Ok I have a 1997 Ford Ranger 4x4 3.0 Manual Locking hubs. Owned it for 3 years.
I have always had a little shake/hop, understandable due to its age.

I just noticed a serious issue with my front tires as they were belts showing on the inside 2 inches of both tires.

1. I took the truck in for new tires and then had an alignment done.
2. Also at this time I had an inspection done
   1. possible front bearings worn (about 1/16 - 1/8 rock from 6 and 12)
   2. axle seal blown on rear left axle
   3. driver side bottom of shock where attaches to the Control arm (Radius Arm) all screwed up and the shock moves around
      1. someone put a through bolt through the hole and over time all rimed out
      2. the shock is attached but bottom moves around a bit.

OK so at this point I have only had the tires installed, rear axle seal installed, tire balancing and an alignment

I leave the shop and about 60-70 I get a crazy shake/wobble/hop (hard to tell) from the front end.

• Little shake/wobble/hop before 60, about 56 mph
• Seems to decrease in shake as I get to 75-80 mph
• NOTHING in the steering wheel

Confusion:
Shaking to this degree was NOT there before:

• Not before I had the tires installed and balanced
• Not before The Alignment was done
• Not before The rear seal replaced
• Reported on Inspection The bearings were in the same shape, nothing changed there
• Reported on Inspection The drivers side front shock mount that was screwed up was ALWAYS like that, nothing changed there
• NO Shake in the steering wheel
• Inside of cab is shaking inch or two

What I have done since I felt the shake/wobble/hop:

• I got the tires re-balanced
• I got the tires rotated (maybe I had a faulty tire in the front)
  • shake/wobble/hop persists so at this point all 4 would be bad...unlikely
• I installed new Drums, Shoes, Spring kit, and Wheel Cylinders on the back (HAD TOO as the axle grease contaminated the shoes etc.)
• I installed new Rotors, Bearings and Pads on the front (torqued inside bearing nut to 17 in lbs and outside bearing nut to 150 ft lbs)

I have been told that the ball joints looked ok
I have been told that nothing looks excessively beat up or worn out.


HOW THE hell do I start getting a shake/wobble/hop after installing TIRES, ALIGNMENT, AND REAR AXLE SEAL

ANY HELP YOU CAN OFFER I WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATIVE....

 

So, i'm assuming here that after you did the bearings, that you then checked for wheel movement afterwards?

Do you know the wheels are straight? (steel or alloy?)

 

You mentioned the wear of the front tires, consider a wheel alignment.

How do the shocks look ?

 

Shocks look bad, wheels were aligned (easy to miss reading that)

Whilst i'd say the shocks were the cause of the wobbling, that it wasn't wobbling before changing the other stuff, makes me think that everything just got loosened off, esp if they shook and batted at rusty areas etc.

 

OK so I took it into Goodyear for someone to try and tell me whats wrong.
They took it for a drive and definitely felt the shake.
They also noticed that there was a bit more shake when accelerating. I did notice this but forgot to mention it to them. You let go of the gas and it decreases a little bit..barely noticeable.

They came back with: The center carrier bearing on the rear drive axle : it had about 1/4 inch or so wobble...could move the axle about 1/4 inch up and down.

I am going to start with that as the bearing is only $35. Ripped the axle out yesterday and now just need a puller to pull the yolk out of the front portion of the axle to get the bearing off

Does this make sense...would that bearing create a sizable shake in the center to front end of the truck?

 

1/4 inch of place anywhere in the drive train is going to be a problem, at least you'll solve that issue even if it doesn't affect the other feel.