TSB 20-2277 2019-2020 Ranger - Shudder/Vibration When Accelerating From A Stop

[VAMike]

one of the things that frustrates me, is that we see TSB's etc in here, or even receive a recall by mail....and when you contact the service department, they know nothing about it. This one was one of them for me.

so is it an outright lie by them? are they grossly uninformed by either their own actions or from Ford themselves?

Believe it or not, the guys working at the dealership generally don't spend as much time obsessively poring over the details of any particular vehicle the way the enthusiasts do.

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[Porpoise Hork]

one of the things that frustrates me, is that we see TSB's etc in here, or even receive a recall by mail....and when you contact the service department, they know nothing about it. This one was one of them for me.

so is it an outright lie by them? are they grossly uninformed by either their own actions or from Ford themselves?
it seems very strange that they are that out of touch in the digital age.

Safe bet would be it being mostly the result of the Service Managers and Writers not doing the due diligence to fully review the all the various TSB's as they are sent out. Most of them won't learn about it until owners bring in a vehicle with a complaint specified by said TSB. Even then as in my case they are completely inept to the verbiage used in said bulletins and cause even more frustration for owners.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

lets be real, its the digital age...they have my vin....once i'm entered into the system, even for a simple oil change, this stuff should be popping up on their screen if its applicable. they should be telling me about stuff, not me asking.
they may not know every detail for every model, but they should at least know it exists.

My industry has been like this for years. Its good customer support to be on top of the product you sell/maintain.

when it comes to verbage...that scares me, because if they cant comprehend their own company's tech speak...are they really qualified for the job they are doing??

The concept of good customer support is mostly a foreign concept to the vast majority of dealership service centers. Most are seemingly staffed by semi-evolved simians who have only just grasped monosyllabic speech much less mastered it. So setting the expectation that these troglodytes would actually take notice of the TSB's or put forth the effort to notify the customer at the time of service is setting the bar rather high.

 

[quangdog]

I've read through all 7 pages of this thread now (I even posted early on with my own angle measurements) and I have yet to see anyone who has reported that they took their truck in for the TSB and that the dealer did the work and it actually resolved the shudder.

Can anyone confirm if the dealer actually resolved the issue? I'm especially interested to know if they'll apply the TSB to a leveled truck (rear is stock, front has been lifted 2.5").

 

[navsnipe]

I'm in my mid 50's and have bought quite a few cars and motorcycles. I have found other than one dealer I have had to push and research for solutions to problems. It shouldn't have to be that way but technology has gotten ahead of allot of people and solutions have become more elusive.

 

[Ogden Dan]

They ordered the shim kit sight unseen when I showed them a copy of the TSB. I had brought the truck in several months earlier complaining of the vibration so they had it on record.

I am not lifted.

I'll let you know the results once completed.

Just picked up the truck and..........

The vibration is still there. The difference now is it occurs at between 7-8 mph instead of the previous 10-12 mph.

Not happy about this at all. It's obvious they don't have a solid fix for this and I'm afraid it's going to turn into a back and forth pissing match.

What really pissed me off was I could notice that vibration within 2 seconds of driving the truck.

By the way I am not lifted or leveled and they did install a 1.5 degree shim.

Dan

 

[ChiefQM]

Just picked up the truck and..........

The vibration is still there. The difference now is it occurs at between 7-8 mph instead of the previous 10-12 mph.

Not happy about this at all. It's obvious they don't have a solid fix for this and I'm afraid it's going to turn into a back and forth pissing match.

What really pissed me off was I could notice that vibration within 2 seconds of driving the truck.

By the way I am not lifted or leveled and they did install a 1.5 degree shim.
Dan

Did they report what your measurements were? Did they bother to test drive it before giving it back? I already know that the service department doesn't want to have to pay warranty rate to their techs, I can foresee that whenever they get the kit in, they will give it one shot and that is it.

 

[navsnipe]

Just picked up the truck and..........

The vibration is still there. The difference now is it occurs at between 7-8 mph instead of the previous 10-12 mph.

Not happy about this at all. It's obvious they don't have a solid fix for this and I'm afraid it's going to turn into a back and forth pissing match.

What really pissed me off was I could notice that vibration within 2 seconds of driving the truck.

By the way I am not lifted or leveled and they did install a 1.5 degree shim.

Dan

If they didn't measure/calculate correctly putting the wrong shim in is just as bad as no shim.

 

[navsnipe]

I would sign an insurance waiver so I could stand there and watch or even help the tech do the job so I know it was done right. It seems to be all about billable hours and not necessarily doing the job right.

