New here - Need some help

[johnnybravo234]

Hello. Mustang enthusiast here now stepping into the realm of 4x4 rangers.

I'm having an issue with vibration in the steering wheel in my 2007 ranger. It starts to pick up after 50 mph but you can feel a slight vibration at lower speeds. It has brand new tires and I had the truck aligned and the tires already rebalanced/rotated without a change. I also personally inspected them for damage. Last night on my way home from work I decided to pull into a parking lot and do some sharp turns to see if I could hear any wheel bearing or other noises from the front end. It seemed like there was some brake scuffing coming from the drivers side front wheel as I made a sharp turns. After that I was pretty set on my diagnosis of a failing wheel bearing although there isn't any grinding/howling under normal driving. This morning I jacked the truck up and couldnt find any play from the 12/6 positions. I then got my prybar out to see if I could find play anywhere else. When I apply pressure to the inner cv shaft that goes into the differential it has a decent amount of slop on both sides. Is this normal? I just bought the truck a couple weeks ago and have a warranty but the dealership is really grimy and is going to give me the "Everything is normal" BS if I don't shove the problem in their faces. I almost want to do the work myself since they will probably install the cheapest parts as possible. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[06RangerXLT]

your cv joint is gone bad. im not sure if its bearings in there or what, but my dads cts had the same problem. there should be no slop. so as your speed increases it causes wheel shake. 50 mph is when its oscillating enough to make it very noticeable.

another cause could be a bent rim. check both before doing anything.

 

[johnnybravo234]

The noise I heard that I thought was the wheel bearing was actually the power steering pump. I took another look at the cv join today with the wheel off. There is oil leaking out of the differential on the drivers side. I'm thinking the cv joint and the differential bearing or whatever both need some work. I will be calling the dealership tomorrow. Thanks for the help. I will let you know what happens.

 

[jsmith]

Like said, it is your CV. That happens a lot with lowered cars as the axle will be too long for the control arm. The vibration is from the joint. The slop causes the shaft to bounce around where it goes into the front case and the oil coming out is because the seal and boot are of course loose due to the slack. Not sure if my terminology is correct, but you get the idea.

Its not a hard fix, I did it about a year ago on my sisters Scion tC. I changed the whole axle because she needed a shorter one due to lowering the car, but it doesn't take that long and isn't hard at all.

 

[johnnybravo234]

I know what you are saying but I dont think its the actual inner cv joint. The boot appears to be fine and the oil is literally leaking out of the front differential where the axle goes into it. There is no actual slop in the cv. The slop is where the axle shaft goes into the differential. I dont know if its the axle shaft or the differential or both that are worn..

Sorry for posting this in the wrong area.