nautiluscont

I recently did the alum. ford ranger driveshaft mod, had a reputable driveline shop cut, weld, and balance (twice) the shaft and still seem to have a humm/vibration at about 120mph. I have tried spinning the shaft 90degrees & 120degrees and reinstalling and it really doesnt seem to make a lot of difference. Anyone got any suggestions on what may be causing this or how I can fix it.

CrazyAl

Your pinion angle might be off.

I noticed you have the BMR adjustable LCAs: make sure it's set properly. Keep in mind that you have to adjust the pinion angle with the suspension loaded.

Derf00

At what RPM are they balancing your driveshaft?

nautiluscont

Agreed, but I put the stock LCA's on and it still does the same thing. Is a pinion angle adjustment needed just for using an alum. driveshaft? Typically the pinion angle should be between 1 and 2 degrees.

CrazyAl

Your pinion angle is set correctly stock. If you alter your car in any of various different ways, then it will be off. For example, the following things will change your pinion angle:

1-pc driveshaft (as opposed to factory 2-pc)
Different rear springs
different control arms in the rear
...and so on...

Even if your car was totally stock aside from your switch to the 1-pc driveshaft, that alone will alter the pinion angle, becasue the longer 1-pc shaft isn't as "steep" as the factory 2-pc one.


You need to go under the car with a protractor and set the pinion angle using your adjustable LCAs. That's what the're for.

Your BMR LCAs came with directions for measuring and setting this. You can also try calling them and asking...

classj

They also make pinion angle guages made for this purpose.

One thought is that ford did go to the two piece shaft for a reason. I doubt they did it for nothing as it maikes the car more expensive to produce. Maybe there was problem in using a 1 piece in the new stangs?

blowngt

Although a cheaper solution I am not a big fan of the ranger conversions. This is certainly not the first time I have heard this. It's about 50/50 between those with problems and those with none.

The main problem I have with them is the fact they have to be cut to size and welded each time. That just leaves too much room for marginal changes/differences and even marginal changes/differences and off pitches will give you the vibration.

It is better IMO to go with a proven product like the powerhouse drive shaft. You know it is coming perfect when you take it out of the box and you are simply bolting it in. I know dozens of course with this driveshaft and have not heard of a single probelm yet.

The old saying is always true - you get what you pay for.

spyder7724

it's not always about getting what you pay for. you do realize there is more room for error when making an entire shaft from nothing by a small company that makes less 100 a year vs. ford motor company/spicer that makes thousands of these driveshafts and then only altering one yoke.
mike and the guys @ powerhouse make a great product as does justin @ JPC and no doubt they put alot of work into getting their product on the market so i never discourage anyone from buying those driveshafts, but i have gotten feedback from almost every single person thats done the ranger conversion and so far nautilus is the only one who has contacted me regarding any problems. was it a new shaft you started with?
and yes ford did put a two piece shaft in the s197 to reduce vibrations along with hydro mounts everywhere sound deadening and sand filled panhard bar, axle dampeners, back cut ringear, you name it they did it. it was a real problem on this car. i think alot of us have removed or replaced almost everyone of those items at this point....i went through hell with the gears and noise. so we are all bound to encounter this at some point.
anyway nautilus i hope you get it worked out. pinion angle if you are racing 0 to -2 degrees seems to work good.