It's very pronounced while towing, almost unnoticeable when not towing (2,600 lb. travel trailer). Can this be caused by unbalanced tires? Or is there something else I should be looking at? I've recently greased my driveshaft slip joints and u-joints, and couldn't feel any play in any u-joints. I also recently replacing a CV axle, but I thought I'd notice any issues with that at any speed. Thoughts?
Strong vibration between 50-70 mph, unbalanced tires/wheels? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter oakback
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
What is your tongue weight on the trailer roughly? If you're pushing a lot of droop you're changing your pinion angle. If not compressing a lot, this still sounds like a driveline issue so I'd focus there for the time being.
Is the vibration in the wheel or in your seat? Can you feel it in the transfer case shifter?
Was it an issue before you greased the driveline? If you over grease the driveshaft slip-yolk it cannot compress/decompress and will cause vibration as well. Can be damaging to driveline so make sure you correct this if you have a lot of grease. It's a simple fix, remove the grease zerk on the rear driveshaft and go for a slow drive where you get compression out of the rear suspension. Put the zerk back in and give it two pumps of moly fortified grease. Then every oil change or every 3-5k put two solid pumps in there. You do not want to grease it until grease comes out of the seal.
If you want to feel extra confident in it, remove the driveshaft, mark with a grease pen on both sides of the slip yolk before you pull them apart so you put them back together in phase. Clean everything including wiping the seal down well towel so you get debris off and get a nice clean seal. Then hand grease it and reassemble, put a few good pumps in and reassemble.
To properly check the U-Joints I would remove the driveshaft and then individually push/pull/twist. If you have overgreased the slip yolk and it is locked up you are unlikely to get movement out of the u-joints due to the tension/pressure in the shaft.
Is the vibration in the wheel or in your seat? Can you feel it in the transfer case shifter?
Was it an issue before you greased the driveline? If you over grease the driveshaft slip-yolk it cannot compress/decompress and will cause vibration as well. Can be damaging to driveline so make sure you correct this if you have a lot of grease. It's a simple fix, remove the grease zerk on the rear driveshaft and go for a slow drive where you get compression out of the rear suspension. Put the zerk back in and give it two pumps of moly fortified grease. Then every oil change or every 3-5k put two solid pumps in there. You do not want to grease it until grease comes out of the seal.
If you want to feel extra confident in it, remove the driveshaft, mark with a grease pen on both sides of the slip yolk before you pull them apart so you put them back together in phase. Clean everything including wiping the seal down well towel so you get debris off and get a nice clean seal. Then hand grease it and reassemble, put a few good pumps in and reassemble.
To properly check the U-Joints I would remove the driveshaft and then individually push/pull/twist. If you have overgreased the slip yolk and it is locked up you are unlikely to get movement out of the u-joints due to the tension/pressure in the shaft.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #3
I haven't confirmed tongue weight, but it's gotta be at least 300 lbs., I can't lift it without someone standing on the rear bumper of the camper. But my rear springs are 2860 OME springs, 2 years old. The rear isn't squatting when loaded.
I cannot feel the vibration in the wheel or shifter, it's more of a butt feel.
I greased the driveline when I changed the front CV, and the front CV was making a god-awful thumping, so I'm not sure if the problem was there before. I definitely greased until it came out of the seal, so I'll relieve that and see how it is.
I cannot feel the vibration in the wheel or shifter, it's more of a butt feel.
I greased the driveline when I changed the front CV, and the front CV was making a god-awful thumping, so I'm not sure if the problem was there before. I definitely greased until it came out of the seal, so I'll relieve that and see how it is.
OEM or aftermarket CV?
- Thread starter
- #5
I honestly don't remember. I bought it ~5 years ago as a spare, and the box was all squished and scuffed and falling apart.
Well sir, I had similar after changing CVs, and came to find out it was an aftermarket. Mech insisted it wasn’t it, and after multiple alignments, rotations, driveline balancing, etc. he finally relented and changed the CVS to OEM. Problem solved 
Turns out our Cruisers don’t play nice with aftermarket, in a lot of ways. Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be, for the good of the order…
Turns out our Cruisers don’t play nice with aftermarket, in a lot of ways. Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be, for the good of the order…
Exactly like mine, replaced with OEM CV's and vibration was Attach filesGONE!
This is a big problem. If you fill up the slip joint untill grease is forced out of the seal, it is WAY to much. The grease is UN-compressible and is now pushing outward as if to increase the length of your driveshaft. Very bad for pinion bearings and transfer case output bearings. The fix is to remove th driveshaft. Mark the orientation on both pieces of the driveshaft. Separate the driveshaft at the slip joint. Clean out all the packed grease in there. Re lube the slip joint splines with your fingers. Re-join the two half's, and call it good. Don't pack the "dead" space inside the driveshaft with grease. That space needs to be clear for the shaft to move back and forth as the front end flexes. ( No sexual innuendoes are intended with this post)
U-joints can be greased up enough to have grease forced out of the cups. Not so with the slip joint. An entirely different beast.
