Driveshaft Phasing

OKRaptor

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@SpaceRanger you may have to request they look open the diff to see if if backlash is in tolerance and if not it's warranty and if so you may have to pay. That is essentially what that guy did and what they found ended up being a warranty issue. That or if you have the ability to check the backlash yourself.
Hope you find the issue soon, myself I gave up and it costed me but I'm much happier with the F150. Just wish it was as easy to park as the Ranger was :wink:
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SpaceRanger

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@SpaceRanger you may have to request they look open the diff to see if if backlash is in tolerance and if not it's warranty and if so you may have to pay. That is essentially what that guy did and what they found ended up being a warranty issue. That or if you have the ability to check the backlash yourself.
Hope you find the issue soon, myself I gave up and it costed me but I'm much happier with the F150. Just wish it was as easy to park as the Ranger was :wink:
I'm about to go that route and have the dealership look into the rear end. Hopefully they don't charge me an arm and a leg for it if it happens to be within tolerance and not fall under warranty. I'd feel much better if somebody can confirm that the Rangers have essentially the same rear end as the F150's. And yes, I have the rear locker like the OP of that thread.

I do have a rather newbie question that maybe somebody like @P. A. Schilke can answer... How much play should there be in the drive shaft or yokes? When I was under the truck last night, I was just looking at everything. I grabbed on to the driveshaft and shook it, twisted it, manipulated it anyway I could. I noticed it would rotate some which I thought was normal, but I was also able to move it and possibly the yoke into the rear end front to back which I thought was kind of odd, but then again, I'm no expert at all - I just really know how to turn a wrench. Haha

Anywho, sadly, my wife won't let me trade in just yet. Plus, the options out there for what I want are either a Tacoma or a ZR2 - not ideal on either sides. Haha
 

RngrRegmnt586

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I sold my Ranger. Little Ranger... you were a blast. Quick acceleration. Good looks. Good technology. The fiancee loved your seat warmers. However you were temperamental with only a little baby leveling kit. Was not going to tough it out and see if there would be any long term damage especially post warranty due to the drivetrain vibes. Deal breaker.

If only Ford was a bigger help and wasn't always quick to blame it on silly things or their inability to replicate the problem. I hope there's a solution for y'all that are keeping yours. It's a great little truck besides this issue but I'm done with ford service managers and technicians.
 

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Would be nice if they come out with a one piece driveshaft. My 08 Shelby had a two piece driveshaft and I replaced it with a one piece alum and made all the difference in the world. You get rid of that heavy ass carrier bearing and drop weight and more issues down the road.
 

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Did you end up going with longer bolts? I just added a 1/16th shim to the 1/8th (equalling 3/16ths) and I'm about to go test drive now.
No, bolts were long enough for the thickness of the shin added .
got to 78 mph and have a very minor vibration, but could be road surface or tire balance. Have noticed take off shudder is gone and what feels like slip joint bind is now gone.
 


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So I finally have an update on my end. I replaced my driveshaft today with the new one that was still phased incorrectly. Surprisingly enough my vibration at Hwy speeds went down. I do feel a slight hint of vibration but not like before. If I'm lucky Ford wont ask for the old driveshaft and I can have it back and get it fixed correctly at a driveshaft shop. Now i still have the takeoff vibration like everyone else but that isnt going to make me get rid of the truck. I just like this truck way too much and I'm not a fan of other trucks with the exception of the Nissan Frontier but i will stick with my 2.3 turbo.
 

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I’m no rocket scientist here, but when I grab both halves of the slip joint there’s is about a 1/16 of an inch of rotational slip in the joint. I’ve had vehicles with slip joint driveshafts and they didn’t have that kind of movement. Also there is rusty stains on either side of the boot that tells me water is getting into the slip joint.
 

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Here is some information on driveshaft phasing. Apparently it is common to clock them in varying
degrees of offset. I know on Volvo trucks the first shaft was 90 degrees out of phase. Many times they came out of the the repair shop after tranny or clutch replacement and the mechanics assembled them in phase thinking this was correct. The result was vibration between 45 and 60.

