Vibration at take off

[Chief Malone]

Update, Dealer replaced driveshaft and still had the same issue, paperwork states “Ford advised to stop further repairs” service writer(who I do trust completely) said they are aware of the issue and I will most likely get a recall notice. I’m disappointed but have owned fords my entire driving life and believe they will figure it out.

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[shred5]

Update, Dealer replaced driveshaft and still had the same issue, paperwork states “Ford advised to stop further repairs” service writer(who I do trust completely) said they are aware of the issue and I will most likely get a recall notice. I’m disappointed but have owned fords my entire driving life and believe they will figure it out.

I agree they will figure it out.
That is why i think I am lucky I got the Colorado when I did and waited till Ford works out the bugs.
Like I said before my next truck is long term and I have never had luck with a Chevy long term even though I love my Colorado..
Chevy just never acknowledges issues. The first year and the last year of a model will have the same issues.

But honestly doubt I would buy a Ranger if I felt this vibration.. That would drive me nuts so i hope they do.

What is weird is I did not feel it when I test drove it.. But then again I was focused on how the 4 cyl felt more than anything and we did not go far.. When it came time to buy I was going to take it on a much longer drive.

 

[Chief Malone]

I agree they will figure it out.
That is why i think I am lucky I got the Colorado when I did and waited till Ford works out the bugs.
Like I said before my next truck is long term and I have never had luck with a Chevy long term even though I love my Colorado..
Chevy just never acknowledges issues. The first year and the last year of a model will have the same issues.

But honestly doubt I would buy a Ranger if I felt this vibration.. That would drive me nuts so i hope they do.

What is weird is I did not feel it when I test drove it.. But then again I was focused on how the 4 cyl felt more than anything and we did not go far.. When it came time to buy I was going to take it on a much longer drive.

It only happens at take off between 1700-2200 rpm then stops, if it was a manual trans I would say it was clutch chatter

 

[Texasota]

Hi Al,

Yes...it is endemic of a two piece driveshaft design...The question is how severe is it? A noticeable vibration that you notice vs. an objectionable vibration is key here. We have battled this vibration ever since I can remember with two piece driveshafts. One thing you can do is to have the vehicle on a level surface, parking brake set...is to loosen the center bearing bolts, bounce the front and rear of the vehicle. Tighten the bolts again...It may help... Also, check the phasing of the two shafts. All the u joints should be in the same plane. That is if the front shaft Joint is at 10 O'Clock, then the rear front and rear joint of the second shaft should also be at 10 O'Clock..

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

Phil, when this vibration is present is it causing any damage that will lead to premature bearing failure or damage to other components? Do you have any idea what percentage of Rangers are experiencing this? I am guessing many Rangers don't have this vibration or there would be a lot more howling from owners here on this forum. Does yours have the take off vibration?

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Phil, when this vibration is present is it causing any damage that will lead to premature bearing failure or damage to other components? Do you have any idea what percentage of Rangers are experiencing this? I am guessing many Rangers don't have this vibration or there would be a lot more howling from owners here on this forum. Does yours have the take off vibration?

Hi Al,

There is no damage to worry about, it is an NVH (Noise,Vibration,Harshness) issue inherent with a two piece design. The dealer needs to inspect to ensure that the driveline is in phase, first and then there is one possible help and that is to have the dealership neutralized the driveline by loosening the center bearing bolts and the engine mounts and bouncing the vehicle agressively, then re-tightening the bolts. If this helps good, it not, there might be a process for the dealer to shim the center bearing and evaluate if it improves the startup shudder.

This is a customer irritation more than a concern that premature failure will occur.

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

 

[Tracy Bowman]

Mine does not have the vibration.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Mine does not have the vibration.

Hi Tracy,

I can make mine do it if I jump on it, but with a very light foot on the accelerator pedal it does not do it. My day of the jackrabbit starts are almost over as my pace at 70 years old is about like our tortoise is....slow...

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

 

[Tracy Bowman]

Hi Tracy,

I can make mine do it if I jump on it, but with a very light foot on the accelerator pedal it does not do it. My day of the jackrabbit starts are almost over as my pace at 70 years old is about like our tortoise is....slow...

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

Me too, but I've been known to mash that accelerator down pretty good occasionally (showing off, I admit). Just can't help it...love my Ranger!

 

[Allenfrx]

Phil.

Something didn't feel right so before I went any further I went to may favorite tire and wheel shop which just happens to be the local good year.

None of the 4 wheels were balanced and neither of the front wheels were aligned.

They couldn't believe I even drove it that way much less 800 miles.

Rides like a cadillac now compared to what it was doing.

So much for "Ford dealer installed" quality.....

To be fair it was a 3rd party truck shop that did the work.

