ranger shimmies

[wildbill]

I have a 97 Ranger 4X4 extended cab, with an Eagle and airbags. It has always started to vibrate and shudder over 65mph. Just had it aligned and new ball joints on the front and thought that might allow me to do more than 65, but the shudder is still there over 65. It gets pretty bad over 70. So, I just drive around 65, but would like to go faster. My mechanic thinks it's just the weight on the truck. It goes along okay, but would sure be nice to do 75 on the interstate. Any ideas out there or similar experience?

 

[pods8]

Just to clear out the low hanging fruit, have you had the tires balanced and checked for out of round?

 

[wildbill]

Just to clear out the low hanging fruit, have you had the tires balanced and checked for out of round?


No, I haven't. Mechanic didn't think it was tire related, but I probably should rule that out. Thanks. About time for new tires anyway.

 

[Barko1]

I wonder about the drive shaft. I know one of mine was installed out of synch. If it has always done it?? maybe not the tires. Drive shaft specialist might take a peek.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/vibrations.htm
Here is another, mine had been reinstalled out of phase, simple fix. http://books.google.com/books?id=o-MDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=drive+shaft+imbalance&source=bl&ots=QaQ22DXuFu&sig=lCJwkrKfCiFoj_CEM1zeNXDalJ8&hl=en&ei=IaM4TZDQGZKisAPBkb23Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=drive%20shaft%20imbalance&f=false

 

[ntsqd]

2 or 4WD?
If 4 then I'd also have a good look at the shocks. Twin Traction Beam's (which yours is the last year of as I recently learned) are hard on shocks in that they need a lot of damping. Marginal shocks might work on other suspensions, but not here. I would suggest going to a gas charged mono-tube type shock (Bilstein, Fox, etc.).

I know nothing about the 2WD's, but if it is a Twin I Beam then the above applies to it too.

 

[cwdtmmrs]

I would bet money, marbles or chalk it is the tires. Have them checked and balanced, and not by just anyone with a tire balancer. Find a good wheel shop that has a Hunter 9600 balancer. What a difference. I doubt if the problem is shocks or drive shaft. Bad shocks will usually cause the tires to "scallop" on the outside edges and driveshaft balance issues normally show up @ 45mph or so. Also check the wheel bearing play with the tire off of the ground and see how much play there is when you rock the tire from the top and bottom. You should be able to "feel" the smallest bit of movement. If you see movement...that is too much.

CWD

 

[pods8]

I had a 99' ranger with similar and when you ran your hands over the tires you could feel them having high/low spots. That is why I mentioned it as low hanging fruit to quickly/cheaply check. From there the other players can start getting investigated.

Edit: Also on my new truck I had a shimmy at higher speeds as well, turns out the previous owner had dumped a couple cans of "fix a flat" in one of the tires. Got that removed and it smoothed right out.

 

[Lighthawk]

Does it 'shudder' without the camper? I had a shudder-like sensation at similar speeds which mostly went away when I installed a faring to deflect wind from the gap between my Hawk and 06 Tundra.

 

[kcowyo]

If the tires check out ok, the next thing I would check is the U-joint in the driveshaft... Out of round & out of balance tires vibrate more at lower speeds (25mph - 45mph) while a bad U-joint is noticeable at higher speeds, like on the interstate. At least that's been my experience with mysterious vibrations...

It's easy enough to check - crawl under the truck & see if you can turn the drive shaft at all. Any play in it is a sign that the U-joint is wearing out. Fairly common and an inexpensive fix if that's the issue.
.

 

[cwdtmmrs]

If the tires check out ok, the next thing I would check is the U-joint in the driveshaft... Out of round & out of balance tires vibrate more at lower speeds (25mph - 45mph) while a bad U-joint is noticeable at higher speeds, like on the interstate. At least that's been my experience with mysterious vibrations...


kcowyo...I am 180* from this. I think tire issues show up at speed and u-joint/driveshaft balance issues show up around 45mph. The magic number for tires is 60-65 mph.

CWD

 

[wildbill]

Thanks for all the input. Turns out it was tires. Had plenty of tread, but we're just getting too old to be safe. New tires and it's smooth sailing. Thanks.

 

[pods8]

Thanks for all the input. Turns out it was tires. Had plenty of tread, but we're just getting too old to be safe. New tires and it's smooth sailing. Thanks.


Always check the low hanging items (and often the usual culprit) first.