pedalquickly
New member
I am pretty confident I have some sort of driveshaft issue and am wondering if anyone knows why they are manufactured the way they are? I have an 01 2wd and have been trouble shooting a mild pulsing vibration from 60 to 65 mph since I purchased it a few months ago. The frequency of the vibration makes me think it is from the driveshaft. I know that at 65 mph, the shaft is rotating somewhere around 2700 RPM which is much faster than an out of balance tire would be. So far, I have swapped 3rd member (no improvement), installed new U joints (the old ones were dry, but not disintegrated) (again, no improvement), had the shaft balanced (i was told it wasn't out of balance much but a piece of steel was welded to it anyway)(no improvement).
The other day, I put it on jack stands, removed the rear wheels, and had someone spin it up to 65 while I was looking at everything underneath (I wasn't under the car). Sure enough I could feel and hear a vibration, but it looked like everything was running smooth. Spun up a little faster and the vibration got even more noticeable.
This brings me to the purpose of the post:
From what I understand the 2wd drive shaft has an outer tube over an inner shaft. The outer tube is held away from the inner by rubber spacers. I have read that in time, the rubber breaks down and can allow the outer tube to move off center making it out of balance?? Is there anyone that can verify that this is a possibility? If so, it doesn't make sense to buy a used shaft...
What is the purpose of this design??
Another thing is that when I installed the U joints, they were and still are pretty tight. As a matter of fact I had a couple of the clips release not long after the installation and finally got them to stay. Like I said they are tight, but not so tight that I can't move them with my hand. Is this too tight? Should they literally free fall from side to side?
I read somewhere that OEM U joints utilize spacers of some sort to achieve the proper amount of play?
HELP Please.
The other day, I put it on jack stands, removed the rear wheels, and had someone spin it up to 65 while I was looking at everything underneath (I wasn't under the car). Sure enough I could feel and hear a vibration, but it looked like everything was running smooth. Spun up a little faster and the vibration got even more noticeable.
This brings me to the purpose of the post:
From what I understand the 2wd drive shaft has an outer tube over an inner shaft. The outer tube is held away from the inner by rubber spacers. I have read that in time, the rubber breaks down and can allow the outer tube to move off center making it out of balance?? Is there anyone that can verify that this is a possibility? If so, it doesn't make sense to buy a used shaft...
What is the purpose of this design??
Another thing is that when I installed the U joints, they were and still are pretty tight. As a matter of fact I had a couple of the clips release not long after the installation and finally got them to stay. Like I said they are tight, but not so tight that I can't move them with my hand. Is this too tight? Should they literally free fall from side to side?
I read somewhere that OEM U joints utilize spacers of some sort to achieve the proper amount of play?
HELP Please.
