...Driving Me Crazy.., Need Help w 1996 Ranger...

[Reality of Sorrow]

...Constant vibration while in drive (felt mostly under drivers side seat).., vibration at around 30mph under load.., no vibration when no gas is going to engine... U joints are good.., carrier bearing is stable... There is also a "clunking" noise while in any gear but it goes away after several tire revolutions... Tires are inflated properly... Last balance and alignment was about 2 years ago... I was thinking tires imbalanced... This happened suddenly... Any thoughts? Thanks! I also have video tape of the noise if needed... 96 Ford Ranger V6, 3.0L, 209K miles... Thanks for the help!

Youtube Video Uploaded:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6cb5y_54Jw

 

[509lifted]

u might need to get ur tires balanced cause my friends jeep vibrated really bad and shee took it in and there was one weight missing and they rebalanced them and the bibratoin went away or u could need new break pads after i changed mine the vibration went away

 

[Reality of Sorrow]

...I was thinking imbalanced tires also or drivetrain needs balancing... Funny thing is.., it happened all of a sudden.., was perfect before hand... But this is only problem #1... Thanks for the insight!

 

[JC 97]

First thing I would do is remove that heat shield.Second,did you remove the driveshaft and inspect u-joints and carrier bearing? if not remove and inspect for too much slop or tightness.It is possible that you threw a wheel weight but I would check the other things first.

 

[adsm08]

You may have thrown a wheel weight.

Might have a clod of mud stuck on a wheel too.

I'd probably start by checking the front end for loose parts and then balancing the tires.

 

[straycat]

If you can't figure it out, go to a tire shop and heve them check it out. It could get really bad and you don't want that. Look for a missing balance weight on one of the wheels and look for something stuck in a tire, or stuck to the back of the wheels...muck for instance. Could be a bearing going out as well.

 

[press 1 for english]

...Constant vibration while in drive (felt mostly under drivers side seat).., vibration at around 30mph under load.., no vibration when no gas is going to engine... U joints are good.., carrier bearing is stable... There is also a "clunking" noise while in any gear but it goes away after several tire revolutions... Tires are inflated properly... Last balance and alignment was about 2 years ago... I was thinking tires imbalanced... This happened suddenly... Any thoughts? Thanks! I also have video tape of the noise if needed... 96 Ford Ranger V6, 3.0L, 209K miles... Thanks for the help!

Youtube Video Uploaded:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6cb5y_54Jw

The youtube video was worthless, trucks with 200,000+ miles all make noises. Sounded like a heat shield rattle to me, but that ain't the problem.
Start with the easiest thing first, balance the wheels.