There is an independent Honda shop near me that I went to quite a few years ago with a 96 Accord. The local Honda dealer I bought it from couldn't solve a vibration/wheel hop issue after a new set of tires I bought from them. The techs kept on balancing wheels and doing alignments with no result. A trip to the indy guy got me the the answer. Defect in the tires, out of round. Lookup on internet showed a ton of issues with this Dunlop tire model. I asked the indy guy why the Honda shop couldn't figure it out. He tells me he was one of those techs. When he got good they didn't want to pay rate for a good troubleshooter/problem solver, they were happy with parts replacers. He left and opened his own shop. He has been in business 25+ years now and has tons of work.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I would sign an insurance waiver so I could stand there and watch or even help the tech do the job so I know it was done right. It seems to be all about billable hours and not necessarily doing the job right.

There is an independent Honda shop near me that I went to quite a few years ago with a 96 Accord. The local Honda dealer I bought it from couldn't solve a vibration/wheel hop issue after a new set of tires I bought from them. The techs kept on balancing wheels and doing alignments with no result. A trip to the indy guy got me the the answer. Defect in the tires, out of round. Lookup on internet showed a ton of issues with this Dunlop tire model. I asked the indy guy why the Honda shop couldn't figure it out. He tells me he was one of those techs. When he got good they didn't want to pay rate for a good troubleshooter/problem solver, they were happy with parts replacers. He left and opened his own shop. He has been in business 25+ years now and has tons of work.

Hi Dave,

The problem for Ranger is that there are likely few if any Rangers out of warranty where you can take them to such a shop for fixes. It is on your dime...not dealership warranty, unless the dealer outsource it and pay the independent shop but file the claim with Ford....It is and has been done but is rare for this to happen and the customer is likely not aware of the outsoursing.

I am saddened that there are few dealerships that really can fix problems. You are correct...part changers. Sucks big time!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Ogden Dan]

If they didn't measure/calculate correctly putting the wrong shim in is just as bad as no shim.

They didn't tell me the specific measurements but indicated they were on the phone with the Ford tech line for a considerable amount of time. Apparently the 1.5 degree shim is not included in the TSB shim pack so Ford wanted to verify all measurements before sending the new shim kit to the dealer.

I already spoke to the dealer and it's going back on Monday for round two.....

Dan

 

[Tann3rth3hamm3r]

Went to go pickup my new 2020 XLT and went for a test drive as I had never seen the vehicle. This is the 2nd one I test drove and both had the shudder after accelerating at low speeds from a stop. One was Fx4 with 9000km and this one without at 40km. Both from different dealerships.

When I got back to the dealership I told the Sales Manager about the TSB and he said they would send it to the techs to confirm and apply the shim kit. Thanks to everyone in this thread for posting. I think the sales manager was a little surprised when I provided him the TSB number as a fix to the problem.

One thing I did notice with both test drives was that I did not notice the shudder until near the end of both of my test drives. I wonder if this could possibly have something to do with the vehicle being hot or cold (in combination with angle of pinion) and whether or not that activates the shudder? I actually tried at the beginning of the test drive on the 2nd one to see if it would do it and it wouldn't.

Let's hope it actually fixes the problem. I will post my results when I pick up the truck next week or the week after.

 

[Ogden Dan]

Went to go pickup my new 2020 XLT and went for a test drive as I had never seen the vehicle. This is the 2nd one I test drove and both had the shudder after accelerating at low speeds from a stop. One was Fx4 with 9000km and this one without at 40km. Both from different dealerships.

When I got back to the dealership I told the Sales Manager about the TSB and he said they would send it to the techs to confirm and apply the shim kit. Thanks to everyone in this thread for posting. I think the sales manager was a little surprised when I provided him the TSB number as a fix to the problem.

One thing I did notice with both test drives was that I did not notice the shudder until near the end of both of my test drives. I wonder if this could possibly have something to do with the vehicle being hot or cold (in combination with angle of pinion) and whether or not that activates the shudder? I actually tried at the beginning of the test drive on the 2nd one to see if it would do it and it wouldn't.

Let's hope it actually fixes the problem. I will post my results when I pick up the truck next week or the week after.

What speed did you experience the shudder? Mine occurred at 12 mph before the shim and at 7 mph after the shim. It's going right back next week for round number two of shim fix.....

 

[Ogden Dan]

i find it interesting, when you read the TSB and the accompanying service manual references, that there is no final check, road test or vibration analysis mentioned

you measure, install and send the truck away with the owner.

IMHO opinion, with no prior vibration analysis, nor one after, the whole process is subject to an opinion of the owner, which may or may not be valid.

I agree. I wish I had an accelerometer to hook up to the truck so I could quantify the vibration as opposed to just my butt-o-meter.

Dan

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I agree. I wish I had an accelerometer to hook up to the truck so I could quantify the vibration as opposed to just my butt-o-meter.

Dan

Yep....need accel data to process through our fft analyses. to analyse the datal

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