I recently bought a 2003, 5-speed, 2.3, 2wd Ranger with 225k on it to use as an errand vehicle. I've given it a good tune up, new brakes, new bearing, and fixed the broken sway bar end links. This little guy was mostly maintained but they weren't keen on more that what an oil change shop could do. One of the last items on my fix-it list is a vibration that comes on around 60 mph, gets worse around 65, then mellows out some around 75. Given that the vibration is not related to engine speed, and is present whether or not the truck is in gear, I'm thinking I have one or more bad u-joints.

Before I climb under and change them out, are there and other "usual suspects" I should be looking for while chasing the problem down?

Thanks

 

It could also be caused by tires being out of balance, check that first before climbing under. Also not a bad idea to check the U joints on the drive shaft

 

on the drive shaft is a vibration dampener at the front of the shaft check to see if it is loose can cause vibration and will cause u-joints to go bad