cmhmh
Active Member
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- #1
Only when towing between about 45-56mph, I get what I describe as a "shudder" throughout my truck. I can feel the "shudder" in my seat and in the gas pedal. No shudder when not towing.
At this point, I am not sure if this is driveline angle related, DPFE related (not yet replaced), or otherwise, but I'm near my wits end so am hoping for some help. With that in mind, I am providing as much detail as I can think of below.
I have a 2022 Ranger XLT FX4 with ~37,200 miles at the time of this post. I follow all maintenance intervals including 5,000 mi oil changes. All other (diff, transmission, transfer case) fluids changed at or before 35k miles.
I have had the common takeoff shudder ~6-15 mph since new.
Truck Modifications
Warranty items replaced
Other notes / tests:
Thank you for taking time to read this absolute wall of a post and any other guidance you may provide.
At this point, I am not sure if this is driveline angle related, DPFE related (not yet replaced), or otherwise, but I'm near my wits end so am hoping for some help. With that in mind, I am providing as much detail as I can think of below.
I have a 2022 Ranger XLT FX4 with ~37,200 miles at the time of this post. I follow all maintenance intervals including 5,000 mi oil changes. All other (diff, transmission, transfer case) fluids changed at or before 35k miles.
I have had the common takeoff shudder ~6-15 mph since new.
Truck Modifications
- 5k - 265/70/17s (stock tremor size)
- 9.5k - OME medium nitrocharger shocks and leafs. ~2" lift in front and ~2.5" or so in the rear. Airbags also installed, though not yet used.
- 33k - Swapped to 255/80/17s + got alignment (fully within spec).
- No difference in shudder when tow testing immdiately after new tire install.
- 37k - Installed Tom Wood's single piece driveshaft last week
- Helped my low speed/takeoff shudder significantly
- Minimal impact on improving the trailer attached shudder between 45-55mph.
- Slightly better 45-49.
- Pretty much the same ~50-56.
- Overall, shudder seems just slightly more inconsistent in initial testing.
- On level ground, both with the trailer attached or not my new driveshaft is at -8.0° (slight variance along length of shaft <1.0°). This is same as with my 2 piece driveshaft.
- I emailed Shawn @ Tom Woods over the weekend to see if adjusting my shim situation (see warranty items below) may help and am waiting for a reply at time of writing this. Shawn has otherwise been very helpful via phone and email.
Warranty items replaced
- 26k - transmission replaced (TSB process started at 20k)
- 27k - front diff replaced
- 27k - driveshaft issues introduced with other dealer work........ dealer installed 2° axle shim down (skinny end toward front of truck)
- 36.5k - front driver's CV replaced
- ~11,000 miles at the time of this post
- Bearings greased, etc as specified by Cruisemaster manual
- KO2s on steel rims.
- Rotated and balanced (including road forced) regularly (more often than required). No cupping, no dry rot, etc.
- Shudder would *sometimes* improve for up to a few hundred highway miles after getting a balance, but would return. Other times, no improvement.
- Spare tire swapped in. No change to shudder situation.
- It does not matter if the truck / and or trailer are "empty" or packed for camping.
- Have changed hitch drop size so trailer has been towed slightly tongue up (this was just for testing), level, and slightly tongue down.
- I have not used a hitch stabilizer, though I do have one available to test.
- I have a spreadsheet that calculates my exact payload per trip.
- I am well within the truck's GCWR ratings and my truck's payload rating for any trip with the trailer.
- I have never had a reverse rake.
- I dropped the trailer with Boreas for further inspection 2 weeks ago after various email and phone correspondence (documented for the last ~20 months) for them to investigate the trailer while I was camping with just the truck:
- They have never had this issue with any other customer's trailer. Including other lifted vehicles, etc.
- They did a "full" check of the suspension, tires, etc, including alignment (you can adjust a few things on the Cruisemaster suspension).
- They did not have a shudder after testing on their tow vehicles.
Other notes / tests:
- I do not have any shudder whatsoever for the rest of the speed ranges either when towing or not towing.
- The shudder is present in any combination of the following situations with the trailer attached in the 45-56 mph range:
- going uphill, downhill, level road -- I live in CO and drive through the mountains frequently.
- coasting (I think it's slightly less pronounced when coasting), pressing the accelerator, pressing the brake
- using tow / sport / normal drive modes
- I lock out to 8th gear when driving w/ the trailer attached, but have not done any testing to further restrict the gear selection down to 6 or whatever.
- The shudder was *minorly* present when towing my trailer with my buddy's unmodified 2015 Tundra.
- No discernible shudder when towing my buddy's also ~2200 lb Bean trailer with my truck (strong tongue up since he has a different hitch ball/pin than me)
- I have talked to the shop that installed my suspension originally (who also did the same on a very heavy Ranger towing an Off Grid Trailer with no issues) local trailer maintenance companies, my local dealer (who I don't have particular faith in and have started to use another dealer), tire dealers, etc to no avail.
- Combined with no issues on other tow vehicles, the absolutely most confusing thing for me:
- The shudder was identically present towing with a brand new stock / unmodified loaner 2024 Ranger Lariat (78 miles on the ODO when I picked it up at the dealer) when my truck was in the shop for the some things the dealer F'd up with my driveshaft...
Thank you for taking time to read this absolute wall of a post and any other guidance you may provide.
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