Driveshaft Phasing

[Willcuts93]

Do any of you with stock trucks want to put a few hundred pounds in the bed of your truck and see if anything changes? Like the speed or intensity of the vibration?

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[Porpoise Hork]

Do any of you with stock trucks want to put a few hundred pounds in the bed of your truck and see if anything changes? Like the speed or intensity of the vibration?

I had about 4-500 pounds of potting soil, peat moss and other garden materials at the end of bed last weekend. It made no discernible difference to the acceleration shudder. But I also was not specifically paying attention for it, but would have noticed if it was worse. I didn't take it up on the freeway since I only need to take surface streets to get to Home Depot.

 

[SOHK_Alumni]

Those of you with the vibration issues, how many are with a completely stock truck?

As delivered, my RWD had a very harsh vibration at 45 mph, a bit at 75/80, some anytime the truck was moving.

As delivered, my FX4 feels like a vibrating massage chair on the freeway. Already has had 2 Road Force balances.

Yea, it's been a LONG time since I was a mere engineering student, but I seriously doubt the fundamentals of physics and geometry have changed since then.

 

[Rp930]

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

 

[MossyOakNinja78]

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

Straight from Spicer, yet they built out of phase shafts for the 2019+ Ranger....comical

 

[VAMike]

Straight from Spicer, yet they built out of phase shafts for the 2019+ Ranger....comical

What's comical?

 

[Rp930]

Straight from Spicer, yet they built out of phase shafts for the 2019+ Ranger....comical

i believe you are misreading it. The article states when a driveshaft that is NOT in phase may be used (Phased/phasing).

 

[VAMike]

i believe you are misreading it. The article states when a driveshaft that is NOT in phase may be used (Phased/phasing).

more to the point, it says that there's actual reasons and that you shouldn't change it

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I contacted a local shop that specializes in driveshaft balancing. When I described the issues and findings thus far he said that many of the newer trucks especially Dodge have had similar issues as this. This is especially true with the counter balancing and vibrations. I suspect it is the result of outsourcing to an unqualified third party manufacturer.

As soon as I get a chance in the next week or two I will take it to them and have them run a diagnostic on it to see what they find out.

 

[Rviator]

My unloaded 2006 F350 FX4 super cab had a driveline vibration from the time it was new until I traded it in with well over 100,000 miles on the clock. The vibration occurred at about 42 to 44 mph when unladed. Solution? Don't drive continuously at that speed.
Understand that driveline angles in a truck are subject to change from unloaded to a loaded condition as the bed squats down so any design is a compromise. The video posted above states if the angles of the u joints are the same than the joints are to be 90 degrees in phase. May it be a situation where the u joint angles are not the same that an out of 90 degree phase install may be appropriate? As the article from Spicer states there are reasons why it may be designed out of phase. Just my thoughts and a bit of a warning to those working on mods. Redesigning a shaft and discovering its natural frequency (critical speed) while on the road is not something to be taken lightly.
BTW a 14,000 rpm 2 piece shaft was one of the items I was the subject matter expert on. It was far pricier and a more sophisticated design than used on cars though. It was also balanced such that the maintenance techs could install it in any of its 3 relative rotational positions, provided they used the correct fasteners.

 

[treimche]

When my Ranger was stock it had the vibration off the line. Pulling my trailer with a car on it exaggerated the vibration quite a bit. Now that it is lifted, it still has the vibration, but I've learned to ignore it for the most part.

 

[I_smell_like_diesel]

You have to take into account of the angle of each U-joint. As a U-joint rotates, it accelerates and decelerates twice throughout 1 revolution. The driveshaft may be clocked in such a way that the drive shaft is not in "textbook" phase but it in phase as an entire assembly (from the yoke on the output flange to the yoke on the on the pinion flange). As U Joint angles become more shallow, the difference in rotational speed, thought a revolution is less, and vise versa for more steel U Joint angles. I suspect if you put this driveshaft into "textbook" phase..... it would result in a more nasty vibration than you had before.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

You have to take into account of the angle of each U-joint. As a U-joint rotates, it accelerates and decelerates twice throughout 1 revolution. The driveshaft may be clocked in such a way that the drive shaft is not in "textbook" phase but it in phase as an entire assembly (from the yoke on the output flange to the yoke on the on the pinion flange). As U Joint angles become more shallow, the difference in rotational speed, thought a revolution is less, and vise versa for more steel U Joint angles. I suspect if you put this driveshaft into "textbook" phase..... it would result in a more nasty vibration than you had before.

Hi Chris,

I have been wondering this same thing too, but not being inside the company any more, I have no clue if this is true or if there is a quality problem. I find it weird this is not on Ford's customer radar screen if the shudder is so common. I do not have even a hint of shudder on my Ranger. Am I lucky of the lucky few or are most people in my camp? Don't know...sample size is too small.

