Noise and vibrations-what's going on?

[HuntNFish]

Been having a few issues with the truck recently, would like to your thoughts. *First and foremost is a ticking that comes from, I think, the rear end. I hear it at 18-2300 rpm at around 30-35 mph. At highway speeds I'm getting a consistent loudness and vibration. As soon as I back off the throttle and coast, it drives fine and quiets down. Yesterday, I went to fill my tank, and the pump shut off every second, literally. I had to fill it slowly. I've heard about vapors causing this? I haven't bashed or pinched anything underneath. *We'll see what happens at the next fill up.*

Based on searches here, I thought I had an exhaust issue. Took it to the shop for a diagnosis, they said the exhaust was fine. What we did notice while it was on the lift is that my drive shaft seems to be out of balance- not sure how that happened. I could see this causing vibration, but if it was just the drive shaft, wouldn't that be an issue both on the gas and off? U-joints supposedly look fine, I'd like to double check this, what's the best way? I'm not convinced it isn't exhaust, what should I look for?

She is a 1997 limited, 4wd, ome 3" with 265/75 **** cepeks...

 

[FdcCal]

Throttle sensitive vibration/noise are often a U joint problem. With the truck parked safely, parking brake on and wheels blocked for safety, put the trans in neutral. With a big screwdriver or bar, pry around on the u joints, there should be NO discernable play in the bearings. It is also possible that the drive shaft got bent somehow. Off roading maybe?? Do you hear any clicks when putting in drive or reverse? What led to the out of balance diagnosis when on the lift?

 

[HuntNFish]

Throttle sensitive vibration/noise are often a U joint problem. With the truck parked safely, parking brake on and wheels blocked for safety, put the trans in neutral. With a big screwdriver or bar, pry around on the u joints, there should be NO discernable play in the bearings. It is also possible that the drive shaft got bent somehow. Off roading maybe?? Do you hear any clicks when putting in drive or reverse? What led to the out of balance diagnosis when on the lift?

Thanks for the input! I'll give that a try as soon as I get the chance.

On the lift they had one guy slowly accelerate, and when the drive shaft spun you could definitely tell it wasn't spinning true, and it was definitely causing some noise and vibrations.