My 2011 Mustang shimmy saga beginning to today

[Diesel_Smoke]

I guess it's all in the driver. Personally I'll be switching from a 90 HP Volkswagen diesel that feels and sounds like its going to fly apart any second to a new '11 Mustang. Almost anything will be an improvement so I doubt I'll find flaws unless I search hard.

Is there anyway you can take a video of the problem you are having?

 

[AvalancheSVT]

Anyone have such issues on a 2010. Mine has about 3,000 miles on it and I feel a little something in the steering wheel.

thats called steering feedback. i know you're probably not used to it but they've done that with all the mustangs now. its come standard on great handling cars for a long time and finally made its way into the mustang world.

yay!

 

[Argetni]

Update - I spoke with my salesman and he was able to get the shop foreman to agree to throw the wheels on the balancer without "replicating" the issue first. The foreman seems decent as he even told the salesman just because a tire zeros out on the balancer it does not mean there will not still be a vibration or shimmy if a tire or wheel is bad.



I have an appointment Monday to drop off my car and pickup a loaner.



The only stipulation was that I have to put the factory 18"s back on the car again which is no big deal.



Today with my 19"s on the car it was smooth at 90mph again. So odd.

 

[mycaptainchris]

thats called steering feedback. i know you're probably not used to it but they've done that with all the mustangs now. its come standard on great handling cars for a long time and finally made its way into the mustang world.

One bad thing with having great feedback is the fact you can feel EVERYTHING. If the wheels are a tiny bit off balance, you know it and can even feel if you drop a valve cap!!! lol
Back in 2004 I had a beautiful Jaguar XK8, and also got so much feedback that I actually had the wheels balanced on the hub. AMAZING difference.

 

[AvalancheSVT]

One bad thing with having great feedback is the fact you can feel EVERYTHING. If the wheels are a tiny bit off balance, you know it and can even feel if you drop a valve cap!!! lol
Back in 2004 I had a beautiful Jaguar XK8, and also got so much feedback that I actually had the wheels balanced on the hub. AMAZING difference.

any people wonder why ford hasnt' built great handling mustangs before. the american public wants cheap MSRP, great handling, and zero trade off in ride comfort.

you just CANT have a car that gives great feedback and yet keeps you disconnected from the road. it just aint happening for this price range if at all.

 

[mycaptainchris]

any people wonder why ford hasnt' built great handling mustangs before. the american public wants cheap MSRP, great handling, and zero trade off in ride comfort.

you just CANT have a car that gives great feedback and yet keeps you disconnected from the road. it just aint happening for this price range if at all.

Back in 1998 I had a Mini Cooper S Works, that was cheap (sort of) and the feedback was so good you could feel it through your entire body!!!!! They had ROCK hard suspension, but OMG did they go around corners!!!!

 

[stanmckinney]

I have had Mustangs, all kinds, for many years. I traded a 2007 GT for my 2010. I never noticed anything with my 2007.

 

[310stanger]

Sounds to me like a driver issue. The roads in North Jersey are garbage. Ever consider that? Ford finally engineers a car that has amazing steering response and people are now bitching. Trade the car in and go for the taurus instead, thats clearly what you belong in. You cant fix what isnt broken, you either want a performance car or you dont, but the techs arent gonna try and engineer your car to your specifications. Thats how ford offers it. Either ford will determine there is infact a problem with it or they wont. But thanks to you, they will probably make the steering have no feel at all and super high assist. A shimmy is a legitimate complaint when you feel a legitimate vibration through the steering wheel at a moderate to highway and beyond speed WITH YOUR HANDS ON THE DAMN WHEEL. The wheel moving without your hands on it is the tires going over all the variances in road surface. Is that, too hard to understand? If you have someone road force balance, try different wheels, drive different cars and you still see the same "issue" the problem is with you. I just test drove one of these cars today and i noticed NOTHING other then spectacular performance at an amazing price. Problem that comes when Ford ups the ante the way they did with this car is you also get douche customers along with it. Enjoy the M3 crushing performance or trade the damn car in


Yes threads like this really do tick me off. As a tech we bust our ass to fix cars that are legitmately not right, and whining customers like this that have the car looked at by 500 people are nothing but a PITA.

