Pinkston

So I was in a wreck in my tow rig a little over a month ago. It is a 2001 dodge 3500 4x4 on 22.5s. The rear drivers side tire was hit which bent my dana 80 and broke the leaf spring u-bolts, etc. The insurance company totaled the truck and I bought it back.

I have it all put back together now minus the bed.
-New rear springs, u-bolts, factory blocks
-New axles housing with my old guts put back in it
-1 new wheel and 2 new tires(new tires were both put on the front)
-New u-joints in the drive shaft and balanced
-New bilstein 5100 shocks
-New Drivers side brake drum and new rear shoes on both sides
-New bearings in the rear drivers hub.
-New rear sway bar links


I think thats every thing I replaced. Started driving the truck and found it has a nice vibration above 60 mph. I got a couple buddies to follow me and was told the rear axle was jumping all over the place. We figured the tires needed to be balanced. I just got the truck back today after balancing all 6 tires, all new ball joints, and a alignment. The truck still has the same sake above 60 mph. It is pretty smooth below 60, except for not having a bed or weight on the rear axle. Above 60 it is like flipping a switch, it just starts shaking and gets worse with speed. Pretty sure it is not death wobble. I thought a little weight on the rear axle may help so I hooked up to a trailer and pulled the buggy around, but it still had the skake.

Would love some ideas.

Bad balance on the drive shaft?
Is the hub itself bent?
Wheel Adapter for the 22.5s?

torquefan

I would take a dial indicator and measure both the hub and the axle shaft on that side for runout.

Pinkston

I am not a machinist, how would one do that?

j-fox

I would also guess the AXLE is bent on one side.
Jack stands onder the rear axle housing. Let it idle in gear and you may be able to see the tires go up and down. Be careful!!

Pinkston

The vibration does not show up until 60 mph. The only items reused from the bent axle are the carrier, ring and pinion, hubs, and brake backing plates. The axle shafts are not from the axle the was bent. The bearings in the hub were replaced.

torquefan

It's a fairly simple matter. Jack up the corner of the truck that's in question and remove that wheel. You will need to block the other wheels securely so you can leave it in neutral with the e-brake off, so that hub will spin freely.

Pictured below is a magnetic dial indicator that can be purchased fairly cheaply at many tool stores. Basically, you want to stick the base to something rigid closeby, like your brake caliper mount, then set the plunger up so it rides on the wheel mounting surface and can read any irregularities in its surface as you spin the hub. Trying to keep it out of the way of the wheel studs is tricky sometimes.

The one thing you may have to do first is adjust the hub bearings to remove any end play they may have, or your measurement may not be accurate.

I would think any reading of over .004" runout would be worth looking at as a problem.

Note, I went to Youtube and did a search of "how to use a dial indicator", and got several hits that may be worth looking at.

Hope this helps. Reading it over, it sounds kind of intimidating, but once you get into it, it may be pretty easy to notice the problem.

rickf

If the rear end was hit hard enough to bend the housing then the adapters should be replaced. I would also suspect the driveshaft since it would have taken quite a shock in the hit. As was said, put the rear up on jack stands and idle it in gear, make sure to pull it down to low or it will up shift and the tires will be turning too fast far an accurate read. Be sure to use some really substantial wheel chocks on the front wheels just in case. Also look under the truck at the driveshaft to see if you see and wobble in it. They can appear to be straight and still have a bend. It is best to take the shaft to a shop that builds them to have it checked.

Rick

Pinkston

I get what you are saying about runout. I am going to put stock tires on it first and see if that helps, if not ill try what you said.

The drive shaft has been rebuilt and balanced since the wreck.