There are 3 stored owner reports matching the steering leading-label group for the 2004 Ford Ranger in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 3 of 3 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)EXCESSIVE RUST ON FRAME, SPINDLES, RACK AND PINION, DIFFERENTIAL AND WHEEL RIMS. VEHICLE HAS 48K ON ODOMETER. CAUSE:(UNKNOWN)
RECENTLY I ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM WITH MY 2004 FORD RANGER. THE HARMONIC BALANCE PULLEY CAME APART. THE WEBSITE CARCOMPLAINTS.COM HAS AT LEAST 14 INCIDENCE OF HARMONIC BALANCE FAILURE ON OTHER FORD MODELS. CAN YOU INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE AND VERIFY MY FINDINGS? IN MY OPINION, THE PROBLEM HAS SERIOUS SAFETY RAMIFICATIONS BECAUSE OF THE SYSTEMS INVOLVED. THE HARMONIC BALANCE PULLEY DRIVING THE SERPENTINE BELT THAT POWER THE STEERING AND BRAKE PUMPS. THE LOSS OF BOTH PUMPS HAS THE POTENTIAL OF CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. THE LOSS OF THE SERPENTINE BELT WILL ALSO CAUSE OVER HEATING. I BELIEVE FORD SHOULD INSPECT AND MAKE REPAIRS TO THIS COMPONENT ON ITS VEHICLES WITHOUT CHARGE TO THE CUSTOMER. *TR
THE PROLBEM WITH THIS TRUCK SEATING AT THE LIGHT THE SEAT SEEMS LITTLE BE HIGH CAN NOT SEE THE STREET TRAFFIC LIGHT IF YOU THE FIRST ONE, SECONDLY THE TURNING RADIUS IT IS TERRIBLE WHEN YOU TURN TO THE LEFT ONLY GOES 3/4 OF THE WAY WHILE OTHER TRUCKS CAN TURN 180 DEGREES ONE WAY IT IS FINE TO THE LEFT BUT TO THE RIGHT NOT GOOD. THIS PROBLEM SINCE WE OWN THE TRUCK.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 29, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.