 

[Argetni]

Sounds to me like a driver issue. The roads in North Jersey are garbage. Ever consider that? Ford finally engineers a car that has amazing steering response and people are now bitching. Trade the car in and go for the taurus instead, thats clearly what you belong in. You cant fix what isnt broken, you either want a performance car or you dont, but the techs arent gonna try and engineer your car to your specifications. Thats how ford offers it. Either ford will determine there is infact a problem with it or they wont. But thanks to you, they will probably make the steering have no feel at all and super high assist. A shimmy is a legitimate complaint when you feel a legitimate vibration through the steering wheel at a moderate to highway and beyond speed WITH YOUR HANDS ON THE DAMN WHEEL. The wheel moving without your hands on it is the tires going over all the variances in road surface. Is that, too hard to understand? If you have someone road force balance, try different wheels, drive different cars and you still see the same "issue" the problem is with you. I just test drove one of these cars today and i noticed NOTHING other then spectacular performance at an amazing price. Problem that comes when Ford ups the ante the way they did with this car is you also get douche customers along with it. Enjoy the M3 crushing performance or trade the damn car in


Yes threads like this really do tick me off. As a tech we bust our ass to fix cars that are legitmately not right, and whining customers like this that have the car looked at by 500 people are nothing but a PITA.

So the fact that Ford issued a TSB on the 2011 GT-500 EPAS system for the exact issue I am having with my GT means nothing I guess.

What about all the other people with 2011 with the same issue? I guess there is something wrong with all of those drivers too.

 

[5.0 Coyote]

So the fact that Ford issued a TSB on the 2011 GT-500 EPAS system for the exact issue I am having with my GT means nothing I guess.

What about all the other people with 2011 with the same issue? I guess there is something wrong with all of those drivers too.

Hear say is one thing, BS is another,but before you post something you should make sure it is true and explain where you got the information.I own a 2011 Mustang GT 5.0. 0 problems YOU seem to be the only one that I have seen with this problem,(if it is even a problem),then you post a TSB for the 2011 GT 500,I have searched high and low for that TSB and found 000000 problems and NO TSB.FACT OR BS,show me the TRUE facts that you can back up.

 

[Tanjima]

I think you guys are giving Argenti a hard time for no reason, I have a 2011 GT and have no complaints about the steering and I am a very sensitive to steering and pedal feel, I've been up to 100 mph on really crappy Michigan freeways and never had anything like the issues Argenti has.
It's very possible he has a real issue and if I had just spent over $36000 and had the same issue I would be really pissed as well.
There is a TSB for the GT500 and I attach it below - Argenti is not talking BS.
5.4L—STEERING SHUDDER/NIBBLE/PULL/DRIFT—

TSB 10-16-4

BUILT ON OR BEFORE 8/2/2010

FORD:

2011 Mustang

ISSUE OPERATION DESCRIPTION TIME

Some 2011 Mustang Shelby GT500 vehicles 101604A 2011 Mustang 5.4L: 0.3 Hr.
equipped with a 5.4L engine and built on or before Reprogram The PSCM (Do
8/2/2010 may exhibit steering wheel shudder under Not Use With Any Other
heavy braking, steering wheel nibble, or a drift/pull Labor Operations)

condition. DEALER CODING
CONDITIONACTION BASIC PART NO. CODE

Reprogram the Electric Power Assisted Steering 3504 04
(EPAS) Power Steering Control Module (PSCM)
module to the latest calibration using IDS release

67.06 and higher. This new calibration is not
included in the VCM 2010.5 DVD. Calibration files
may also be obtained at Buy Motorcraft Parts Online | Official Motorcraft Auto Parts Site | FordParts.com.
WARRANTY STATUS: Eligible Under Provisions Of
New Vehicle Limited
Warranty Coverage
IMPORTANT: Warranty
coverage limits/policies are
not altered by a TSB.
Warranty coverage limits
are determined by the
identified causal part.

