Ranger Fam,
I heard some awful metal clanking coming from under the truck about a week ago. Couldn't find the source myself so I took it to a shop. The shop sent me a couple pics yesterday and said the drive shaft collar had come loose. I like to do my own repairs, but am having difficulty finding anything on "driveshaft collars". Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I might just need the appropriate verbage for the issue so I can more accuratley research.
https://imgur.com/9WFY3yO
https://imgur.com/zAFbKi8
Thanks!
Edit: Just got off the phone with the shop and here is some more information:
The exact location of the loose collar is at the back of the transmission and the front of the drive shaft
The guy working on thinks the collars purpose is to keep the drive shaft in balance
The shop said I could just remove it if I wanted to
Shop is recommending new U joints on the drive shaft, and having it balanced (~$400)
Sounds like the shop isn't too familiar with working on drive shafts. They said they usually drop the shaft and send it off to another guy/shop in town to be worked on. If the collar isn't needed, I will probably just take it off and be done with it.