Drive Line Vibration? (1 Viewer)

[remac226]

Searched but could not find it so here goes. Just bought a 91 model 80. Truck has 204k on it and have been going through changing fluids etc. Overall it is in great shape. I have a vibration in the drive line and took it to a friend at a local repair shop and he checked it all out. He said all the U joints are good and the only thing he saw was some play in the output bearing at my transfer case. The Tcase is not leaking and I drained and refilled it yesterday (Yes it was doing it before I changed the oil). I read on one post that the output shaft bearings are ball vs. something else and that they typically have more play. So what do I do now? Have the Tcase pulled and bearings changed?

By the way, THIS SITE IS AWESOME!!!

 

[jonheld]

You're giving very vague descriptions with little to no information about this vehicle.

Is the truck lifted or stock height?

When you say, "a friend at a local repair shop and he checked it all out", what does this mean? Did he pull both driveshafts off and check for notches throughout the range of motion in each axis of the universal joints or did he simply put a hand on the shaft and check for play?

Did you or your mechanic try to isolate the vibration by removing 1 driveshaft at a time, locking the center differential and going for a drive?

At what speed(s) does this vibration occur? Is it constant or only under certain circumstances?

Sorry if I seem harsh, but without information it's like asking, "how long is a piece of string?"

 

[remac226]

No problem.

I took it to Midas. The manager there has been fixing stuff on my trucks I could not do for the last 25 years and he is very good. He did not pull everything apart. He used a bar to get a little better leverage on all the u joints etc vs. pulling on them by hand and they seem fine (no slop etc). Only questionable thing he noticed was the play in the rear output bearing on the T-case. Again no leaking or anything and it is full of fluid. The vibration is mostly noticed at low speed under power. I do have the standard transmission / T-case clunk. All the of the u joints etc. have just been greased. All trans fluid and T-case fluid as well as differential have been changed and the proper fluids were used. I had the vibration before any changes.

Does this help?

 

[AShoe]

U joints will make noise while running even if they have no play in them. The only way to know for sure is to pull it and move it around by hand. If it is going bad it will catch or feel rough. If it is the carrier bearing it will get better with a heavier oil in it. If you fill the transfer case with 140 weight oil and the noise gets better then thats most likely the source of your problem.

 

[Dan2722]

Just pulled my from drive shaft and replaced the U Joints yesterday due to an occasional vibration when turning a sharp corner at low speed. There was no slope in the joints while on the truck but once I pulled it there was a noticable catch or grab in one of the joints when moved back and forth.

It only takes a few minutes to pull it off and check. BTW my truck has 214K on it and these were the original U joints.

 

[Slowleak]

Has similar symptoms.....mine were U-joints.
You might want to double check all of them.

 

[nuclearlemon]

if he notices movement, you need to look into it. the driveline is actually very tight when it comes to checking by hand. if you visible see "wiggle" when you grab the shaft and try to shake it, a nut is loose or a bearing is bad. (or a ujoint, but hopefully he's competent enough that when he said the ujoints are good, he was correct). midas isn't a driveline shop..you might pull the shaft and have a driveline shop make sure it's balanced properly.

didn't notice lock diffs and pull the rear shaft and see if the vibration is still there.

 

[jlm43]

I have a similar issue. Mine was U-joints. But the fwd output shaft of the center diff does have some play. Not much, but just enough to be able to feel it. I was told (second hand info) that the center diff has ball type bearings not tapered roller bearings. So there could be slight play in them and still be fine.

 

[bwr9300]

sounds like a different vibration, but the exhaust has hangers on them that can get shredded and cause vibrations, particularly while engine on but stopped. If not fixed exhaust replacement is in the future. FWIW

 

[scottm]

By the time I had noticeable vibration, my U-joints were very close to seized and coming apart. I couldn't tell by rotating and wiggling, but close inspection showed the bearings were getting crooked and metal shavings were coming out. Fresh grease might make it hard to see that. Just food for thought.

