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

[Ogden Dan]

now that you have vented...

sell it

move on

buh bye.

And why should he sell it? Some of us plunked down a fair amount of cash and happen to like the truck otherwise. Perhaps Ford should get off their collective asses and figure out what the hell is going on with these trucks.

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[rdgallo]

And why should he sell it? Some of us plunked down a fair amount of cash and happen to like the truck otherwise. Perhaps Ford should get off their collective asses and figure out what the hell is going on with these trucks.

Thanks, Ogden Dan. I appreciate your comment. The comment from Ranger Pride surprised me as I have not come across anyone else on here that has made a comment like his. Prior to this, everyone has been helpful. That says a lot about the makeup of those on the forum who are eager to help and share info. Unfortunately, there are exceptions.

 

[jerardisflossin]

Also, another update. I did the TSB myself on Tuesday after all the bullshit with this dealer. Ford customer care told me to go to another dealer and no other dealer in my area would touch the truck with the work already being "partially done". Luckily another member of a FB group I'm in is a Ford technician and gave me the spare shims he had from an install. I installed a 1 degree shim in the correct orientation after taking the measurements I had and doing out the calculation per the TSB. Dropped the truck down and got 5.2 to start (as evident by the attached picture). After driving around for a week and all settled, I remeasured and got 4.7 degrees. The shudder was much better (almost nonexistent) and my high speed vibrations are pretty much gone. However, I noticed the ride was perfect (zero shudder, like butta) when loaded down with 700 pounds in the bed at work. So I did an experiment, measured the angles again and then this time added the weight back in the bed all while watching the pinion angle (lifting concrete bags for kicks and giggles sucks btw). Low and behold the pinion rised to 5.1. So I am convinced that if you hit an angle near 5.2 per the TSB spec, you will be shudder free. Unfortunately I did not have a 0.5 degree shim to install so I will patiently wait for one or machine my own. Just want to share my experience. This is a trade off tho, either vibe free when loaded or vibe free when empty. Im usually unloaded so I will try to get the pinion correct for that instance. Yes, it seems to be that damn picky which is unfortunate and something I totally believe to be because of the out of phase DS.

 

[kieefer]

Your buddy might could make a buck on those spare shims......wink, wink.

 

[Big Blue]

Also, another update. I did the TSB myself on Tuesday after all the bullshit with this dealer. Ford customer care told me to go to another dealer and no other dealer in my area would touch the truck with the work already being "partially done". Luckily another member of a FB group I'm in is a Ford technician and gave me the spare shims he had from an install. I installed a 1 degree shim in the correct orientation after taking the measurements I had and doing out the calculation per the TSB. Dropped the truck down and got 5.2 to start (as evident by the attached picture). After driving around for a week and all settled, I remeasured and got 4.7 degrees. The shudder was much better (almost nonexistent) and my high speed vibrations are pretty much gone. However, I noticed the ride was perfect (zero shudder, like butta) when loaded down with 700 pounds in the bed at work. So I did an experiment, measured the angles again and then this time added the weight back in the bed all while watching the pinion angle (lifting concrete bags for kicks and giggles sucks btw). Low and behold the pinion rised to 5.1. So I am convinced that if you hit an angle near 5.2 per the TSB spec, you will be shudder free. Unfortunately I did not have a 0.5 degree shim to install so I will patiently wait for one or machine my own. Just want to share my experience. This is a trade off tho, either vibe free when loaded or vibe free when empty. Im usually unloaded so I will try to get the pinion correct for that instance. Yes, it seems to be that damn picky which is unfortunate and something I totally believe to be because of the out of phase DS.

Very nice discovery. I don't currently have the shudder and mostly drive unloaded except when pulling my camper. Because of COVID didn't do that this year and didn't notice a shudder when I did tow, but could have missed it. I've been fooling this thread with interest because of my mechanical design background.

I've been wondering with all this playing with angles of the drive shafts and pinion if loading truck and compressing the suspension made a difference. You've just answered my question.

I've been pondering the dynamics of a two shaft three universal joint system with mismatched angles at each joint. With a constant input rotation and the rotational speed pulses of each shaft and how to get near constant speed out. Now take the enertial pulses of accelerating and decelerating each shaft twice per revolution. Turns into quite a problem. Keeping angles to a minimum reduces the enertial effects.

Another probably more important question is why this seems to affect some trucks and not others and some worse than others. Since it seems to be speed (RPM) related I'm wonder if it some combination of two or more relatively minor unnoticable vibrations that fall into some sort of phase relationship. Causing some lower order vibrations. One at slower speeds and a second at highway speeds. Probably not using all the correct terms, but I'm thinking of the wow wow droning the was so annoying when the pilot didn't get the engines synced up in the old DC9s. Maybe these problem truck have some other vibration problem besides the drive shaft causing this. It would take a analysis of the vibration spectrum though the complete speed range of multiple trucks to figure this out.

Sorry for the long post, but this is a hot topic and, with, COVID and recovering from a liver transplant I've had too much time on my hands. Wife will say I've spent too much time on this forum. Hopefully my ramblings will help and someone with more knowledge and resources can solve this problem and make everyones Ranger smooth as butter.

Thanks for listening

 

[VAMike]

Thanks, Ogden Dan. I appreciate your comment. The comment from Ranger Pride surprised me as I have not come across anyone else on here that has made a comment like his. Prior to this, everyone has been helpful. That says a lot about the makeup of those on the forum who are eager to help and share info. Unfortunately, there are exceptions.

