Need Help With Vehicle Hop!

[mikebarrows23]

Ok, so I have a 2003 mazda b4000 4x4 auto 4.0 v6. Iv'e done alot of work over the past month including, new Cooper Discoverer AT/3 oversized tires, 4 new Rancho RS9000 xl Shocks, New upper control arms with ball joints and New Sway Bar Links and a front end alignment. The truck has a hop while driving at any speed, the faster I go the worse it gets, not completely unbarable but still a hop, almost like a broken belt in the tires. But the hop has been there before I did all of the recent work. No shake or shimmy in the steering wheel, just a hop. I tried manually shifting and turning the overdrive on & off but still no difference. I should menchon that my 4x4 transfer case is bad and that is the next thing I will replace. Any ideas as to what the hop might be coming from?

 

[adsm08]

Is it stuck in 4x4? That's what is sounds like to me. Take the front shaft out and see if it goes away.


Also, "menchon"? Really? It's spelled "mention".

 

[mikebarrows23]

Nope, not in 4x4, I drive the truck daily and I can spin the one rear wheel. When I try to put the truck in 4x4, the instant I accelerate it jumps out of 4x4, that's a whole nother problem, just going to buy a used transfer case. Do you think maybe the transfer case has something to do with the hop, I though it might be but I'm not quite sure, still excluding things. I just purchased a fabricated diff cover from ruffstuffspecialties, so when I install it I'm going to look at the rear diff, axles and leaf springs...

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Hmmm... well i was going to say it could be the tires, I know the shop I was working at was selling them and a fair few people came back complaining of a hop even with perfectly balanced tires. That was the only reason I didn't get a set. But if it was there before... Hmmm...

 

[mikebarrows23]

Hmmm... well i was going to say it could be the tires, I know the shop I was working at was selling them and a fair few people came back complaining of a hop even with perfectly balanced tires. That was the only reason I didn't get a set. But if it was there before... Hmmm...

Yeah, from day 1 with fair tires, original shocks and what apeared to be original everything, the truck has 179k miles, hense the main reason I went and replaced the tires, ball joints, shocks...Also hoping the new parts would get rid of the hop. I just thought maybe someone else has a similar issue with there truck. Like I said before, I'm going to replace the rear end cover within the week, so that will give me a chance to look at the rear end, axles, leaf springs, driveshaft and also the trans & engine mounts. I asked the ford dealer the other day what they thought of my situation and they said "that is just a typical characteristic of the ford ranger/mazda b-series" ha, maybe that should have been in the brochure!

 

[Original_Ranger84]

I don't think I have ever been in a ranger that hopped a little, it bounced alot due to the stiffer suspension but never hopped, and this was comparing 7 different rangers that family and friends own.

Perhaps its in the wheels if you never changed those, like maybe the bolt pattern on one of them doesn't seat properly and causes it it bounce a little. It wouldn't take much.

 

[mikebarrows23]

I don't think I have ever been in a ranger that hopped a little, it bounced alot due to the stiffer suspension but never hopped, and this was comparing 7 different rangers that family and friends own.

Perhaps its in the wheels if you never changed those, like maybe the bolt pattern on one of them doesn't seat properly and causes it it bounce a little. It wouldn't take much.

I thought that too. I got my wheels and tires balanced the other day after installing the new tires and I also got the front end aligned after installing the front upper control arms with ball joints. I came home and took the wheels off, sanded down the hub surface and made sure the lug nuts where fully seated. I'm thinking maybe a wheel is still out of round, not bent but maybe oval shaped...? Also I do have the shocks set up rather stiff, the truck tends to ride better under stiffer settings, if they are set to comfort, the truck takes the bumps pretty bad.