Fords new fix for Shudder for Ranger Tremor...

[Dr3wDrop]

I had my 21 Tremor at the dealership at around 3000 miles for a mild shudder from a stop. It would go away after I got closer to 10 mph and wasn't noticed at highway or city driving speeds. They did the tsb and shimmed the rear. It shuddered leaving the dealer.

Dealt with that for another 4000 miles and decided to bring it up when they were checking other warranty concerns last week. This time they ordered and installed LB3Z 4R602 E driveshaft. They claimed the rear CV was binding. Pinion angle in spec at 5.6 degrees. Not sure if this new drive shaft is any different. It still has the Rzeppa CV at the pinion.

The new driveshaft didn't cure the problem. Maybe 20-30% better which honestly could be the placebo effect or wishful thinking. A tech loitering around the service desk alluded to the fact that they aren't supposed to go past 6 degrees on the pinon angle regardless. The shims they used on the initial TSB were paper thin.

I dropped the center bearing with 1/8" shims after the TSB but removed them prior to the drive shaft install. I may go back to those and go to 1/4". Quite frustrating.

Try doing a BDS rear shackle lift to improve the rear pinion angle.

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[RMCB214]

Try doing a BDS rear shackle lift to improve the rear pinion angle.

Has that worked for others? Seems dropping the carrier would accomplish the same thing.

My Tremor sits way high in the rear as is. It would be even worse with 1" added. Granted, I do have a 2" FRL level on the shelf. I've been holding off installing until I get the shudder figured. I think it would be a stinkbug with that BDS shackle even if I had the level kit installed.

I saw two mounting holes on those shackles. Is one stock height and the other lifted?

 

[Dr3wDrop]

Has that worked for others? Seems dropping the carrier would accomplish the same thing.

My Tremor sits way high in the rear as is. It would be even worse with 1" added. Granted, I do have a 2" FRL level on the shelf. I've been holding off installing until I get the shudder figured. I think it would be a stinkbug with that BDS shackle even if I had the level kit installed.

I saw two mounting holes on those shackles. Is one stock height and the other lifted?

2” front level with bds shackle lift.

 

[RMCB214]

2” front level with bds shackle lift.

That looks pretty good. Did you have a shudder that was cured or minimized after the shackle? Assume the tremor rear shocks are long enough for the added height? That 2" level seems a little taller than advertised. Regardless I'm interested.

 

[Dr3wDrop]

That looks pretty good. Did you have a shudder that was cured or minimized after the shackle? Assume the tremor rear shocks are long enough for the added height? That 2" level seems a little taller than advertised. Regardless I'm interested.

Its hard to describe. I am not sure if it was a shudder or just hard shifting at low speeds. I am thinking more of hard shifting.

I installed the BDS shackles the same time as my CAI and the strange shudder/shifting behavior seems to be gone for now.

 

[Bravesfan1995]

Hello everyone, maybe there is shudder fix on the horizon?

I experienced a shudder at 30km/hr like most folks on the forum by the sounds of it. It didn't really bother me as putting the truck in S instead of D helped the symptoms. I also had the clunk when stopping. I took it to a Ford dealership, asked them to re-grease the slip yolk (its under warranty so why would I do this). They took it for a test drive, told me they felt the shudder, and said they would like to try a TSB to correct it, they also said it may help with the clunk.

They performed the TSB Shim, it fixed the shudder for 1 day then returned and shuddered at 30, 50, 80km/hr. Again, driving in S seems to help. The truck still clunked with stopping.

Took it back, told them it was worse. They had it for a few days, they drove other non-tremor rangers around, and consulted with Ford. Their outcome was that it was present with the other fords on the lot, Ford said it was normal thus there is nothing more they could do. I told them to remove the TSB, and put it back to stock. They also stated that they were unable to grease the slip joint. They said that if they pull apart the drive shaft and re-grease, it will void the warranty on the driveshaft. Has anyone else been told that by the dealership??

They phoned back, the dealership said that Ford followed up and said that they want to put my truck on a trial... their new fix is to remove the tremor drive shaft and install a new flange and a drive shaft that has a Ujoint opposed to a CV joint.

I was confused what this would actually do, I had a meeting with the mechanic and the service manager at the dealership. they reassured me that if it doesn't help or fix the shudder it could be undone, re-shimmed to stock and have the Tremor drive shaft put back in. The service manager said that Ford may have changed the drive shaft since they called it a trial...

From what I read there are more benefits to a CV than Ujoint, any thoughts?

I am currently waiting for a phone call to have it the drive shaft swapped out. I will update with the results in later days.
Cheers,

sounds like the same runaround I got from the dealership/Ford when I took my 23' Tremor in at around 800 miles. They drove it and admitted that they felt the vibration and that it was concerning. They went back and forth with engineers to determine the fix, tried the TSB for shimming the angle, but then realized that wouldn't work on the Tremor because it has CV joints. Finally, gave me a call and said that the shutter is just typical of Tremors and that they verified it with another Tremor on the lot. Just BS... paying $45K for a truck and shuddering at certain speeds shouldn't be considered "typical".

