Hey everyone,

My son has been in training on mechanical stuff since we got him his ‘06 Ranger a few years ago. So far that has included lots of oil changes a battery change, upgraded shocks, a thermostat housing change, and a water pump repair.

Unfortunately we haven’t really covered driveline/axles/suspension much and he’s now quarantined 300 miles from me and just sent me this video:


he was in 4wd when it happened (on a graded dirt road) and hit a pot hole

To me it sounds like maybe the CV joint in the front drive shaft, but I’m not a Ranger expert

Heres the play in the prop shaft CV Joint - does this look excessive?


any suggestions on what be might look for?

Bump.... Any ideas? I'm going to be packing up some tools and driving 4 hours to help him figure it out today. Sure would be great to narrow this down a bit first!

Pretty sure this is the CV joint after further inspection. Only problem now is that I snapped off the T30 bit trying to get the U-Joint retaining caps off... Now they have to soak in PB Blaster while I order another T30 bit....

Based on all the brilliant advice I received on this post, I found the problem.

It was indeed the CV Joint on the prop shaft - it took about 4 days of soaking in PB Blaster and tapping with a hammer to get the bolts loose, but once removed, it was a mess inside. Driving without the prop shaft assembly is quiet - no noise.

So, if you have a Ranger that makes a weird "tinkling" noise while driving past walls (its done that for the last couple of years) - chances are that it is your front CV joint going bad.

What about my truck? It makes the same noise, but only 2wd



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good question - IIRC the rear doesn't use a CV Joint (double cardan at one end and regular u-joint at the other), but I'd check the U-joints. That "ringing" sound is caused by the hollow drive shaft tube, I'm pretty sure. So if your U-joints are sloppy, it stands to reason that it would make a similar noise.