I have a really bad vibration between 65-70mph. I have checked everything! The only thing I can see is a slight movement in the "center bearing" On the rear driveshaft. Can someone please tell me how much movement you should have. The problem is getting worse by the day but there is no more movement present. This vib is driving me crazy !!!!

Thanks Dog

 

I guess us short bed guys don't get one of them bearings.
Probably a good thing, they seem to give grief alot.

My 65-75 vibe is my front driveshaft.
Removed it and it went away, replaced it and it's back.

Extreme pinion angle created by my lift.

Most likely unrelated to your vibe though.
But if it's getting worse with no more movement there, maybe
your front DS U-joints could take a looking at?
Especially on the transfer case side, the CV joint.

phox

 

I have checked them all! This is so frustrating, I might just go pull the **** shaft out and see if that cures it. I feel like I'm on this one.

 

probably your exhaust hangers, rubing on your tailpipe, better take exhaust off and put some stacks on or something!!

 

akdsldog
Does your truck have a lift on it? If so you might want to put a spacer on your carrier bearing. When myself and rjordan put his 5" lift on his truck it had a viberation but it quit when we put a 2" spacer between the frame and the carrier bearing mount. Even if you dont have a lift the bearings still go bad.

 

like ramcummins said, after i put my lift on i had a BAD vibe at 85 MPH or higher. i linked it to my carrier bearing and put a spacer in there using 2" square tubing and that took care of the vibe. i would try a 1" drop on it and see what it does. not that i drive 85 MPH plus a lot but once in a while i get paged out to a wreck (im on the volunteer FD) and im away from town and have to hurry

 

No lift kit. (YET! )..... Well I took the front shaft out last night and noticed on the way to work this morning that the "vib" was about 25-30% LESS. Ok this is leading me to believe that I have a drive shaft/ujoint problem. A guy at work asked me a very good question about it, "HAVE YOU EVER HAD IT STUCK BEFORE?" I said yes (I buiried it in the driveway this last spring pulling my river boat out from storage. And yes I had to call a wrecker and YES MY WIFE DID TAKE PICTURES WHILE GETTING PULLED OUT AND YES! SHE GOT IT DEVELOPED ON CD! ) Anyhow, he seems to think that maybe I might have bent my rear shaft, I was up over the diffs givin her hell forward and backwards for about 30ft, hr later I gave up and called the wrecker. So I brought my Dial Indacator home from work and will be checking that out tonight.

Freezing rain + a couple inches of snow + more freezing rain - front shaft = a neat ride in to work this morning, the ride home wasn't much funner.

Front shaft is going back in tonight, seems how the parts stores here can't locate heavy duty greaseable ujoints for our trucks! There books only go up to 2000' Nothing like being on top of it.

 

IMHO, stay away from greasable Ujoints. (at least for our trucks)

As they are hollow inside to allow the grease to get to the ends, they aren't as strong as the sealed (solid) units.

Lotsa torque + hollow metal = snap, crackle and pop.


phox

 

I have never heard of that, where did you hear this from???? I just changed all the ujoint in my buddies CTD before his trip south, he put greasable ones in when it was new and these had 130,000 miles on em and could of gone longer.

I am a big fan of "greasable" items on a rig, if you mantain it and grease them "prperly" they will last along time. Personally I think it's a scam from the factory/parts dealers to put non greasable parts on a rig, they only last half the time, hence they hope you bring it to them and let them fix it for thier ******* prices ... I have allways replaced all my parts with greasable ones and they have allways lasted twice as long, even on my old lifted blazer. 12" lift, 4" body lift, 44x14x16 ground hogs, was it practical? NO, was it fun? O'YEAH!

Just noticed that this soft ware really is picky on what you type! That word it bleeped out was.

* (DEALERS)

I DIN'T CURSE!!! I SWEAR!

*Edited by Moderator
Sorry Dog, you're not supposed to use the other word for Dealers.

 

I always thought like that too.
Thought Dodge was cheap, skimping on the zerks like they did.

I'm pretty sure I heard on here or TDR that the sealed ones are better for our torquey trucks.
Maybe on Pavementsucks.com as well.

It might also be a case of neglect.
People forgetting to grease them, then blaming the failure on the part.
You can't forget to grease the non greasable ones.

I haven't had a chance to replace mine yet, so I don't have a real opinion.

I know the last time I had it to the dealer for a lube, they only greased the zerks that came from the factory.
Totally ignored the 8 extra ones I have in my skyjacker control arms.


phox

 

Ya, I've read the same thing as Phox on the U-joints, from one of the moderators at TDR.

BTW, my carrier bearing has no slop at all.

Another thing -- these shafts have balancing weights welded on, don't they? I lost one on a gasser Dodge 2500 a few years ago, and it vibrated badly. Thing was, it got worse and worse because the vibration started taking out the carrier bearing and rear U-joint. Just a thought.

 

Well isn't that nice! .... I wonder about these "service" places sometimes.

And to the moderator that edited my post, Sorry for useing "that" word, didn't know ...

BAD DOG, NO BISCKET!

 

I thought there shouldn't be any .... I think I will go ahead and take the shaft in to Young's Gear. They will replace the bearing for $20.00 and rebalance the shaft for another $60.00. To me it's money well worth spent, I am very picky with the way my rig runs, + I'm a heavy mech. so I notice to much!

Yes the do have wieght's and I haven't lost any.
Thanks for the responce on the movement issue!

 

Just another opinion, but I'd stay away from greaseable u-joints. I have dont quite a bit of driveshaft research and I found that non-greasable u-joints with a good synthetic are way more reliable that greaseable. This doesnt mean greaseable will break the second you drive away either. Greaseable has one weak seal to keep water / debris out and grease in, and is a hollow unit to allow grease to pass through. Non-greaseable has THREE good seals that snap in place doing a way better job, and is a solid unit. Much stronger but to each is own.
As for the vibration, there is a lot of guys with the solid front '02 axle that complain of 65+ mph vibration. In '02 DC moved the front diff foward around 2" and dropped the pinion increasing the angle. Dont know why but I think its caused some trouble. I learned this from a guy that posted a big topic on this subject a while ago. I'd check the drive shafts for balance and timing. I bet they find the front u-joints arent in great shape from the extra pinion angle. Good luck.

 

Check with CTM U-Joints if you're looking for a good heavy duty replacement. I know they build them for the Dana 60, not real sure about the rear axle. I don't have a link for them, but they are out there. CTM has an excellent rep in the off road community, plus their u-joints are rebuildable if you screw one up.
Justin