I have a 98 Ranger 4x4 4l auto I have had the front end alinged, tires ballanced , new shocks, looking at the U joints the look good.Inspecting under the truck looks good ran the truck on the rack to about 35 mph no vibration. Still at about 62 mph it vibrates like hell. I am runninng 265-75 16 on it yhe front tires only have a few hundred miles on them,

 

Don't know if this is your problem but I have heard a lot of people with 98+ rangers that have vibration problems because of bad front hubs.

 

Does the front hub problem come into effect from the factory or is it over age, I have a 2002 4X4 and with 700 miles on it now I feel a little vibration at precisely between 60 and 65 mph, every other speed is ok, This kinda got me thinking about driveshaft ballance (my old Jeep CJ-7 was notorious for this), I am bringing it in next week but just want some ideas.

 

UPDATE: The Problem has been solved. I took the tuck to Ford yesterday.
1.They had to re-ballance the left front tire.
2. They had to dismount the right front tire and turn it a 1/4 turn to get a good ballance on it.
3. The front tires were filled to 50 psi.
4 the rear tires were filled to 30 psi.
5. This costed $90.00 for 1.5 hrs labor.

PS I feel like a dumb *** for not double checking what the tire shop did first, but I trusted this shop.

 

my 98 had the same problem at the same speeds. it turned out to be the drive shaft. new u-joints, straightened and balanced. 117.00
its not four wheel drive though.

 

I have a 03 Ranger Edge 2WD that shakes/vibrates between 40 and 45mph. It does this consistently on acceleration, decleration, smooth roads, etc. and all the nice young gentleman at the dealer could tell me is that there's nothing I can do about it. I beg to differ. I want to find out what might be the problem so I can go back in and have this looked at before my new truck falls apart. They need to train today's mechanics to do something besides read a friggin' computer. I'm not blaming him, I just have a brand new truck that shakes, and I KNOW there is a problem. It seems to shake in the rearend and work its way to the front of the vehicle. On a long trip this weekend it did it suddenly at 70mph and shook the crap out of me and my wife. Think this is the same thing you ran into?

>my 98 had the same problem at the same speeds. it turned
>out to be the drive shaft. new u-joints, straightened and
>balanced. 117.00
>its not four wheel drive though.

 

>I have a 03 Ranger Edge 2WD that shakes/vibrates between 40
>and 45mph. It does this consistently on acceleration,
>decleration, smooth roads, etc. and all the nice young
>gentleman at the dealer could tell me is that there's
>nothing I can do about it. I beg to differ. I want to find
>out what might be the problem so I can go back in and have
>this looked at before my new truck falls apart. They need
>to train today's mechanics to do something besides read a
>friggin' computer. I'm not blaming him, I just have a brand
>new truck that shakes, and I KNOW there is a problem. It
>seems to shake in the rearend and work its way to the front
>of the vehicle. On a long trip this weekend it did it
>suddenly at 70mph and shook the crap out of me and my wife.
>Think this is the same thing you ran into?
>
>>my 98 had the same problem at the same speeds. it turned
>>out to be the drive shaft. new u-joints, straightened and
>>balanced. 117.00
>>its not four wheel drive though.


Man,

your best bet is to take it in to a reputable tire place and make darn sure they balance the tires to 0.00 | 0.00. On 16's most places will only balance them within .50 oz or less. Even .25 oz will make your truck vibrate like hell.

To have a tire shop do a R+B shouldn't run you over 30 bucks.

Good luck!

 

I appreciate the feedback. My opinion is that it isn't the tires since the shaking only seems to happen at specific speeds, but I'll take it back to the dealer and ask them to keep it until it is fixed. But I still hope that someone else has had a similar problem who can help identify what the problem is so I can tell the dealer tech what to llook for. Thanks!

 

Very often tires only cause vibration at specific speeds so don't be fooled. Often times the only cure is to get a complete set of new tires, but get good ones.

Rob