Drivetrain vibration in a 1996 Ranger XLT 2WD with a manual transmission.

[dale3858]

I have a bad vibration at certain speeds in 3rd, 4th, and 5th gears. Right at the speed that I go most of the time, (50-55mph) it's quite bad in 5th gear. I had this same problem with an S-10 a few years back, the more things we tried to fix, the worse it got until eventually it wasn't drivable anymore, so I had to give it away.

I'm disabled so I have no money to do that kind of process of elimination anymore just to never find the problem. It has the steady bearing and 2 drive shafts. Has anyone ever heard of replacing it with one drive shaft?

The truck was garaged it's entire life and not used in the winter for the last 7 years, it's cherry in every way except this vibration. The throwout bearing is a little noisy when it's idling, I don't think that's the problem.

Somebody, please help me.
Thanks,
Dale

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the Ranger section.

 

[RangerX]

It has the steady bearing and 2 drive shafts. Has anyone ever heard of replacing it with one drive shaft?

Hey Dale,
You have the 2-piece shaft with the carrier bearing? You must have a Supercab. I've heard of people replacing it with a one piece, but I can't remember if it's a stock shaft off another Ford, or a custom made one. Maybe it's just the carrier bearing itself gone bad? Maybe there's a dent in the shaft, or a weight came off?
Can you get under there yourself and take a look, and grab the driveshaft and give it some lateral pulls to check for play?
Also, maybe get the balance checked on your tires? I like to try the simple and cheap stuff first.

 

[Steve Radke]

Drive Shaft

Dale First thing the shaking could be your tires a belt in the tire could be bad some times there hard to see you may have to jack it up and spin the tire and eye ball for out of round then if there ok start at each U joint and the carrier try and move shaft with your hands or maybe some one else could help if those are OK go to tailshaft on tranny same deal check for to much movement if thats ok make sure Transmisson is not loose from engine You can check that by holding tailshaft and wiggle it and look for gaps were tranny bolts to engine While your checking tires check to make sure one rim or the other is not bent All of this is free if its a nU joint then there you have it If it shifts good then it should be in the drive line. Good Luck.