# 2004 ranger thudding wheel sound

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2004-ranger-thudding-wheel-sound/6140>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** ford, ranger, tires, wheels\
**Created:** [October 18, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2004-ranger-thudding-wheel-sound/6140 "2007-10-18T20:08:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![paperrockscissor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@paperrockscissor](https://community.cartalk.com/u/paperrockscissor)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2004-ranger-thudding-wheel-sound/6140/1 "2007-10-18T20:08:07Z")

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Hi i have a 2004 ranger that goes thud, thud, thud, when i drive it. i hear it and feel a little of it at 20mph and the sound increases in frequency in relation to the speed. I have pretty large tires and i’m not sure if this is what’s causing the noise, or bearings or u joint.

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**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2004-ranger-thudding-wheel-sound/6140/2 "2007-10-18T22:10:01Z")

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Chances are excellent that it’s a faulty tire. Inspect the tires carefully, especially the sidewalls, for damage and bubbles. Also inspect the tread on each for irregular wear. If you find nothing visually, and you have a full-service spare, you can swap the spare with one and then move wheels around one at a time until the noise disappears. The one left will be tha faulty one.

Or, you can go to a shop that has a road force balancer. That spins the wheel with a load applied. They’r good for finding an internal fault that a regular balancer won’t.