# Brand new ford ranger needed to have drive shaft rotated **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** ford, ranger\ **Created:** [August 11, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369 "2010-08-11T21:55:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![manny6181](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@manny6181](https://community.cartalk.com/u/manny6181)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/1 "2010-08-11T21:55:19Z")
someone tell me how serious this is! the brand new ranger was delivered with bad,maybe seconds tires. all four tires replaced be dealer taken from another new truck, no alignment nor balancing done. Truck is at dealer --tires are ok vibration is now caused by drive shaft– the drive shaft was rotated 180 degrees now its fine, I have not picked up the truck yet ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/2 "2010-08-11T22:01:30Z")
Must have been built on a Monday or a Friday. They don’t install “seconds” on new vehicles. Whoever told you that is full of it. It’s unlikely they dismounted the tires. They probably just swapped wheels with another Ranger on the lot. They come balanced from the factory, so that shouldn’t be an issue. If this is all about the vibration, perhaps the drive shaft was responsible all along. If you haven’t paid for this truck yet you can still back out of the deal. They’ll argue, but you can do it. On the other hand, the truck is under warranty, so if there are any further problems the dealer will take care of them. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/3 "2010-08-11T22:28:35Z")
I don’t have a good picture here, what should I be doing if I was told to “rotate the driveshaft 180 degrees”? what do you think was actually done? do you think the OP was just told a story in lieu of what was really done to cure the vibration? ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/4 "2010-08-12T03:06:19Z")
Oldschool is right…There is more to this story… ---
**Author:** ![geeaea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@geeaea](https://community.cartalk.com/u/geeaea)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/5 "2010-08-12T03:36:06Z")
180 out wouldn’t normally alter anything. The angles and phase relationships would still be the same. Other than balance, drive shaft vibration is due to the yokes being off plane from each other. Longer drive shafts are more forgiving, but you need close to a shared parallel plane between the front and rear yoke. That way one cancels out the other. When one is rotating at high velocity (exterior part of the rotation) the other is at low velocity (interior). ---
**Author:** ![CapriRacer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/capriracer/32/22_2.png) [@CapriRacer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/CapriRacer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/6 "2010-08-12T10:45:30Z")
I agree, there’s something missing in this story. New tires are ALWAYS balanced - it’s SOP. As McParadise pointedout, maybe they just swapped tires and wheels from another truck. Sometimes that’s a good way of diagnosing the source of a vibration. Of course, now the possible offending tires are on another vehicle. But the driveshaft? That’s a whole different kettle of fish - and that part doesn’t make sense. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/7 "2010-08-12T13:01:28Z")
Maybe weights on the drive shaft were moved or added and the service writer (as often happens) told the customer the wrong thing. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_in\_MD](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/al_in_md/32/1658_2.png) [@Al\_in\_MD](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Al_in_MD)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/8 "2010-08-12T16:01:32Z")
Sounds to me like the dealer is lying like a rug. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brand-new-ford-ranger-needed-to-have-drive-shaft-rotated/53369/9 "2010-08-12T16:19:08Z")
Theorizing for a minute, my guess is the truck had a vibration which was interpreted as a wheel balance problem. Balancing did not solve it so another set of wheels was substituted to no avail. At this point the driveshaft was considered and it could have been one of those assembly line mental lapses. The only thing I would be curious about would be the definition of “new” (brand new as in 1 mile or dealer demo as in 200) and whether this vibration was present during a test drive or whatever. And there’s always the possibility that someone botched a wheel balance job, it was caught, and the driveshaft story is part of the CYA thing. Verifiable by checking for scrape marks on the driveline bolts.