So I have a bit of a problem with a shake I can't figure out.
It's more annoying than anything but I am also planning a 4k-5k mile trip with it this in about 4-6 weeks.

2007 Ranger FX4 Auto - Just under 100K miles

I do not know how long the shake has actually been there but noticed it back in Nov '15 when I got new tires installed onto the stock rims.

Shake is felt at about 40mph+ and by 80 I can hear loose change rattling.
No shake in steering wheel.
No shake or pulsing in brake peddle
Shake felt in seat - passenger can also feel shake

Told the shop that replaced the tires and they checked re-balanced and road force balanced the tires. I sandblasted & painted the rear shaft and replace the rear shaft U-Joints in summer 2014. The shop replaced the rear shaft U-Joints again in Nov '15 trying to diagnose the shake. They said shake was gone but I still felt it. They than drove it with the rear shaft out and said shake was gone with rear shaft out (read below - shake still there).

Tonight I removed the rear shaft and went for a ride (in front wheel drive). The shake seemed slightly less but still there at 40-50. I dropped it in N at 40mph on a down hill and shake was still there. Road is fairly smooth and do not feel any shake on same road in my car or the wife's car.

I looked at the front shaft and it is real rusty. The back half of the shaft has lots of scale on it and the front half is rusty but not scaly.

Is front shaft removal the next step? Can it be driven with front shaft out? I think it can but not positive.

Thoughts?

Thank you

 

my daughter has a 97 mountaineer awd and the front shaft was took off a long time ago and she drives it every day

 

After you sandblasted and repainted the driveshaft, did you have it rebalanced? Idk if maybe the sandblasted and painted could've changed the weight enough to imbalance it? It's odd that the problem showed up after the new tires though....I've had the balancing weight fall off my rims before...

 

Well, if the problem started just after the new tires were installed, then it's gotta be a defective tire. No type of balancing can offset the out-of-round caused by a fissure in the plys or some other defect.

Test by replacing each tire in turn with a known good wheel (spare?). Then take it for a test drive after each replacement. If you have a bad tire, then you should be able to track it down that way.

 

Thank you all.

Wife seems to think shake was there before tires were changed and I just can't remember.

Spare is original from '07 and you can see rust bubbling under the paint on the rim and tire is a tan color.

I plan to remove the front shaft and rotate tires one side at a time to see if anything changes.

 

Did you sync the u joints?

 

Not knowing what that is I will say no.

But a shop changed them last.

But the shake is still there with the rear shaft out.

 

+1 ... I'd just take it back to the tire shop and tell them you have a vibration. Could be they just didn't get a tire balanced right.

 

Brought it back to shop. They could not feel the vibration. Took the mechanic for a ride on the highway and he could feel it at 60. Said it was most likely drivetrain.

Now a bit of a kicker.

On the way home after the truck wormed up I could feel the vibration better and at 40mph. It did not continue to get worse I could just feel it more and it was more consistent.

This might get expensive.

 

I'm a longtime BMW guy, and on those cars a 60 mph shimmy points to control arms, of which the ball joint is part. I had a ball joint replaced on my Ranger around 110K miles, and as I recall the cost wasn't too bad at all. A couple hundred, maybe.

 

So here is where I am at.
6 bills at the shop. The checked all links, bushings, mounts etc on the front end. Did a trans, transfer case and rear end service. Did not do front end due to it needing to be dropped to change fluid.
Ran with front shaft out and vibration still there.
Replaced front shaft and u joint with used shaft and new u joint. Shake still there.

I decided to pull the rear shaft again and drop it off at the drveline shop. The spun it up and asked me if I had any teeth left as the rear shaft was so far out. They put in New u joints (the ones in it were about 2-3 months old yet bad) fixed a few other parts re-balanced and now it should be a lot better but not perfect on balance.

Truck still had vibration with rear shaft out while work was being done.

I'll be putting the rear shaft in this weekend and see how it goes. I'm thinking I will be bringing the front shaft to the Driveline shop after I save up some more car fund money.

 

You don't need to drop the front end to change the diff. oil. It's commonly sucked out with a small hand pump thru the fill hole. That's what the factory recommends.

Regarding the vibration, I tend to agree with Mr Graybeard. If your front end ball joints haven't been replaced then I would suspect them, regardless of what a mechanic has told you. You have pretty much eliminated everything else, I think, and my own Rangers have all worn out the front ball joints before 100k.

 

I once got a out of round tire at Sears that they shaved the OD on, to get it's OD concentric with the wheel & that finally got the vibration put right.
So since your problem wasn't there Before the new tires & all the rebalancing routines & new parts haven't yielded joy, put a out of round molded tread on your suspect list.
To confirm, you could swap out one rear tire at a time to find out if a tire is the problem. Begin with the tire on the side that the vibration seems strongest on. If the vibration moves with the tire, you have your suspect assembly.
It could be a belt problem, or maybe a bent wheel, they could have done it when dismounting the old tire, or mounting the new one.
More thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.