http://www.hhrvresource.com/VolvoDocsGenII/40-59/PV776-TSP182393.pdf

http://media.spicerparts.com/cfs/files/media/sHto4RMKzg7cmgEQQ/JOI-T
 

HarryD

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I have realized as others have, that the driveshaft vibration may not be related to the driveshaft phasing. As the Dana-Spicer document indicates, some driveshafts are "phased" by design.
As has been suggested by our Australian member, 4Wheeler, this vibration seems to be related to the relative lift and resulting driveshaft angle. I noticed that Ford has placed 8mm (5/16") shims under the leaf spring, one on the right and two on the left to adjust the frame tilt (I am assuming). This essentially results in a very minor lift.
For my initial attempt to shim the Center Bearing, I bought some 4mm X 40mm stainless steel stock to cut shims. I adjusted the bolt hole location to match my particular application (your position may well vary). I only added one shim because to add more I would need longer bolts. I am looking for 10mm - 1.5 X 50mm bolts with a 15mm hex and a quite large flange head. The OEM ones include an integral washer with a 27mm O.D.
Well, with the single shims installed, I drove to the smooth stretch of highway that initially brought the vibration to my attention, and to my somewhat surprise, I did not feel the vibration anymore, just the minor road undulations that are present here in the best of roads.
I would still like to try two shims if I can locate the bolts needed just to see what, if any, difference can be felt.

Right Spring Shim.jpg


Left Spring Shims.jpg
 

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I have realized as others have, that the driveshaft vibration may not be related to the driveshaft phasing. As the Dana-Spicer document indicates, some driveshafts are "phased" by design.
As has been suggested by our Australian member, 4Wheeler, this vibration seems to be related to the relative lift and resulting driveshaft angle. I noticed that Ford has placed 8mm (5/16") shims under the leaf spring, one on the right and two on the left to adjust the frame tilt (I am assuming). This essentially results in a very minor lift.
For my initial attempt to shim the Center Bearing, I bought some 4mm X 40mm stainless steel stock to cut shims. I adjusted the bolt hole location to match my particular application (your position may well vary). I only added one shim because to add more I would need longer bolts. I am looking for 10mm - 1.5 X 50mm bolts with a 15mm hex and a quite large flange head. The OEM ones include an integral washer with a 27mm O.D.
Well, with the single shims installed, I drove to the smooth stretch of highway that initially brought the vibration to my attention, and to my somewhat surprise, I did not feel the vibration anymore, just the minor road undulations that are present here in the best of roads.
I would still like to try two shims if I can locate the bolts needed just to see what, if any, difference can be felt.

Right Spring Shim.jpg


Left Spring Shims.jpg
Thank you for this! I will follow suit and let you all know the results.
 

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Makes sense Phil, I noticed the clocked U-joint on my driveshaft while diagnosing a vibration, after lifting my truck. I stopped by the local Ford dealer while on my lunch break after noticing this. Just climbed up a few of them, since the lots are closed here. They are all like this. Time to start playing around with shimming the carrier bearing again and pick up a small variety of angle shims for the rear axle.
did you ever fix the vibration?
 

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From Ford Aug 21, 2020...

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This is quite comical to me.

I purchased a 2019 Ford Ranger that was a show floor model, and I wrote off the vibration as just being an off balanced wheel.

6 visits to the dealership later, they have balanced my tires, road-force balanced my tires, replaced my wheels, re-balanced the tires and replaced the drive shaft, because I told them it was out of phase.

They only replaced this about 2 weeks ago and contacted ford about it. They said they were putting this out because of how many have come in to swap out their drive shafts.

All that being said, I have been experiencing a vibration that my friend has described the best; "feels like one of those cheap motels where you put a quarter in the bed" @ about 70-80. 85 MPH is where it is the worst. I don't go much higher than that.

Unfortunately I am not as car savvy as some of you on this forum, but the dealership has been very helpful throughout the whole process. After I was provided a 2020 Ranger XLT to drive while my car was looked at for a 7th time, I found the 2020 had the same issue. That is when I said I have had enough!

I filed for a Buy Back, and two days later, I was told it was denied. I was told "because it has only been in the shop for a total of 15 days." Bah! I have only had the truck for 3 months. That is 1/6 the amount of time I have had the dang thing! So now I am with the BBB and going through the lemon law in the State of Florida. After coming from a 2014 Focus, you'd think I would have switched car manufactures. But I just can't shake the family loyalty (60+ years of total work @ Ford in total).

I want to keep this truck. I begged for Ford to fix it, but it sounds like nothing will be done with this series of truck. As the Ranger will be changed with the release of the Bronco, and hopefully these issues are gone for the future owners.
 

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From Ford Aug 21, 2020...

ds.JPG
That just goes against science and what has already been proven with driveline geometry. Fords way of saying F off, we're not doing anything about our mistake.



Why I figure I'll just have to take mine to a driveshaft specialist who can phase and balance it correctly.
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