He's abrasive but at the end of the day he's on the right track. If you're not happy with Ford's response thus far the odds are strongly against Ford satisfying you within the expected life of the truck. If there were a simple fix it would have been in the tsb. So it's not simple and/or not the same problem for everyone complaining. Nobody's going to get a Ford engineer assigned to help them through their issues. If you bought a high end maclaren or such (not one of the cheap $300k ones) you'd get that level of service but it's just unrealistic to expect that for a mass market consumer item in 2020. Ford isn't going to just eat a return on any truck that's subjectively "too shuddery". So what's left? Either you live with it or you cut your losses and move on.

 

[kieefer]

However, I noticed the ride was perfect (zero shudder, like butta) when loaded down with 700 pounds in the bed at work. So I did an experiment, measured the angles again and then this time added the weight back in the bed all while watching the pinion angle (lifting concrete bags for kicks and giggles sucks btw). Low and behold the pinion rised to 5.1. So I am convinced that if you hit an angle near 5.2 per the TSB spec, you will be shudder free. Unfortunately I did not have a 0.5 degree shim to install so I will patiently wait for one or machine my own. Just want to share my experience. This is a trade off tho, either vibe free when loaded or vibe free when empty. Im usually unloaded so I will try to get the pinion correct for that instance. Yes, it seems to be that damn picky which is unfortunate and something I totally believe to be because of the out of phase DS.

[/QUOTE]
This loading the truck down raises another concern.
Think of the non-forum reader who has this truck with the “Vib” and then tows a camper trailer across the country. Seems to me that would put a lot of stress on the drivetrain over time....assuming the conditions are more serious than a vibration.

 

[jerardisflossin]

Just an update, folks. Swapped out the 1 degree shim to a 0.5 degree that I had machined from an extra in the kit. Shudder is still there on occasion and when there its about the same as the 1 degree shim. Still 100% convinced its the out of phase 2 piece shaft. I bought this truck to go to 200k and I just don't think a shudder like this will bear well for the carrier bearing and u-joints over time. I am on the fence on re-indexing the shaft.

I will say, I think I know why dealers are installing this kit wrong. The factory service manual mentions measuring pinion angle by removing the u-joint clip and inserting a device into the cup that is attached to the inclinometer. This is in fact different (even by illustration) to the procedure outlined in the TSB for measuring. The TSB did help. So make sure you go over this specific detail with your service technician.

FSM:

TSB20-2277:

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Folks,

6G Ranger needs a one piece driveline.... Preferably not from Dana unless they get their act together which seems doubtful...

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

 

[kieefer]

Hi Folks,

6G Ranger needs a one piece driveline.... Preferably not from Dana unless they get their act together which seems doubtful...

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

Maybe if Ford doesn't fix it the aftermarket will?

What about the new Bronco? Don't they share the same driveline?

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Maybe if Ford doesn't fix it the aftermarket will?

What about the new Bronco? Don't they share the same driveline?

Hi Keith,

I think so but have no solid knowledge of anything Bronco... There are folks here that have been around the Demo vehicles. Anyone crawl under the Bronco and checked it out? Sorry...can't provide any solid info...

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

 

[jerardisflossin]

Hi Folks,

6G Ranger needs a one piece driveline.... Preferably not from Dana unless they get their act together which seems doubtful...

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

That's cool and all but Ford really needs to address the present. I don't need to spend more money to get a vibration free vehicle. It's pathetic how much "experimenting" I have had to do on my own with ZERO dealer support. They aren't addressing it and it has turned me off of the brand for anything in the future. So IMO and not to be rude but IDGAF about the 6G Ranger.

I am also in contact with a couple driveshaft companies and one in particular is looking to have a 1 piece shaft made. They are very reputable and says its possible but we are at the extreme end of the allowable length. I am taking measurements and sending it to them now.

 

[XLT and me]

I am now of the opinion that it isn't the driveshaft, but the lockup torque converter. Either the programming is off or Ford got a bad batch of converters. I am 99% sure this is what is causing it. The lockup is supposedly programmed to engage above 2 gear, and when in Drive, trans will skip shift from 1st to 3rd. That is the speed and mph range that members are reporting the vibration or shudder. I had (have)the vibration shudder in the 10-20 mph range. Took the truck in to the dealer to have the cold start tbs done, and told them about the vibration. After the tbs the truck ran great and alot of the vibration was gone....

 

[XLT and me]

....but now after the skip shift to 3rd it has another "bump" like it is shifting to 4th, but it isn't the shift, more like a slight slipping into another gear.Then it will accelerate and then shift to 4th. I am positive that slipping shift feel/sound is the converter locking up.I was thinking when they did the tbs reprogram, maybe it changed the converter lockup parameters? I had a friend ride with me one day, and he remarked that my trans sounded like it was slipping on the shift, so i told him what had been going on with the truck. So i am going to talk to the dealer and see if they can check it out again and also see if that is what they actually did.

 

[XLT and me]

I watched a trade industry video recently where they discussed the 10 speed converter from the commercial rebuilders perspective. It seems the converter has an unusual lockup design, it's clutch ring/ material is at an angle/ cone shaped instead of being flat like you would see in a normal clutch design. They remarked that it was going to be a challenge to rebuild due to this feature. Could be the cause of this mysterious shudder, but i don't know for a fact.

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