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rangerenthiusiast
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2016
- Messages
- 553
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Hudson Valley, NY
- Vehicle Year
- 1992
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 4.0
- Transmission
- Automatic
Hey, folks.
As the title says, I just bought a 1992 Ranger (4WD, 4.0 Automatic) and while bringing it home, noticed a bad vibration starting at about 45 MPH. I usually take any vehicle out on the highway before buying, but it was raining the day I went to look at her and i just needed to stop shopping for trucks. The guy I bought it from was kind of shifty, so I’m not really all that surprised that there are problems right off the bat. Luckily, I paid 1500 bucks for her, so it’s not a huge hit, but still.
Anyway, my first thought was that maybe it was an unbalanced driveshaft (had this problem on a previous vehicle years ago and it feels similar). Then I thought of other things like a bent rim, bent axle (please god, no), glazed rotors (the brakes were changed just before I bought it), or an unbalanced rim (since one of them seems to be missing any lead weights on the outside).
But then about halfway home, I noticed that the 4x4 light came on and went off a few times, and wasn’t terribly responsive when I pushed the 4x4 button on and off. I also noticed that it seemed like the front wheels might be kicking a little sand when I took off from a stop sign. The truck has that stupid electronic 4 wheel drive with automatic hubs, which I have no experience with at all.
Any thoughts of where to start? Maybe taking it to a tire shop to check the balance on the rims?
Thanks a bunch.
As the title says, I just bought a 1992 Ranger (4WD, 4.0 Automatic) and while bringing it home, noticed a bad vibration starting at about 45 MPH. I usually take any vehicle out on the highway before buying, but it was raining the day I went to look at her and i just needed to stop shopping for trucks. The guy I bought it from was kind of shifty, so I’m not really all that surprised that there are problems right off the bat. Luckily, I paid 1500 bucks for her, so it’s not a huge hit, but still.
Anyway, my first thought was that maybe it was an unbalanced driveshaft (had this problem on a previous vehicle years ago and it feels similar). Then I thought of other things like a bent rim, bent axle (please god, no), glazed rotors (the brakes were changed just before I bought it), or an unbalanced rim (since one of them seems to be missing any lead weights on the outside).
But then about halfway home, I noticed that the 4x4 light came on and went off a few times, and wasn’t terribly responsive when I pushed the 4x4 button on and off. I also noticed that it seemed like the front wheels might be kicking a little sand when I took off from a stop sign. The truck has that stupid electronic 4 wheel drive with automatic hubs, which I have no experience with at all.
Any thoughts of where to start? Maybe taking it to a tire shop to check the balance on the rims?
Thanks a bunch.
