TSB 20-2277 2019-2020 Ranger - Shudder/Vibration When Accelerating From A Stop

[navsnipe]

Hi Dave,

I think it behooves you to take the Ranger to the Dealer and let Ford eat the cost if shims are necessary. For those DYI folks....not worth the expense to install a shim....evaluate and install another one....Does not make financial or DYI sense. Unfortunately there are many folks trying to avoid the dealer, and for good reason....many dealers are terrible for service. Sad!

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

I went to a different dealer who seems to be listening and troubleshooting much better and has parts on order to redo the TSB next week.

I was just answering the previous post about getting the shim kit. I'm not at that point yet. Hopefully next week will be the charm.

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[jerardisflossin]

Just had the TSB done after a pretty uphill battle with the dealer and so far the shudder is much better. Not completely gone but not noticeable anymore unless I really pay attention. Lets see how long it lasts.

 

[rdgallo]

I had the TSB done awhile back it did not cure the shudder problem. Last week I contacted the service manager and asked if he would recheck the angle and if incorrect redo the TSB with me observing. He agreed. I took the truck in and it measured 4.9*. The technician went back through the tsb procedure and when done the angle was 5.4*. I drove the truck home and it shudders just as badly as it did before it was worked on. I think Ford needs to revisit the root cause of this shudder.

 

[Ogden Dan]

I had the TSB done awhile back it did not cure the shudder problem. Last week I contacted the service manager and asked if he would recheck the angle and if incorrect redo the TSB with me observing. He agreed. I took the truck in and it measured 4.9*. The technician went back through the tsb procedure and when done the angle was 5.4*. I drove the truck home and it shudders just as badly as it did before it was worked on. I think Ford needs to revisit the root cause of this shudder.

Yep, there's several here that have already gone through the TSB with limited or no improvement (I'm one of them as well)

Dan

 

[navsnipe]

I had the TSB done awhile back it did not cure the shudder problem. Last week I contacted the service manager and asked if he would recheck the angle and if incorrect redo the TSB with me observing. He agreed. I took the truck in and it measured 4.9*. The technician went back through the tsb procedure and when done the angle was 5.4*. I drove the truck home and it shudders just as badly as it did before it was worked on. I think Ford needs to revisit the root cause of this shudder.

How severe would you say the shudder is? I had a new Ranger for a loaner while mine was in for TSB. The loaner shudder was very mild and I checked the angle while I had it, it was 5.2°.

The shop that did mine did not do it right. I am scheduled next week to have it redone at another dealer who seems to understand the TSB much better than the first one.

 

[quangdog]

How severe would you say the shudder is? I had a new Ranger for a loaner while mine was in for TSB. The loaner shudder was very mild and I checked the angle while I had it, it was 5.2°.

On mine (which has not been in for any TSB work) the shudder feels almost exactly the same as what the engine starting up with auto start/stop enabled feels like. As in: sitting at a stop light with the engine off. Let foot off of brake and you feel a mild shudder as the engine starts up. Then pull away from the light and it's smooth until about 8-10ish mph, when you get nearly the exact same shudder feel again until you get up past 15 mph. Sometimes it is stronger. Other times it is milder. Mostly seems to depend on whether I'm pulling away from a light straight or turning left/right.

 

[Silverfox]

The more I drive mine, which right now is only on weekends to go dirt biking. The more I think this is either low rpm engine tuning or the torque converter. How could the severity of the shudder change depending on conditions if it was caused by the driveshaft or angle.

 

[Silverfox]

I also maintain that it is much more widespread than we think. I’ve now watched at least 5 YouTube reviews that mentioned it and numerous people on this forum that stated every Ranger they test drove had it, including myself.

 

[rdgallo]

On mine (which has not been in for any TSB work) the shudder feels almost exactly the same as what the engine starting up with auto start/stop enabled feels like. As in: sitting at a stop light with the engine off. Let foot off of brake and you feel a mild shudder as the engine starts up. Then pull away from the light and it's smooth until about 8-10ish mph, when you get nearly the exact same shudder feel again until you get up past 15 mph. Sometimes it is stronger. Other times it is milder. Mostly seems to depend on whether I'm pulling away from a light straight or turning left/right.