 

[Dave 2000]

Just a couple of points, as the UJ's do not rotate in the true sense of the word they can wear in just one area hence the advice to release the props and try moving the UJ's by hand beyond their normal working angles. Often after greasing the props two problems can come to light, the UJ's that were virtually siezed (often still not vibrating is quite common) the grease loosens the needle rollers and they start to move around bringing on vibrations, another common oversight is when the new owner pumps loads of grease in to the sliding joints, the grease acts like a hydraulic ram forcing the propshaft to expand between the flanges and causing vibration and in a worse case scenario actully destroying the output shaft bearings.

IMHO I would pull both props off (MARK THE FLANGE/PROP FACES AND KEEP EYE ON THE UJ PHASES) and go ahead with a more careful and thorough examination, whilst you are in there clean out the sliders and regrease with care.

regards

Dave

 

[remac226]

I appreciate the responses. I am guilty of putting too much grease into the sliders when I got it. They definitely expanded but seemed to "collapse" back down and push the extra grease out. I went ahead and got all four new Ujoints. Figured they were cheap and if I was going to pull the shafts I might as well go ahead and replace them. Should have it all back together this afternoon and will update.

After thinking about it I had almost the same issue when I got my Discovery II and it went away for the most part when I got a Tom Woods front shaft and replaced the joint in the rear shaft. I have my fingers crossed with the Cruiser!

 

[jonheld]

Make sure you stick with OEM parts. They are much higher quality than anything else out there.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Any play in the rear differential,could be the penion. mIke

 

[remac226]

ok so i am not real happy. Took the truck to a shop my brother uses and they replaced all the u joints for me. i now have a vibration at about 65 i did not have before. got under the truck and can see where they heated up the shaft to get the old ones out but do not see any marks they made to line it all back up the same way it came apart. checked all the bolts and they are tight and made sure the new joints were greased. i am taking it back in the am. so what do i have? out of balance because it might not have been put back together the same way it came apart?

 

[Dave 2000]

ok so i am not real happy. Took the truck to a shop my brother uses and they replaced all the u joints for me. i now have a vibration at about 65 i did not have before. got under the truck and can see where they heated up the shaft to get the old ones out but do not see any marks they made to line it all back up the same way it came apart. checked all the bolts and they are tight and made sure the new joints were greased. i am taking it back in the am. so what do i have? out of balance because it might not have been put back together the same way it came apart?

Very possible, have a little search around because I am sure the propshaft at the front is assembled 'out of phase' i.e. the UJ's are at 90 degrees to each other where the rears are in matched positions however, please check this out for yourself as I am NOT SURE which way is which as it is awhile since I did a set. Re heating up......I have never had to do that and must have changed a half a dozen sets?

regards

Dave

 

[remac226]

I took it back to them. They pulled the front shaft out and drove it with the CDL locked and no difference. Pulled the rear and no difference. I dont understand. Where do I look now. By pulling the shafts it should have gone away if it was a shaft related issue. HELP!

 

[Buckru]

Balanced your tires recently? Maybe lost a weight.

As far as the rear output from the tcase, they are pretty easy to change

Start with the easy stuff first.

Buck

 

[snowrider73]

I agree with Buckru. Start with the tires. This is a very heavy vehicle. Any variation in the tires will cause vibration, especially if your running larger than stock. Could be as little as uneven wear on them.

 

[Tools R Us]

Vibrations are difficult to find when you can see/feel the rig, much more difficult over the net.

More info, better description would help. When does it happen, speed, does it change with rig or motor speed, on the throttle or off, does it change if you shift neutral and coast, do you more feel or hear it, etc? Driveshaft vibration is usually a highway speed only thing, unless a joint is very bad.

Removing a shaft changes how the power is delivered, the load on axles, it's a good test, can net info, but isn't definitive. In this case, if there is no change with ether shaft out, I would guess that your looking at ether a rolling bearing (wheel, spindle, diff, etc) bearing or motor/trans interference with the body (like exhaust, bracket, etc touching the body).