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

[GregM]

you dont even own one yet and you're this angry?

I cant wait till you get it, this should be f'ing phenomenal to watch this tantrum explode.

I sit by patiently awaiting the sideshow spectacle

Hey I was thinking he was a relative of yours

Now I'm just funnin you so relax

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[Porpoise Hork]

Has anyone tried to video what is actually occurring to the driveline when this appends?
I would imagine if it’s indeed bad enough,it would be visible.Maybe once trucks start actually breaking other driveline parts,there will be a fix.
Mine does it also at initial star from a dead stop.

@commbubba19 did in this thread. If you advance the video to the 29 second mark and slow it way down to .25 you can clearly see the shaft/center bearing jumping all over the place as he starts to accelerate from a stop. You can see it to some degree at the transmission and rear end, but nothing like what happens at the center bearing.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I got under the truck with a good light and (I am getting too old to be rolling around on a concrete floor) found that there are shims on both sides. The left side shim is thicker than the right side shim, and the thick side of each shim faces forward.

As I am about 8 miles from where I can drive at highway speeds, I will get back to you on that.

In order, the photos are Left Front, Left Rear, Right Front, Right Rear

Looking at these pictures... Then reviewing the TSB... It's a little hard to tell for certain, but it appears that there is a very good chance that they did not follow the TSB correctly.

I am thinking that they did not discard the U-Bolts as outlined in step 3 of number 10. I say this because the top portion of the U-Bolts are significantly dirtier than the lower parts. This would be consistent with surface dirt being rubbed off by handling them to add the angled shim, then handling them to reinstall.

Also it looks like they did not remove and discard the 6 mm (1/4 in.) spacer on the left side as directed in step 12... =This would be the short plate directly above the new shim that has been added.

If these observations are correct.. There's no telling what this will do long term as it puts your rear axle outside the scope of what the engineers had outlined in the TSB.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Is the bearing movement the cause or effect?
It could be the part that moves because of the forces elsewhere.
Do you bandaid it or find the cause?

It is hard to say which it is, but either way there clearly is an issue here. Based on reports from the EU/AU having similar issues when lifted, and fixed by shimming the bearing, I'd be tempted to say this is to a varying degree both the cause and effect. The cause being the driveline angle being out of spec from the lifted rear end thus causing the shaft to shift position erratically when starting to rotate. The effect would be that the center bearing being the most flexible point if the driveline attempting to do its job and absorb this erratic movement, but not being able to do so completely and the result is the vibrations being transmitted to the rest of the truck through the rear axle and transmission.

A driveline specialist would need to look at it to determine if this is the result of a incorrectly phased, out of balance, or mis-aligned shaft assembly. I want to take mine to a driveshaft specialist to have them inspect it and see what they say. Especially since I have added shims to the bearing, changing the angle of the shaft alignment. Sadly I just have not had the time to take the truck to them. Probably will need to take part of the day off soon to do this.

Also if you search for driveshaft vibration after lift, you will find a plethora of information from forums as well as from specialists detailing this issue, it's causes, potential to damage driveline components, and solutions to the problem. The three main solutions I have found being to shim the center bearing (two piece shaft only) to bring the angles back into spec. changing the pinion angle by rotating the rear axle via shims (As Ford is wanting to do), and lastly installing a longer drive shaft (single piece shafts).

 

[ChiefQM]

I sent this video, along with my positive feedback on the results of their ever-so-reluctant shimming of my rear axle, to the service advisor and shop foreman. I fully understand that they are not going to do a damn thing to actually fix the problem until Ford will pay them for it. But hope springs eternal that this video will get the attention of an engineer with influence at Ford. How is it that nobody at Ford has thought of videoing the driveline?? BTW, no vibration noted at highway speeds this afternoon.

 

[y2krtaf]

@commbubba19 did in this thread. If you advance the video to the 29 second mark and slow it way down to .25 you can clearly see the shaft/center bearing jumping all over the place as he starts to accelerate from a stop. You can see it to some degree at the transmission and rear end, but nothing like what happens at the center bearing.

Just WOW!
That is a lot of harsh movement,something will break after not too long...

 

[Ogden Dan]

Round 2.......

Dealer ended up trying just about every shim in the kit and it still had the low speed vibration.

They shimmed to what they thought was the best with minimal (yes I said minimal, they acknowledged it is still there) and the service advisor wanted my opinion. It seems marginally better at low speed but now I'm getting a vibration at high speed which I did not have before.

This is starting to piss me off now. The tech spent all day working on just my truck and half the day on the Ford tech line.

I don't think Ford knows what the f*** is going on with this vibration.

It's going back again tomorrow because I can't live with the high speed issues.