What I advise is that every forum member with this problem take the time to file a customer complaint with Ford Customer Service...not just take it back to the dealer and get fed their bull crap. This is how Ford works. They need the customer feed back, not dealer feedback. I doubt Ford follows these forums....not enough time or man/women power to do so. So file a formal complaint.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[OKRaptor]

No, but they need to address the vibration issue.

Welcome to the vibration nation.

Btw, I'm not stock. Eibach Pro with fifteen52 Traverse HD's and Falken Wildpeaks @ 265/70-17's. Now, I actually experienced this vibration when I bought the truck STOCK. I initially had the dealer balance the factory/stock wheels and tires twice. Then I put my aftermarket stuff on and the bigger tires only accentuated the vibration since the rotating mass and circumference increased. I thought the new wheels and tires were the cause so I installed hub-centric rings. Nope, still there. Balanced the new rollers THREE TIMES and nothing.

Like Space Ranger, I too have the vibration at highway speeds. though I never drove the truck with stock wheels and tires. My vibration was most noticeable at speeds between 65 - 75 mph. Dealership would not look into it because I had leveling kit, wheels and tires installed prior to taking possession of the truck and insisted vibration issues were due to suspension and/or wheels and tires.
Memorial weekend I was towing a jet ski at 75 mph and transmission was constantly down shifting down to 7th while going up hills and then would shift to 8th, 9th and then realize truck was still going up hill and down shift all the way to 7th again. Finally a little wrench symbol appeared on the dash and I lost power. Ford Pass sends me a message explaining the symbol indicated a drive train failure and vehicle would operate in a reduced power mode. I took the next exit and found a place to pull over, pulled battery cable to reset and see what would happen. Code cleared and truck ran like normal except that it continued to down shift and up shift a lot on all hills. Then after about 20 miles with cruise on truck would no longer down shift and would lose speed until I disabled cruise and gave it gas.
Took truck to dealership and they sat on it for a week and when I finally asked what the hell is taking so long to look my truck they told me that they did look at it and it appears that the transmission has issues. I asked for more specifics and they told me they did not have a drive train specialist at the dealership and one would come to look at it in about three to four weeks.
Getting to the point, I was not about to wait 3-4 weeks for a drive train specialist to diagnose my truck and then have to wait however long to get a new transmission installed. It is my opinion that the vibration issue caused damage to the transmission. So even if they replaced the transmission I believe the vibration would cause another failure down the road. Therefore tonight, I traded my 2019 Ranger in on a 2020 F150 XLT. Luckily i got an exceptional deal on the Ranger and trading it in did not hurt as bad as it could have. Originally went to the dealer to purchase an F150 and ended up purchasing the Ranger and I loved the truck, but the vibration was a concern and now with the transmission issue I wish I would have purchased the F150 in the first place.
I will continue to follow this forum and watch to see what comes about from the vibration issues those here are experiencing.
Best of luck to all of you having vibration issues.

 

[treimche]

Like Space Ranger, I too have the vibration at highway speeds. though I never drove the truck with stock wheels and tires. My vibration was most noticeable at speeds between 65 - 75 mph. Dealership would not look into it because I had leveling kit, wheels and tires installed prior to taking possession of the truck and insisted vibration issues were due to suspension and/or wheels and tires.
Memorial weekend I was towing a jet ski at 75 mph and transmission was constantly down shifting down to 7th while going up hills and then would shift to 8th, 9th and then realize truck was still going up hill and down shift all the way to 7th again. Finally a little wrench symbol appeared on the dash and I lost power. Ford Pass sends me a message explaining the symbol indicated a drive train failure and vehicle would operate in a reduced power mode. I took the next exit and found a place to pull over, pulled battery cable to reset and see what would happen. Code cleared and truck ran like normal except that it continued to down shift and up shift a lot on all hills. Then after about 20 miles with cruise on truck would no longer down shift and would lose speed until I disabled cruise and gave it gas.
Took truck to dealership and they sat on it for a week and when I finally asked what the hell is taking so long to look my truck they told me that they did look at it and it appears that the transmission has issues. I asked for more specifics and they told me they did not have a drive train specialist at the dealership and one would come to look at it in about three to four weeks.
Getting to the point, I was not about to wait 3-4 weeks for a drive train specialist to diagnose my truck and then have to wait however long to get a new transmission installed. It is my opinion that the vibration issue caused damage to the transmission. So even if they replaced the transmission I believe the vibration would cause another failure down the road. Therefore tonight, I traded my 2019 Ranger in on a 2020 F150 XLT. Luckily i got an exceptional deal on the Ranger and trading it in did not hurt as bad as it could have. Originally went to the dealer to purchase an F150 and ended up purchasing the Ranger and I loved the truck, but the vibration was a concern and now with the transmission issue I wish I would have purchased the F150 in the first place.
I will continue to follow this forum and watch to see what comes about from the vibration issues those here are experiencing.
Best of luck to all of you having vibration issues.

Was your Ranger tuned at all?

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