2004 SVT Cobra Vibration

[ygf2002]

You just can't get enough. I had a 2002 Mustang GT that I traded in on the purchase of 2004 SVT Cobra. All I can say is WOW! The only issue I have is that I have a bad vibration in the front end when it is only cold. The steering wheel will shake left to right. After a few minutes on the highway, the problem goes away.I am not sure what is causing the problem. It does not appear to be a warped brake rotor as I do not experience any pulsation in the brake peddel or steering when the brakes are applied. I am starting to suspect one of the front tires. Before I take it to the dealer, I would like to know if anyone else has experienced a similar problem and what the solution was for the fix.

Any help is appreciated.

ygf2002
2004 SVT Cobra - 400 miles

 

[EJ23]

Maybe a flat spotted tire?

 

[alfman9]

Ive heard storys of a bunch of people having loose lugs from the factory. Might want to run to the garage with the torque wrench just in case.

 

[skywarp]

Congrats and welcome to the club.

 

[Abe Abromowitz]

I had a similar issue. Then after 700 miles it went away and has not come back. I now have the car since August and have 2,700 miles.

 

[chuckystang]

Its definitely tire related, I have potenaza s03 on my front tires and they do that. In your case I would say to spin balance them and check the tires over. But it seems its gotta be the tires. Dealer should fit them if you have not modified the car yet. Also, performance tires need to warm up a bit so that may cause them to vibrate a bit at first.

 

[CarrollShelby]

I had exacly the same problem with the stock tire's... Check your tires pressure? I but 40psi in front and 36psi in rear... Everything is okay now!

 

[Black03GTRR]

Maybe it could also be grooves in the road? I know I've experienced that with my car a lot of times. Big trucks make these annoying grooves in the road and cause your car to move like that. But it could also be your tire pressure.

 

[SSinfull]

Had same problem...

My tire pressure was all f'd up because I ran over a plastic Fork... and my right rear was slowly losing presure.

All fixed now!

 

[Black'03GT]

I had this problem after owning the car for 2 weeks (now 5 wks old). My tires were out of balance and my rotors had to be grinded down. It fixed the problem for 2 days and then the same vibration came back. I think the F1's from the factory suck. I'm going back to the dealer on Monday and asking them to replace the tires. We'll see what happens.

 

[gilscobra]

ok got my 04 cobra 16 days agao. had to get front tires rebalanced they were going to charge me told them to get bentonly 4 days old. Car was fine for 2 weeks problem just came back today ill check the tire pressure thing but i think those f1 factory tires are crap also.

 

[Pitch4pd]

You guys have some bad dealers, I never heard of such crap chargeing a customer to balance tires when it is obviously a factory problem.

Anyways back to your vibrations, spin balanceing just doesnt cut it. Ford authorizes measureing road force (instead of the tire just free spinning, it has to turn a cylinder wich measures the force it creates) I cant give the exact details how it works cause I honestly dont know. What I do know, you can spin balance a tire all day and still have a vibration in it due to road force.

While this truely applies to the new F-150's with big ol 18inch weels and agressive tread tires, our low profiles dont help us much.

Goodluck, hopefully they find the problem(tell us what it is so we all learn)
Charles
ps. Set tires to factory standards , either listed on the drivers side door, or inside of the fuel door (forget where it is on the cobra)