You have perfectly described what I am feeling in mine. If I slowly accelerate, it is not as bad as when I accelerate more aggressively or when accelerating while making a turn. What I don't understand is why the shudder is not consistent. On very rare occasions I am not able to feel it. I noticed today that my windshield sunshade (when down) actually shakes a bit when the shudder is there.

 

[ChiefQM]

I had the TSB done awhile back it did not cure the shudder problem. Last week I contacted the service manager and asked if he would recheck the angle and if incorrect redo the TSB with me observing. He agreed. I took the truck in and it measured 4.9*. The technician went back through the tsb procedure and when done the angle was 5.4*. I drove the truck home and it shudders just as badly as it did before it was worked on. I think Ford needs to revisit the root cause of this shudder.

My numbers were exactly the same. The only difference is it starts and ends the vibration at a different speed. Not going back to any dealer until Ford finds the problem and solves it. Never going back to that dealer.

 

[kieefer]

Ok boys and girls, this is what I did. I go Harbor Freights dial angle finder and put it on the drive shaft, 7degrees is what I got, same as what the dealer told me but because I’ve got Eibach’s struts up front to level they refused to do the TBS.

So, at one time I added shims under the carrier bearing bracket but took them out when I went to the dealer.
I put them back in today, 1/2” shims. My driveshaft is at 5 degrees now.

The TBS shims tilts the rear axle but +~ 2 degrees can’t be that bad off and surly I didn’t outwit the Ford development team.

Works for me anyway but I’m just a grease monkey and not smart enough to be an engineer.
Thoughts are welcome.

 

[rdgallo]

Ok boys and girls, this is what I did. I go Harbor Freights dial angle finder and put it on the drive shaft, 7degrees is what I got, same as what the dealer told me but because I’ve got Eibach’s struts up front to level they refused to do the TBS.

So, at one time I added shims under the carrier bearing bracket but took them out when I went to the dealer.
I put them back in today, 1/2” shims. My driveshaft is at 5 degrees now.

The TBS shims tilts the rear axle but +~ 2 degrees can’t be that bad off and surly I didn’t outwit the Ford development team.

Works for me anyway but I’m just a grease monkey and not smart enough to be an engineer.
Thoughts are welcome.

You didn't say, but did the shudder go away totally after you put the 1/2 inch shims in the carrier bearing bracket? Thanks!

 

[kieefer]

You didn't say, but did the shudder go away totally after you put the 1/2 inch shims in the carrier bearing bracket? Thanks!

I never had the shudder that some have described here, see my other posts. Most of my issue was a vibration around 1500-2500rpm and TSB 2339 fixed that.
I did this for the heck of it, seems smoother at interstate speeds afterwards though but for whatever reason my truck will run great one day and be balky another when cold and it does great if I let it warm a few minutes.
I’m also running Exxon Reg fuel when it use to run like crap on Reg. Go figure.

 

[Rangerguy]

I had a slight vibration on takeoff that I mentioned to the salesman after my test drives. He said it was the normal fan operation. I didn't think so but figured it was just a characteristic of this truck. I took the TSB in at 5K: dealer measured and said the pinion angle was 3.5 degrees. They installed 2 degree shims. About the same driving feel after. I'm going to ignore the vibrations this truck makes and figure it's the character of the truck. Time will tell if the drive train lasts years.

 

[John Galt]

I had the shudder when WOT on stock leaf springs, but I knew how to fix it, I was just lazy. After getting around doing the OME 1.7in lift springs the shudder is completely gone. The lift kit removed pinion angle. My pinion is now parallel to the output on the transfer case, or ever so slightly below parallel. Now under a bounce, weight, or acceleration the pinion moves up slightly but still remains pretty much parallel, at least more than factory.

You do not want a lot of pinion angle. If you have a shudder and the TSB added more angle, it's wrong. You could spin the shim around? I believe we have CV type joint on the driveshaft at the transfer case, so that gives more flexibility overall but clearly the driveline in sensitive in the ranger.

Hot rods and Jeepers have been perfecting this for literally 50+ years.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/change-pinion-angles/

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