I guess this is normal for a Ranger

[reno]

I put my truck back together for now, I could not press out the ball joints, so i guess the shop will have to do it. But I got it together and locked it in 4 Hi went down a trail and all seems fine, then i decide to punch it, on the front end it sounded like spinning your tires on a tree root, so i went a little further to where I know there is no tree roots and tried it again, same sound. Does the Ranger Dana 35's normally make this noise under torque? I always had Full size 4X4's and never heard this, of course those vehicles also had dual exhaust with glass packs exiting just before the rear tires, so hearing much of anything was unheard of (no pun intended).

 

[pillen140]

you sure it wasnt your tires spinning?

 

[reno]

That is what I figured, but after everything I just went through, I am making sure, finally have a 4 wheel drive Ranger instead of a 3 wheel drive (I replaced the P.S. axle).

 

[brendank]

No, funny noises like that are not normal. I would suggest putting the truck up on stands and letting the tires spin slowly in gear. This should at least allow you to find the source of your problems.

 

[reno]

Well that's just it, at a slow speed no noise, speed up no noise, jump on it and there is that noise. I think like pillen140 said, probably just the tires spinning and trying to grab traction,was no mud or sand, just good hard dry soil.

Only other thing I can think is the slip joint teeth are worn and is causing my replacement axle to slip, I hope not, never thought of looking in the slip first. Just one of those things, you are tired,frustrated and just wanting to get done, not normal if ya forget something. Even if I would have seen the teeth worn, not much I could have done, do not have an extra one.

 

[rickcdewitt]

No, funny noises like that are not normal. I would suggest putting the truck up on stands and letting the tires spin slowly in gear. This should at least allow you to find the source of your problems.

+1
jack it up and listen to it at different speeds but watch out and don't get hurt.i'm sorry to say it reno but it sounds like you know just enough about your truck to be dangerous.don't worry though you'll need to break some stuff to get an education on it.just be SAFE while you are messing around.

 

[reno]

I pulled the D.S. axle to inspect it as well, but not sure about this, does it have to be in Phase or put in a certain way? I just put it back in. I lost some fluid from the differential, not much, maybe 1 to 2 ounces.
I don't think I'll worry much about it right now, it's in 2 wd more than it is in 4wd, and I don't play hard anymore, mainly offroad trails during hunting season. I will probably goto a mud hole you pay to get in, my kids have been wanting to do this for ever so I guess I'll go once and play. When I pull the knuckles off again to do the ball Joints, I'll inspect the slip joint,if it turns out to be bad, I guess I'll have to put the old stripped axle back in and wait until I get another axle from the Diff to the slip. I am not looking forward to this.

 

[dougs3.0L98]

I pulled the D.S. axle to inspect it as well, but not sure about this, does it have to be in Phase or put in a certain way? I just put it back in. I lost some fluid from the differential, not much, maybe 1 to 2 ounces.
I don't think I'll worry much about it right now, it's in 2 wd more than it is in 4wd, and I don't play hard anymore, mainly offroad trails during hunting season. I will probably goto a mud hole you pay to get in, my kids have been wanting to do this for ever so I guess I'll go once and play. When I pull the knuckles off again to do the ball Joints, I'll inspect the slip joint,if it turns out to be bad, I guess I'll have to put the old stripped axle back in and wait until I get another axle from the Diff to the slip. I am not looking forward to this.

if you don't figure it out after doing all that, try the transfer case chain. My truck had the same sounds when i gave it a lot of gas in 4x4 low or hi. i took it to a friend that owns a transmission shop and he said the chain was stretched out. i haven't had the money to fix it yet though. i have other things going on with the truck that i need first so for now i have a 2 wheel drive.

 

[reno]

Yeah, after work I have to take this tool I rented back to A.Z., A seal that they sold me that is the wrong one and I guess I'll wait on the Ball joints for now. Just going to have to save my pennies again. I need the money for other things right now. Ball joints are in the extreme beginning stages of going bad. I don't do A lot of rough driving with it, stay away from water and extreme deep holes, I don't see why they would not hold up for a few months. I am even looking for all terrain tires to put on the truck to get the mudders off the highway and stop all the push pull that goes with large mud tires, plus hopefully will give me a little better gas mileage. I get about 12-13mpg hwy now, but probably from the worn wheel bearings dragging the truck caused a lot of the poor fuel economy.