Another vibration saga

[D Fresh]

It's crazy to me how these trucks hate mods. My truck stock rode perfect stock. As soon as I added a leveling kit and tires all hell broke loose. Switching to a one piece driveshaft made a huge difference. Truck rides great now. I get vibes occasionally, but I know it's the tires. Especially now that it's cold, in the mornings I feel vibes and as they warm up it goes away. I'm going to get them rebalanced soon.

I think you're painting with too wide of a brush here.

"These trucks" do not hate mods. Many people have modded their Rangers with no trouble whatsoever.

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[Heli-Boy]

It's crazy to me how these trucks hate mods. My truck stock rode perfect stock. As soon as I added a leveling kit and tires all hell broke loose. Switching to a one piece driveshaft made a huge difference. Truck rides great now. I get vibes occasionally, but I know it's the tires. Especially now that it's cold, in the mornings I feel vibes and as they warm up it goes away. I'm going to get them rebalanced soon.

Curious where did you one piece driveline and how much did you pay for it? Straight bolt in?

 

[Viator092]

What tires are you running?

Conti ATs. Decided to sell the Ranger.

 

[VegasRanger]

Curious where did you one piece driveline and how much did you pay for it? Straight bolt in?

Bolt on yes. Local driveline shop.

 

[VegasRanger]

I think you're painting with too wide of a brush here.

"These trucks" do not hate mods. Many people have modded their Rangers with no trouble whatsoever.

You’re right, but during my research, I have seen many people with the same exact issues as me. No problem stock, threw on leveling kit and all hell broke loose.

 

[WNCblueridge]

The driveshaft vibration is a known issue with these trucks. There are several things found to cause it. The first issue is the driveshaft angle. You can try shimming the center bearing to change the angle of the drive shaft. This has helped some people eliminate the vibration at takeoff and at speed, but may require longer bolts to accommodate the required shim thickness. Second is the pinion angle relative to the driveshaft. Ford has a TSB on this to install wedge shims on the rear spring perches, however they will only do it if the measured angle exceeds the listed amount. Many people who have tried to get it done were told theirs is within spec, or had it done and it made no difference. While others who had it done resolved the issue. The third issue is the driveshaft being peppered with weights causing counter balance issues, that could be caused by the yokes being out of phase and are leading to secondary vibrations (initial start and high speed vibrations). I am not aware of anyone having the shaft rebalanced and/or having a new splined yoke made to bring the shaft into phase.

All of the above possible fixes are hit/miss as they work for some but not others. This issue has also been very common with the Tacoma which has a near identical drivetrain setup as the Ranger and exhibits identical issues when a rear suspension lift is performed. Research of the Ranger shows when it was brought to the US market Ford lifted the rear suspension by 1.75 - 2" and unknowingly introduced the vibration. Instead of having a properly redesigned driveshaft for the new driveline geometry they elected to go with a convoluted TSB fix that may/may not work.

This video explains the issue, what causes it and how to fix it. Yes it's about the Tacoma but as stated before we share very similar drivetrain configurations so it does apply to us as well.




So far to date the only known 100% cure has been to replace the two piece shaft with a one piece shaft eliminating the center bearing assembly, out of phase yoke, and counter balanced shaft that we al have.

Much appreciated, .Great explanation on this matter

 

[Glocker]

Why did Ford put two piece driveshafts in these things? Do the foreign market Rangers have the two piece driveshafts?

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