01 ranger eating front driveshafts

[67mike]

hey guys, picked up a 2001 ranger for a little bit of nothing. He said it had a vibration in the front end and his mechanic was not able to figure it out. Well, I drove it and noticed the front driveshaft is locked up at the cv or orbital looking u joint.
Is this a normal thing for the rangers? maybe the hubs are stuck in 4wd or ? Just not sure what's going or where to look.
Its a 2001 with the 3.0 v6 I believe. (That's another question too) with 259k on it.
thank you

 

[RonD]

Yes, the propeller joint on the front drive shaft was a common failure point, especially if truck is lifted, but did fail even if not lifted
Used on 1998 and up Rangers

Google: ford ranger propeller joint

Explorers used the same one
Also called front CV joint but that also includes front axle CV joints, lol

They are rebuildable or you can replace front drive shaft that has new propeller joint installed

2001 and up Ranger 4x4's have always locked front hubs, called "Live Axles"

 

[67mike]

Ron, thanks for the help. It was a brand new prop the previous owner put in. It only had a few hundred miles on it before it locked up.
I wasn't sure if it could be something internally or if it's just an odd occurrence
I'll check it out and follow up

 

[dvdswan]

Welcome to the site.

 

[67mike]

Thank you!

 

[RonD]

Unless the previous owner stretched the truth a bit then it would be an odd occurrence, we are talking years between failures not months

 

[67mike]

No, he didn't lie about it.
It's still shiny and clean in my garage.
I'm going to have to dig into it and see whats wrong with it

 

[RonD]

Yes, because its "new" it is suspect, new now-a-days just means NEVER EVER tested, not "tested/inspected and works"

"WE" want cheap parts, and we get them, lol

 

[sgtsandman]

I know there are kits out there to convert from the CV type joint to a standard universal joint but I'm not sure if that is only for lifted Rangers or not. It might be worth looking into. It might require buying a completely new driveshaft in order to do the conversion as well.

 

[fyre82]

Yes, the propeller joint on the front drive shaft was a common failure point, especially if truck is lifted, but did fail even if not lifted
Used on 1998 and up Rangers

Google: ford ranger propeller joint

Explorers used the same one
Also called front CV joint but that also includes front axle CV joints, lol

They are rebuildable or you can replace front drive shaft that has new propeller joint installed

2001 and up Ranger 4x4's have always locked front hubs, called "Live Axles"

My 2000 1/2 has Live Axles. Ford changed the front end mid model year 2000.
I wanted hubs . . .

 

[RonD]

Yes, I have read of some 4.0l 4x4 Rangers that got Live axles as early as 1999, never seen it just read about it
But the propeller joint was on all 1998 and up Ranger 4x4s, PVH or Live Axle