think I've ever seen such a random assortment of emoticons! Not a single nanner man?

Tim

Bennyandthejets

Sorry to hear that man. Are you going to take the foose kit out now?

tdbrown75

I'm not convinced it's the kit as I have had it for nearly a year. The last thing I did (couple months ago) was have 4.10s replaced due to severe gear noise with the 1st set. The new ones have only a slight whine but now I have this hum and vibration, so I suspect it may not be lowering at all but something to do with the gears or possibly a combination of the two.

I was just disgusted last night. I'm going to try a panhard next (I need it anyway) just so I know everything’s lined up right, and after that I'll have to re-evaluate. I'm not really hopeful the panhard bar will resolve the issue, but I'll get no further with the Ford dealer who did the gears so long as there's any slight drive train variance due to lowering. I had the gears done at a dealer and have an extended power train warranty, so I'm really hoping to eventually figure this out.

Going back is not really an option, I think I'm in too deep already I just wished I'd never have messed with gears in the 1st place. For everyone with an issue I'm sure there are many more that don't really notice the problems or don't understand them well enough to care. What a total nightmare.

Tim

tdbrown75

Having the rear off center creates compound angles in the driveline, so centering up the rear with a panhard could have helped with yours. You still may want to check you pinion angle, mine was measuring at -5 until I had the adjustable UCA installed. Even at -2 I have a slight vibration, I'm hoping the panhard does it and if not back to the dealer it goes.

Tim

tdbrown75

Well, no dice on the panhard, the sound/vibration remain the same. Not sure what if anything I will try next. I'm tempted to try swapping my wheels/tires just to rule that out but it would probably be a waste of time too.

After driving around with it for a few weeks I don't notice it getting worse and it's really not noticeable with the radio on anyway. There's always the dealer, but every time I take it there I find a new scuff/scrape so I'm not sure it's worth messing with anymore.

Tim

Bennyandthejets

I wonder if a dyno shop could help you isolate the issue? You could run the car at any speed/rpm and look under and around it at the same time. Just a crazy thought. I have a feeling you're as much of a perfectionist as I am.

I also think the wheel swop is worth a try. I'm sure someone on the forum would switch with you for a day. The new tires I put on definitely helped. Probably bc I used that fix a flat crap way back in the day.

tdbrown75

Yes it sounds like we are both perfectionists. I doubt most would bother with it if they even noticed it in the first place. I took my buddy for a ride (Pegasusphototx) and he just laughed at me and told me I was too ****!

Actually the dealership that did the gear install has a dyno and tried just that. The problem is there isn’t really a visible vibration, the mirrors don’t shake or anything so it’s real difficult to pinpoint. I suppose it’s more of a harmonic vibration, definitely more sound then vibe in this case. I tried swapping wheels last Sunday evening and there was no change so at least I’m able to rule the tires/wheels out. I know my driveline angles are correct now too. The dealership tried the driveshaft balancing procedure and that did not help either. They say the gears have a good wear pattern and measure within spec. There’s no metal in the oil, and everything looks good. I have no idea what else to possibly check or do. There must be something else out of whack, perhaps a warped carrier or one of those axles with the bad pinion bore I’ve read about. I’ve put a call back into the dealership and am waiting to hear back.

I’m not ready to give up yet but it’s looking like I may just have to learn to live with it in the end, I just hope I can get past it and enjoy the car if it comes to that.

Tim

Bennyandthejets

Well you've now got a couple things going for you. 1. You know functionally your car is pretty **** perfect. 2. Your problem didn't cause visible vibration like mine did. That crap got old fast.

tdbrown75

Yes, in my case it's really an annoyance at best. I was not aware yours was a visible shaking. That would be intolerable for sure. Good thing about my vibration is that it's very minor, unfortunately that makes it very hard to detect as well.

As the dealership is willing to give it one more go, and after spending about $700 on adjustable suspension components I suppose I had better follow through. I figure worse case they can’t find anything and my issue/complaint is logged should something go south down the road. I'm not willing to take this as far as some of the others I have seen with multiple gear sets, drive shafts, axles and the rest. I'd rather live with it then go through all that.

I've taken to looking at it this way: If I knew returning the car to stock would 100% eliminate the issue (and I don't know that), I wouldn't do it anyway, it's just too much fun with the mods. I’ll let you know how this last trip goes!

Tim

tdbrown75

Well the gears have developed a whine and howl, so chances are they are going to be the culprit. Car goes back to the dealer Monday at 8AM. This will be my 4th set....

Tim