 

[kendive]

This tread is depressing, but like anything you don't know what you are gonna get nowadays. I have had F150's and the last was a 15 Lariat 3.5 and I had hardy no issues with it. I have a new 23 Tremor so we will see but as of now it's perfect. Maybe they are doing them different now???

Funny reading in this forum and others where the dealers are always trying to get our of fixing anything, But them people want to spend big bucks on a Ford ESP. No way would I want to pay money to deal with the dealer anymore than I would have too.

My entire family and have used it several time gets the geico mech breakdown it's like 15 extra dollars every 6 months and you can use it anywhere and I know first hand they do not give you any runaround. It just works. If I don't want to use a shitty dealer I don't have too. After warranty is over of course. The 23 Rav4 Hybrid is different Toyota is giving a lifetime drivetrain warranty so dealer all the way, but our around here are awesome. Our ford deal not so much. I bought the Ranger out of town.

When that Tacoma Hybrid come out I will be very interested in it but might be a POS too. Will see.

Good luck. I hope I did not get the drive shaft issue.

 

[RMCB214]

sounds like the same runaround I got from the dealership/Ford when I took my 23' Tremor in at around 800 miles. They drove it and admitted that they felt the vibration and that it was concerning. They went back and forth with engineers to determine the fix, tried the TSB for shimming the angle, but then realized that wouldn't work on the Tremor because it has CV joints. Finally, gave me a call and said that the shutter is just typical of Tremors and that they verified it with another Tremor on the lot. Just BS... paying $45K for a truck and shuddering at certain speeds shouldn't be considered "typical".

Very frustrating indeed. I added about 1/4" of shims at the carrier bearing and it didn't help much. I may go a little more but will need longer bolts. The start up shudder all but disappears when I have my 235 lb dirt bike in the back so I know it's pinion angle related. I believe there is a max angle spec that they don't recommend dealers go beyond when correcting with the shim TSB. The ones they installed on mine are literally paper thin. I don't see how they could help anything. That new driveline was a waste of my time and their money.

 

[Bravesfan1995]

Very frustrating indeed. I added about 1/4" of shims at the carrier bearing and it didn't help much. I may go a little more but will need longer bolts. The start up shudder all but disappears when I have my 235 lb dirt bike in the back so I know it's pinion angle related. I believe there is a max angle spec that they don't recommend dealers go beyond when correcting with the shim TSB. The ones they installed on mine are literally paper thin. I don't see how they could help anything. That new driveline was a waste of my time and their money.

Maybe I’ll get a 250 lb bed mat the keep in the bed ?

 

[TJC]

delete axel... lol

That WILL get rid of the shudder! But so will not driving it!

 

[Clank]

Will throw in my experience with the dealer just to add to the pile. My truck does get a little shudder going at 25-30 and 45-55. As well as the little thump when stopping and starting. Dealer couldn't find anything the first day. Second day the advisor took it on a drive said he felt nothing other than tire vibration. I was at work, so I could not be there to show them so whether they did the right things to make it appear, I don't know. So as expected I got no answer on that. They said the little thump was the truck going into first gear. I have not checked to see if this adds up at all by watching the gear numbers on the dash.

 

[FordRacing]

Haven't many reported resolving with the 1 piece shaft?

nobody makes a one piece drive shaft for a tremor

 

[9zero1790]

Will throw in my experience with the dealer just to add to the pile. My truck does get a little shudder going at 25-30 and 45-55. As well as the little thump when stopping and starting. Dealer couldn't find anything the first day. Second day the advisor took it on a drive said he felt nothing other than tire vibration. I was at work, so I could not be there to show them so whether they did the right things to make it appear, I don't know. So as expected I got no answer on that. They said the little thump was the truck going into first gear. I have not checked to see if this adds up at all by watching the gear numbers on the dash.

im sure someone mentioned here before but dealers (should) have gadgets to test for vibrations other than the employees seat of the pants. Phil explained it to me a while back when i was having issues with vibration. If i find the post i will put it up in here.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

im sure someone mentioned here before but dealers (should) have gadgets to test for vibrations other than the employees seat of the pants. Phil explained it to me a while back when i was having issues with vibration. If i find the post i will put it up in here.

It’s called a VCMM vibration analyzer. My dealer used it to pinpoint a tire vibration issue on my Tremor. Still had to have Discount Tire find the specific tire by RoadForce balancing seeing the dealer did not have a RoadForce balancer

 

[9zero1790]

It’s called a VCMM vibration analyzer. My dealer used it to pinpoint a tire vibration issue on my Tremor. Still had to have Discount Tire find the specific tire by RoadForce balancing seeing the dealer did not have a RoadForce balancer

thank you !

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