Driveline Vibration??

[Allan_Ardor]

Hello all, im curious if anyone here has come across a similar concern. I have a driveline vibration that starts at 70 Kph and continues through to 80 Kph then disappears. Tires have been balance checked and rotated eliminating them from the equation. Haven't tried 4wd for the vibration but would suspect it's also present, definitely there in 2wd.

Sponsored

 

[Joeiconic]

Have you had a Road Force balance by a reputable shop? If not, you haven’t ruled out your tires. Do you feel the vibration in the steering wheel, or the seat of the pants? How many miles on the tires?

 

[Allan_Ardor]

Yes they have been, I’m a certified mechanic myself and performed the balancing. It’s not the tires and it’s definitely not felt in the steering wheel

 

[Chris M]

Search function is your friend here. There are many threads chronicling Ranger vibrations, with several varying "solutions".

Best of luck!

 

[JohnnyO]

Ford doesn't put enough lube on the slip yoke in the driveshaft. The carrier bearings have been known to crap out early.
I had a vibration that multiple wheel balancing wouldn't fix. After a while I noticed it was worse on some highways than others and decided to get new rear shocks. Nothing fancy, just plain ol' Monroe gas units. Vibration was largely fixed, I also rotated the tires, but I think the tires were a little fragged from the shocks being weak. As time and miles go on it gets better.
The shocks weren't totally shot at 50k but weaker than they should have been and pretty easy for me to lean on and compress.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Hello all, im curious if anyone here has come across a similar concern. I have a driveline vibration that starts at 70 Kph and continues through to 80 Kph then disappears. Tires have been balance checked and rotated eliminating them from the equation. Haven't tried 4wd for the vibration but would suspect it's also present, definitely there in 2wd.

Welcome to the world of the Ranger shudder Wade - some Rangers seem to have it, some don’t.

At this point, there are many theories, including the 2-pce driveshaft being out of phase, tires needing road force balancing, levelling the truck caused it, centre bearing needs re-positioning, torque converter is causing it, driveshaft angle needs to be changed by shimming the diff, and on and on.

Since you have the issue, I wish you good luck. Since you’re a tech, if you figure it out, please share it here - others will be grateful.

 

[9zero1790]

replacing the center support bearing helped mine. they are cheap. i got another new one in the box im about ready to put on lol. truck seems to eat them up.

 

[EJH]

replacing the center support bearing helped mine. they are cheap. i got another new one in the box im about ready to put on lol. truck seems to eat them up.

At that point, why not just swap to the Tom Woods single piece driveshaft, since you are buying new carrier bearings anyway?

 

[kieefer]

Mine vibrates at 80mph and shutters when braking. Vibrations had always been there (56k miles now) but at 75mph, added a topper (7/23) and they moved up to 80mph and that’s when the brake shuttering started.

I’m assuming that little bit of drive shaft angle may be the cause.
When mine was new I shimmed the center carrier bearing as much as 3/8, I noticed a difference but it always came back.
Never did the axel shimming TSB.

Have yet looked into the brake shuttering.

 

[9zero1790]

Mine vibrates at 80mph and shutters when braking. Vibrations had always been there (56k miles now) but at 75mph, added a topper (7/23) and they moved up to 80mph and that’s when the brake shuttering started.

I’m assuming that little bit of drive shaft angle may be the cause.
When mine was new I shimmed the center carrier bearing as much as 3/8, I noticed a difference but it always came back.
Never did the axel shimming TSB.

Have yet looked into the brake shuttering.

my brakes shutter also. mostly right rear.

 

[9zero1790]

At that point, why not just swap to the Tom Woods single piece driveshaft, since you are buying new carrier bearings anyway?

bearing costs about 40 bucks. safer when it goes bad.

 

[ccasanova22]

Mine has done this from Day 1 so I think it’s normal.

 

[BluBusa66]

With only 9k on the truck, I am starting to get a vibration in the right rear. Starts about 45mph lasts until about 65mph and fades but never goes away. Rebalance, rotate, removed the spacers, rotated the spacers, it is still there. I am thinking that the shock is going bad.

 

[CHrisin]

Hello all, im curious if anyone here has come across a similar concern. I have a driveline vibration that starts at 70 Kph and continues through to 80 Kph then disappears. Tires have been balance checked and rotated eliminating them from the equation. Haven't tried 4wd for the vibration but would suspect it's also present, definitely there in 2wd.

Hi, did you manage to solve the problem? I have the same thing, and I've been struggling with it for 2 years. I've replaced the shock absorbers, tires, rims, front and rear control arms, and nothing helped. My suspicions are the rear differential.

Sponsored