Hi,

I just bought a '97 Ranger XLT standard, 2WD, 4.0L.

I've noticed a couple times now where the whole truck vibrates at highway speed, so bad I think the truck's gonna fall apart. Then a few minutes later it's smooth again. This happened to me tonight again, then when I tried to leave the gas station, something was seriously "grabbing" when I tried to get going. It felt like the brakes were locked up as I tried to get off the line. It took half a dozen tries, and even then the truck felt jerky for the few blocks to home.

I haven't looked at anything yet, but I thought I'd fish for ideas or similar experiences. Brakes, parking brake, maybe transmission? Not sure what to think, any help would be great.

Thanks,
Brad

 

try doing this...block front wheels, jack up the @$$ end, leave it in neutral and e brake off, and try to spin the wheels and if one is hard to spin and the other one spins real easy...you found your problem

 

Your problem is deff in the rear end, I am sorta in the same situation, and as djfllmn said about spinning the tires will def show a problem, that was the first thing I did after I noticed a problem, If anything yours is doing what mine did except it's 2x as bad- spider gears