NOTE: The information in Technical Service Bulletins is intended for use by trained, professional technicians with the knowledge, tools, and equipment to do
the job properly and safely. It informs these technicians of conditions that may occur on some vehicles, or provides information that could assist in proper
vehicle service. The procedures should not be performed by “do-it-yourselfers”. Do not assume that a condition described affects your car or truck. Contact a
Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury dealership to determine whether the Bulletin applies to your vehicle. Warranty Policy and Extended Service Plan documentation
determine Warranty and/or Extended Service Plan coverage unless stated otherwise in the TSB article.The information in this Technical Service Bulletin
(TSB) was current at the time of printing. Ford Motor Company reserves the right to supercede this information with updates.The most recent information is
available through Ford Motor Company’s on-line technical resources.

Copyright ã 2010 Ford Motor Company Online Publication Date August 13, 2010 PAGE 1

 

[Argetni]

Car is at the dealer.



The shop foreman said they are going to check all the tires and wheels plus the axles for runout.



Since the 4th tire balancing the car is now smooth up until 90mph. At 90+ there is still vibration.



The shop foreman did say that Pirellis are crap tires.



My salesman did come through for me and got them to check all these things under warranty with out "duplicating" the issue first.

 

[AvalancheSVT]

i think most of your problem is a dealer that sucks. its always a red flag to me when guys who are supposed to know stuff about cars start saying that good parts (pirelli) are crap parts. its usually an effort to blindly mask a problem so that a customer will be pacified.

 

['13_ImpactBlue_GT]

Car is at the dealer.



The shop foreman said they are going to check all the tires and wheels plus the axles for runout.



Since the 4th tire balancing the car is now smooth up until 90mph. At 90+ there is still vibration.



The shop foreman did say that Pirellis are crap tires.



My salesman did come through for me and got them to check all these things under warranty with out "duplicating" the issue first.

What's "runout"?

 

[Argetni]

UPDATE - just got a call from service and they said one of the wheels is bent, the one that needed 3oz to balance out, which is not the one the tire shop said was warped.



They have ordered a new wheel under warranty and will have it tomorrow so I get to drive the Ford Focus loaner another day.



At least this proves I am not a nut case and there was something wrong with the car this whole time.



Now the question is will it fix the issue?

 

[5.0 Coyote]

UPDATE - just got a call from service and they said one of the wheels is bent, the one that needed 3oz to balance out, which is not the one the tire shop said was warped.



They have ordered a new wheel under warranty and will have it tomorrow so I get to drive the Ford Focus loaner another day.



At least this proves I am not a nut case and there was something wrong with the car this whole time.



Now the question is will it fix the issue?

Did you not put a different set of tires on this car and still have the same problem?

 

[Argetni]

Did you not put a different set of tires on this car and still have the same problem?

Yes but they were used and may have been slightly out of balance, it seems these cars are VERY sensitive to balance.

 

[DougNuts]

Argenti, stay calm and keep on keeping on, you'll get to the bottom of this. I don't visit 10 different Mustang sites, so seeing your post here is good.

Anyway, are you sure that you don't have a bent axle or out of balance driveshaft? Some of the F150 guys are finding that their trucks are shaking due to bent axles. A friend of mine worked for months trying to figure out the shimmy on his '01 Bullitt, only to find out that it was also a bent axle.

Tom, runout is basically an out of round condition.

 

[Argetni]

UPDATE - NOT FIXED - WORSE

Per the workorder they replaced RF wheel. Balanced all four tires, checked suspension for looseness and checked rotors for runout.

Shimmy is even worse than before when it SPORT mode even at 60mph and THEY MOUNTED THE TIRE BACKWARDS ON THE NEW WHEEL in now says INSIDE on the outside and looks like crap.

Service was closed when I picked up the car so now it will have to wait until morning to call them and then bring it back. I cannot stand this much longer.

 

[Diesel_Smoke]

UPDATE - NOT FIXED - WORSE

Per the workorder they replaced RF wheel. Balanced all four tires, checked suspension for looseness and checked rotors for runout.

Shimmy is even worse than before when it SPORT mode even at 60mph and THEY MOUNTED THE TIRE BACKWARDS ON THE NEW WHEEL in now says INSIDE on the outside and looks like crap.

Service was closed when I picked up the car so now it will have to wait until morning to call them and then bring it back. I cannot stand this much longer.

Perhaps you should try a different dealer.