You spin me round.....top gear blues

[doctordeeptrack]

This 2011 4x4 4.0L is my second ranger. the first was a 2wd. in this 4x4 at 60 mph I'm spinning 2200 rpm. Am I really in top gear or is this tranny acting up? I hit the OD button on the shift lever and indeed the rpm goes up about 300. I just figured the cruising rpm would be more like 1500 but maybe I'm dreaming. The tranny guy says it seems ok but we both noticed loud continuous low freq. road noise. I thought it was off road tires he says maybe front wheel bearing. How difficult are front wheel bearings. do i need a press? It has 85K on the odo. is it time for bearings anyway? This rpm thing bugs me it just sounds and feels like the motor is working way too hard at 60 or 70

 

[sgtsandman]

This 2011 4x4 4.0L is my second ranger. the first was a 2wd. in this 4x4 at 60 mph I'm spinning 2200 rpm. Am I really in top gear or is this tranny acting up? I hit the OD button on the shift lever and indeed the rpm goes up about 300. I just figured the cruising rpm would be more like 1500 but maybe I'm dreaming. The tranny guy says it seems ok but we both noticed loud continuous low freq. road noise. I thought it was off road tires he says maybe frond wheel bearing. How difficult are front wheel bearings. do i need a press? It has 85K on the odo. is it time for bearings anyway? This rpm thing bugs me it just so and sounds and feels like the motor is working way too hard at 60 or 70

The front bearings are a bolt in unit, so no press is needed. You may need to knock the old bearing unit out and clean up the hole to put the new bearing unit in. The ABS sensor is usually part of the assembly. So you don't need to worry about doing anything other than unplug the wire and undo a couple of holders for the wire. I believe the assembly also comes with a new hub.

You will need to undo the axle nut. So, you will need a bigger torque wrench and an axle nut size socket. The socket is a 36mm, I think. I forget the axle nut torque. Something like 250 or 300 lbs-ft. The job isn't too bad compared to pressed in bearings.

As far as the transmission, I have a manual. So I have no frame of reference on where the RPM should be. The gear ratio in the axles will play a part in that with 3.73:1 being lower than 4.10:1.