Think driving it like that did any damage?

Hi Allen,

What you are describing is more than start up shudder. Are you sure the driveshafts are in phase? If so then it likely is a balance issue with one or both of the driveshafts..If you inspect around the rear u joint to pinion flange and at the front u joint to center bearing, see if it appears that a balance weight has been thrown. Usually these weights are spot welded and you would see just the weld locations and the weight would be missing. Do the same for the front driveshaft. I recommend taking it to the dealer for a check out as you are in different gears to keep the revs up and that indicates it is not tire imbalance as the tires are at different rpms in different gears, but some folks do confuse tire balance with driveshaft balance...

There is a service trick that can be done too. Put two hose clamps around the rear driveshaft with both heads of the clamps side by side. Drive the vehicle. If worse, clock the pair around the shaft until you feel the imbalance is the lease. Then mark that spot and clock the heads of the clamps in opposite directions equal distance from the mark. Again evaluate. keep clocking in this same manor until the vibration is gone. If this equal clocking makes it worse, you need more weight and add another pair of hose clamps and repeat the equal distance from the mark clocking and see if that helps. I have used this trick before with pretty good results on shafts that clearly show a balance weight was thrown.

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

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Phil.

Something didn't feel right so before I went any further I went to may favorite tire and wheel shop which just happens to be the local good year.

None of the 4 wheels were balanced and neither of the front wheels were aligned.

They couldn't believe I even drove it that way much less 800 miles.

Rides like a cadillac now compared to what it was doing.

So much for "Ford dealer installed" quality.....

To be fair it was a 3rd party truck shop that did the work.

Think driving it like that did any damage?

Hi Allen,

Likely no damage at all. The truck has been over a durability course that would shake the fillings out of your teath for the equivalent of 150,000 miles...so you are just fine! Just the pot hole course for 1000 cycles of both right and left of the vehicle hitting these potholes, steel lined 6 inches deep at 30 mph, Pot holes about 3 foot ball fields in length with a spacing of about 8 inches between holes. It is a vehicle killer... Naw...you did not hurt it at all. No Worries!

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

 

[Chris C.]

Well. There seems to be differing opinions. I'm just glad to see its not only ME, or just MY truck. I don't know what the resolution is going to be, but if they can't resolve it, they'll never get my business again. I'm going to stop worrying about it for a little while. It was taking too much time and effort and quite frankly $$. It is either going to be resolved in one of several ways:
1) Ford will acknowledge and fix
2) It will go away magically on its own (which is what they told me and they HOPE will happen)
3) It will NOT go away, Ford will NOT fix it, and I will be annoyed until I get rid of the truck.
I will say this, I am going to take it to a transmission specialist and ask them to document the issue. I almost freaked out on the salesman when I had him drive it and he said "oh that's just road vibration" lol

 

[Allenfrx]

The MT82 issue on mustangs was far worse. My 2011 CS GT wouldn't ever go into 2nd gear of the temps were below 50F. I lost about $10,000 having to trade that in after only a few months of ownership.

A little shimmy from dead stop I can live with much easier than not having 2nd gear for 6 months out off the year

Well. There seems to be differing opinions. I'm just glad to see its not only ME, or just MY truck. I don't know what the resolution is going to be, but if they can't resolve it, they'll never get my business again. I'm going to stop worrying about it for a little while. It was taking too much time and effort and quite frankly $$. It is either going to be resolved in one of several ways:
1) Ford will acknowledge and fix
2) It will go away magically on its own (which is what they told me and they HOPE will happen)
3) It will NOT go away, Ford will NOT fix it, and I will be annoyed until I get rid of the truck.
I will say this, I am going to take it to a transmission specialist and ask them to document the issue. I almost freaked out on the salesman when I had him drive it and he said "oh that's just road vibration" lol

 

[rdgallo]

Phil, when this vibration is present is it causing any damage that will lead to premature bearing failure or damage to other components? Do you have any idea what percentage of Rangers are experiencing this? I am guessing many Rangers don't have this vibration or there would be a lot more howling from owners here on this forum. Does yours have the take off vibration?

I just picked up my 2020 that was built in late November and it has it. I sure hope there is a fix.

 

[ben8jam]

I just picked up my 2020 that was built in late November and it has it. I sure hope there is a fix.

The fix is to just get used to it, sadly. Airing the tires down helped. I think 91 also helped. And maybe just 800 miles helped too.

 

[Quick]

My truck has this as well, and it's quite annoying. I've also tuned it, in hopes that the higher clamping pressure for the transmission from the tune would help, but it didn't change it at all. This definitely makes me a believer that it's the driveshaft.

I'd be down for a single-piece driveshaft if someone like DSS (Drive Shaft Shop) made one.

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