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

[P. A. Schilke]

Based on the votes on the poll not everyone has the shudder or notices it. I would guess the delay of production versus the severity of the issue played a part in this as well. I'm sure Phil S. can give some insight to this dilemma.

Hi Dave,

It is known that two piece drivelines are prone to start up shudder (or at least us old timers faced this problem on occasion). To use a two piece driveline on Ranger was a program decision on the North American version of Ranger. It can be driven by many different criteria, Fuel tank size, Crash performance, cost, complexity etc. Was it experienced during NA Ranger development?....IDK, but would seem likely and would have resulted in trying to optimize angles to minimize or desensitize the vehicle. However, development testing is on a very small population of prototypes and encompasses many vehicle configurations, trim levels etc.

My opinion and my opinion only is that the program accepted the risk that would be a few vehicles that exhibit start up shudder. However, it appears the NVH engineers had to revisit the concern as the number of problem vehicles was larger than was "sold" to the program. The TSB would not have been issued for onezee, twozee problem vehicles.

This is one of the reasons I implored folks to open a formal complaint and in this case it worked as a TSB was issued. However, as the cases show it is not always going to fix every vehicle which is unfortunate but it is what it is for now.

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

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[Rp930]

I picked up my truck after having TSB 20-2277 redone. The shudder is not gone but is much more subtle. The service advisor told me due to the driveshaft design the shudder may not be able to be completely removed. The truck drives much smoother and, crawling underneath, I see the shims are installed correctly and my truck no longer sits higher on the right than left. Time will tell if this is good. I hope Ford figures out how to eliminate the shudder completely, this is too nice of a truck not to.

Can we get some pics of the shims installed?

 

[Silverfox]

The more posts I read the more I’m confused on what the issue is with my Ranger. I do have a starting from a stop shudder, but it is around 1500-1600rpm including when cruising in that rpm range. The severity varies from noticeable to not noticeable. It can’t be the drive shaft because depending on what gear I’m in the shaft would be spinning at different speeds.

 

[navsnipe]

Can we get some pics of the shims installed?

I'll take some pictures tomorrow. Not the most exciting things to look at. I hear tailgate dampers are a thing of beauty but I don't have one.

 

[Rp930]

I'll take some pictures tomorrow. Not the most exciting things to look at. I hear tailgate dampers are a thing of beauty but I don't have one.

I’ll settle for a close up of the shims.

 

[navsnipe]

I’ll settle for a close up of the shims.

The top picture is of the right side leaf springs and shim stack, the bottom is the left side. The lowest shim is the tapered shim just on top of the axle perch.

 

[navsnipe]

Had an interesting conversation with a F150 owner that had the take-off shudder on a previous vehicle, a 2011 F150. He went through similar tribulations with shims, transmission firmware, etc. He described the root cause Ford gave was axle windup due to leaf spring design.

 

[Rangerguy]

Had an interesting conversation with a F150 owner that had the take-off shudder on a previous vehicle, a 2011 F150. He went through similar tribulations with shims, transmission firmware, etc. He described the root cause Ford gave was axle windup due to leaf spring design.

Just heard this morning from a Ford tech about the F150 vibration-chasing-with-shims issue from that era. Sounds like it was eventually fixed in later F150s somehow, but also did not lead to premature drive train failures down the road in those models.

 

[navsnipe]

Just heard this morning from a Ford tech about the F150 vibration-chasing-with-shims issue from that era. Sounds like it was eventually fixed in later F150s somehow, but also did not lead to premature drive train failures down the road in those models.

The guy I talked with had a final TSB done which replaced the leaf springs. He said it seemed to fix the issue but he traded it on a new F150 not too long after. I'm not sure how long he had the 2011 F150, this was a parking lot conversation when he asked me how I like my Ranger. His current F150 was a King Ranch and he said it rode like glass.

 

[Justwaithere]

I definitely had some vibration at low rpm/low throttle mostly feeling it through the steering wheel. However, since I got my bed topper it’s mostly gone. I can still hear it. I know it’s not fixed but the topper is dampening it to a point where it’s no longer noticeable.

 

[dtech]

I've felt the vibrations - albeit very minor , accelerating from take off and maybe a second in duration, colder - below freezing temps seems to have wakened them, almost like the driveline is shivering to stay warm, I'll be checking for goose bumps next cold snap.

 

[navsnipe]

I definitely had some vibration at low rpm/low throttle mostly feeling it through the steering wheel. However, since I got my bed topper it’s mostly gone. I can still hear it. I know it’s not fixed but the topper is dampening it to a point where it’s no longer noticeable.

It's possible the topper is heavy enough the helper leaf spring is making contact with the main leaf and snubbing the axle windup.

 

[kieefer]

I decided to crawl back under my truck to check the angle of the front drive “shorter” shaft. The difference with the shims in was only +1 degree.

 

[jerardisflossin]

Another update. I reported in a previous post I was getting 7 degrees for the pinion angle. I realized I did not zero it on the frame and apparently my driveway is sloped about a degree. Side note: I totally have been measuring the angles of everything since purchasing a digital inclinometer, its fascinating lol. At any rate, this is the actual pinion angle I got. Driveshaft is at 7.4 degrees. I definitely think the tech put my shims in wrong but even then, if you remove the 2 degree shim that means they should of only used a 1 degree shim to get close to the 5.2 in the TSB. I explained this to my dealer and also explained that I do not think having a pinion angle matching the drive shaft is good for a u-joint style shaft (should match the t-case flange angle resulting in parallel offset). I also explained that this could explain the high speed vibes I have now and I'm concerned about long term bearing and seal wear. Typically that matching angle is reserved for double cordon/CV shafts. I could feel the eye rolls through the phone. Ive done a few axle setups on my jeep and all have been vibe free. I feel this shouldn't be such a battle and I've totally lost confidence in them. It goes in Monday (again) but their first response was to balance the tires.. again. Good times.

 

[navsnipe]

Another update. I reported in a previous post I was getting 7 degrees for the pinion angle. I realized I did not zero it on the frame and apparently my driveway is sloped about a degree. Side note: I totally have been measuring the angles of everything since purchasing a digital inclinometer, its fascinating lol. At any rate, this is the actual pinion angle I got. Driveshaft is at 7.4 degrees. I definitely think the tech put my shims in wrong but even then, if you remove the 2 degree shim that means they should of only used a 1 degree shim to get close to the 5.2 in the TSB. I explained this to my dealer and also explained that I do not think having a pinion angle matching the drive shaft is good for a u-joint style shaft (should match the t-case flange angle resulting in parallel offset). I also explained that this could explain the high speed vibes I have now and I'm concerned about long term bearing and seal wear. Typically that matching angle is reserved for double cordon/CV shafts. I could feel the eye rolls through the phone. Ive done a few axle setups on my jeep and all have been vibe free. I feel this shouldn't be such a battle and I've totally lost confidence in them. It goes in Monday (again) but their first response was to balance the tires.. again. Good times.

My suggestion to you is request to speak with the technician that is going to do the work. Have the TSB in hand and go step by step with him so both of you are on the same page.

I think there is a common misunderstanding of what the TSB says to do. The first time the TSB was done on my truck the tech set the pinion angle 0.3°. After taking it back they changed nothing so I went to another dealer who did it correctly. I have spoken with an independent driveline tech who said with this driveshaft design the pinion flange angle should match the angle of the flange at the output of the transfer case/transmission, that way they are one the same plane. Spicer's website has a more detailed measurement process for checking driveline angles.
https://spicerparts.com/calculators/driveline-operating-angle-calculator

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