I just bought a 2000 ranger and it makes a ticking noise when accelerating. Not all the time and more often when accelerating out of a sharp turn. It goes away when I am up to speed and like I said it only does it about 25% of the time.

Any ideas?

 

need details on your truck.. 4wd 2wd etc

 

Its a 2wd with a 3.0.

 

It's not the u-joints. They make more of a squeaking sound which is proportional to your speed and usually it dies down once you get past about 20 or 30 mph.

I had a tick in my front end that turned out to be some rust on the front steering knuckle nut. I'd suggest taking off your front wheels and giving everything a good shot of silicon-based lubricant and making sure all your bolts are nice and tight. Clean up anything that looks particularly dirty or nasty, and grease or lube everything you can't get with the silicon lube. See what that does for you.

 

I just replaced th u joints. Problem solved. Thanks. No more noise.

 

how do you go about replacing them? My truck has been making a squeeling that goes with speed but stops after like 35mph..

 

They're really easy to replace. You may be able to do it without removing the drive shaft, but when i did it, I found that it made it alot easier. So start by removing the driveshaft, then remove the ring clip things on the u-joint that holds it to the drive shaft. Then you have to force the little cylinders out of the drive shaft, and then replace. If you pick up a u-joint from kragen or something and look at it while reading this post and if you study it, it makes it alot easier to understand how the u-joints work. hope that helps. and just to let you know, the first time i replaced a u-joint, it took me about an hour so i shouldn't take too long.

-matt

 

Also if you are a novice at working on cars. Do not try it. It is actually a pain if you are not exactly sure what you are doing. Mine did not come out easy. It took lots of lubrication and force to get them out. Removing the drive shaft will make it 1000 times easier. I cant even imagine doing it without removing the shaft. The drive shaft is removed by removing 4 bolts and sliding it out of the trans. It is that simple. Then you can fight with the u Joints and the rusty rings holding the u joint in. . My friend said his manual he got at the auto store shows exactly what to do. I did not have one but I figured it out. The bolts to take the drive shaft off are a 12mm star socket. (I am not sure of the Tech name for the star socket, sorry)

 

Yeah they are a real booger to get out. Rangererv did a pretty good how-to awhile ago on changing u-joints. see if you can't find it.

 

i have a special tool to replace em.
makes it 1000x easyer, you just take the clips off and goto town with the impact

 

BTW, would bad U-joints cause oil to sling..? I noticed the last time I was under my truck that there is a black oily spray under there against the gas tank "shield" and up on the bottom of the bed. I really need to change out my differential fluid as well as I just hit 80k and havent done that since i've owned the truck, I think im gonna take care of it all tomorrow!

 

Ok im changing the rear u joint, its not budging.. i've been pounding on it with a hammer, even sprayed wd40 all around, and no luck.. any tips?

 

you really should have one of these...
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38335

It made doing mine WAY easier....doing the socket and BFH on the trail is one thing, but tools in the shop make it easier. Head down to Auto zone and "rent" one from them...they take a 100 refundable security deposit. They also have a handy little leaflet that will tell you how to do it.

 

Yeah I went to autozone earlier, they didnt have a u-joint tool, so I just got the ball joint tool.. worked better than what I was doing before! But never-the-less, A MAJOR PAIN IN THE A$$, and for me, it was all for NOTHING as it didnt need replacement, my truck still squeeks! I think I have it down to a sticking caliper or shoe because I can tap my brakes and it goes away, then while it was continuously squeaking at like 45mph i just slightly put my brakes on while i still had my foot on the gas and the noise stopped. bahhh i wanted to go on a killing spree earlier because i was soo sooo soo frustrated, it took FO-EVA!

 

What I did was got a socket that was bigger than the u joint put it under the u joint on a board and pounded the u joint from the top and it fell into the socket. You have to really hit it hard. I used a smaller socket and hit the top of the u joint till the bottom joint went into the large socket. So 2 of them are out. Now you have to do this one more time to get the other 2 out.

 

yeah thats what i did the first time, i even used a sledge hammer, they were not budging, really. Then decided to get the ball joint tool, made it go by quicker..but, never again! :)

 

I just had mine replaced under warranty at 32,000 miles.....I have never had one fail that early.

 

Purchase a Ball Joint repair kit from Harbor Freight which should help in removing the U joint cups.
The Key to removing a U joint cup that is STUCK; would be to soak the mating surface where the cup contacts the ears of the yoke with KROIL KROIL
for several hours, use a large socket on U joint cup and a small socket on the other U joint cup, compress the C clamp snuggly and SMACK the end of the C clamp with a ball pean hammer. The shock of the hammer hitting the driver end of the C clamp should shock it loose. On very rusted U joints; you may need to repeat these steps several times.

OR 4x4

 

Lord help ya if you got a 2 piece shaft! Had many of those go out on my 2wd from wear stopping and going so much, over 200k miles of the truck. Another thing I learned the hard way is the rear spring rubber grommets that the springs are bolted to on the brackets will wear out and throw the whole driveshaft out of joint.