I just bought a 2005 ranger with 70,000 miles on it a month ago. It is a standard cap 2.3L five speed. The problem i am having is that it came with new tires and after 3,000 miles the tires are already cupped on the inside and outside of each front tire and it howls while going down the road. I'm thinking about putting new shocks and wheel bearings in it and getting it aligned. Has anyone else had this problem?

There certainly is a suspension problem but have it looked at first before changing parts. It could be a ball joint, a bad alignment, or something similar. I doubt wheel bearings are the problem unless you are hearing a growling noise. Try jacking the truck up and push and pull on the tires grabbing the top and the front and back of the tire to look for movement.

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2011 Ranger XLT, 4X4, 4 door Super Cab. 4.0L, 5 Speed MT, 3.73 8.8" open differential, Jason Pace cap
1999 Honda CR-V EX, RT4WD, 2.0L, 5 Speed MT, 4.56 open differential
1998 Ranger XLT, 4X2 Regular Cab, 2.5L, 5 Speed MT, SWB, 3.45 7.5" open differential, RABS, Leer 122 "High Boy" Cap

Also check your tie rods and def an alignment.

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2001 Ford Ranger Supercab (4dr), Oxford White, 4.0 Sohc, 4x4, Manual trans (hurst equipped), 4:10's, 3" body lift.

i've checked the ball joints and tie rods. everything is tight. even checked the control arm bushings and they are fine. Wheel bearings have slight play in them so i am going to replace those.

well i was wrong....sort of. I readjusted my wheel bearings today since i have some trips to make before i will be able to replace them. Once i got it all back together i rechecked the ball joints and tie rods and noticed my lower ball joints have some slight play in them.

I had to take a pry bar and lift up on the bottom of the tire before i could detect any play. This really sucks since i don't have a ball joint press and don't know if i'll be able to do the work myself.

still going to go ahead and change the shocks and wheel bearings though. i plan on keeping the truck for a long time

I had the same thing happen about a year ago. If your truck has T-bars, as mine did, they might be unevenly cranked. I replaced the shocks and the problem didn't go away. I spent about an hour under the truck looking at different parts when I found the T-bar issue.

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(SOLD) 2003 Ranger 4.0L V6 FX4
2001 F150 Supercrew Triton V8 (DD)
2008 Fusion 3.0L SEL V6 (my baby)
1992 Taurus SHO MTX (my toy-almost Supercharged)
2004 Nissan Murano SL AWD (Wife's car)

so i finally got all the problems sorted out on my front end. the tire wear that i was experiencing was heel-toe wear not cupping. I found play in the wheel bearings so i changed those and put new shocks on the front while i was at it.

The wheel bearings would come loose after less than fifty miles. I tried two different types of grease and even borrowed torque wrenches to adjust them exactly to spec. I then took a closer look at the bottom of the spindle and noticed brown burnt marks on the spindles where the previous wore it down. I looked at the old bearings and they had the same marks. I should have payed closer attention the first time.

I did find some play in the lower ball joints so i changed those at the same time i put on new spindles.

Once i changed all the loose parts i took it in for an alignment and it seems holding together just fine now.