Dan

Round 3/Round 4...... I don't know anymore, I'm losing track.

Start up shudder still there. The tech ended up trying all combinations of shims and nothing worked. This is not the solution for the low speed/start up shudder.
Ford had them (sevice team) drive the other Rangers on the lot and they all have the same shudder.

Ford will have to go back to the drawing board for this solution.

Dan

 

[ChiefQM]

Looking at these pictures... Then reviewing the TSB... It's a little hard to tell for certain, but it appears that there is a very good chance that they did not follow the TSB correctly.

I am thinking that they did not discard the U-Bolts as outlined in step 3 of number 10. I say this because the top portion of the U-Bolts are significantly dirtier than the lower parts. This would be consistent with surface dirt being rubbed off by handling them to add the angled shim, then handling them to reinstall.

Also it looks like they did not remove and discard the 6 mm (1/4 in.) spacer on the left side as directed in step 12... =This would be the short plate directly above the new shim that has been added.

If these observations are correct.. There's no telling what this will do long term as it puts your rear axle outside the scope of what the engineers had outlined in the TSB.

I have prepared a letter to the Service Manager, copy to the dealership principals, telling them about the improper application of the TSB. I asked for their help in resolving the issue, and attached a link to the video of the driveshaft video. Thanks to all for your research and ideas.

 

[rdgallo]

Just throwing this out there. Can we have a new thread that everyone can post their results after having the TSB done? Right now there are a few different threads with a lot of info in them, but not just Shutter TSB results. I am scheduled to have the TSB done on my 2020 Lariat Crew 4x4 on Oct. 7.

 

[Zaph]

Just throwing this out there. Can we have a new thread that everyone can post their results after having the TSB done? Right now there are a few different threads with a lot of info in them, but not just Shutter TSB results. I am scheduled to have the TSB done on my 2020 Lariat Crew 4x4 on Oct. 7.

Agreed - No discussion, just you had the TSB done, it worked and you are happy, or you had the TSB done it didn't work and the problem remains. No discussion. Or maybe just a poll at the top would do the job... because people can't resist having a discussion. Mods can we add a poll to this thread? with the following options:

I had the TSB done and it didn't help​

I had the TSB done and it worked a little but the problem remains​

I had the TSB done and it didn't work at all or made it worse​

Not doing the TSB because I don't trust my dealer, doing it myself, or shimming the center bearing​

​

Everyone can elaborate on their answers in the thread.

 

[rdgallo]

Agreed - No discussion, just you had the TSB done, it worked and you are happy, or you had the TSB done it didn't work and the problem remains. No discussion. Or maybe just a poll at the top would do the job... because people can't resist having a discussion. Mods can we add a poll to this thread? with the following options:

I had the TSB done and it didn't help​

I had the TSB done and it worked a little but the problem remains​

I had the TSB done and it didn't work at all or made it worse​

Not doing the TSB because I don't trust my dealer, doing it myself, or shimming the center bearing​

​

Everyone can elaborate on their answers in the thread.

Thanks, Zach. I really like your idea of how it should be. I think for the long haul, this information would allow us all to know if this TSB is indeed the fix or there is more Ford needs to do. It's too bad we don't have a Ford rep monitoring issues on here. I know we have Phil, and that he is such a real asset to the forum; but because he is retired, not sure how many cages he can rattle now back at the corporation (no offense intended, Phil. I am a retired Caterpillar Senior Quality Engineer and know I no longer have the contacts to influence any decisions there. Hell, now that I think about it, they were ignoring my input before I retired. lol)

 

[RedlandRanger]

Agreed - No discussion, just you had the TSB done, it worked and you are happy, or you had the TSB done it didn't work and the problem remains. No discussion. Or maybe just a poll at the top would do the job... because people can't resist having a discussion. Mods can we add a poll to this thread? with the following options:

I had the TSB done and it didn't help​

I had the TSB done and it worked a little but the problem remains​

I had the TSB done and it didn't work at all or made it worse​

Not doing the TSB because I don't trust my dealer, doing it myself, or shimming the center bearing​

​

Everyone can elaborate on their answers in the thread.

Poll added - I also added an option for those who don't have a shudder and don't need the TSB.

 

[rdgallo]

Poll added - I also added an option for those who don't have a shudder and don't need the TSB.

Don't we need another choice, "I had the TSB done and it eliminated the shudder problem completely"?

 

[RedlandRanger]

Don't we need another choice, "I had the TSB done and it eliminated the shudder problem completely"?

Added. Good point.

 

[Jfleming]

The vote feature is really cool. I can't wait till we have a decent number of responses to help us digest the scope of this issue.

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