Shaking Ranger Syndrome

[godbout.t]

Ok, so i was in a front end accident not too long ago (Feb) and so far i have cleaned up my ranger from a smashed piece of metal to somewhat nice, but there is still a problem.

When traveling 65-75mph on the high way, the cabin has a pretty bad vibration where the seats shake but not the wheel. Its like a massage chair from hell. Also i noticed that when driving with the windows down, it is significantly less than with them closed...

Also, when driving at a more slowly speed anywhere from 10mph-40mph i can hear (with the windows down) a distinct"rubbing noise like "shug,shug,shug,shug..." from the rear...the faster i go the quicker it repeats.

Now i know my front tie rods are out and im replacing them this weekend. Also, i still have a massive dent in my hood(which will be replaced when i paint the spare)

Anyone know what else could be the culprit of the vibration and noises??????

 

[kemo]

Swap a rear tire to the front and see if it moves with it. My rear end shook like all hell... the tires were separating and the cords were showing from UNDER the tread. I had about 50% of tread left, but it was just a terrible tire... Goodyear doesn't make them anymore

Could be a tire out of balance.

 

[godbout.t]

well i just got the tires re-installed at walmart and its persisted before and after that...but i can have them rebalance

 

[kemo]

I dont know what could be making the rubbing noise. My last ranger, the sheet metal surrounding my gas tank was rubbing my drive shaft... that drove me NUTS! Best thing you can really do is check for obvious signs for whatever is rubbing. Check the inside of the wheels, inside of the tires for rubbing/wear, anything the drive shaft could be rubbing and so on.

 

[fordwheelinman]

Might check your drive shaft for bad ujoint. When mine went out in my explorer it shook the heck out of everything, but not the wheel. Loose driveshaft bolts did that to my one too.

 

[godbout.t]

how would i check if that were loose?

and my wheel does shake a little, but not nearly as much as my seats.

and the moise kind of corresponds with the vibrations....it really is a weird issue lol

 

[feellnfroggy]

I bent a driveshaft once and had the same issue, but youo could have a bent axleshaft in the rear. Best thing to do is compare one side to the other and look for differences or find a buddy wth the same year truck and start digging around. Also I dont know if our trucks are like the mustangs, but mustang driveshafts have to be mounted a certain way, if it rotated 1.4 turn off then its outta balance, look at where the rear of your driveshaft mounts into the pumpkin at teh 4 bolts and look at the rust dirt pattern, try unbolting it rotate 1/4 turn and rebolt and see if that helps, its worth a shot.

 

[godbout.t]

ok so i switched wheels the rear and the front and havent noticed a big difference in the shake.