I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it turns out to be the carrier bearing . I hardly think it’s in the rear differential if you get the vibration without the rear half of the shaft in .
I can’t wait to break into that carrier bearing tomorrow. I will, as always report my findings.
@“Jack Dak87”
I recognize all of those brands you mentioned
Out of all of them, I would go with either timken, skf or national. They usually make decent quality parts. Not sure if they’re all made in usa, though
No offense, man, but I wouldn’t have gone with westar. AFAIK, they’re on the same level as dea and anchor. I think all 3 are made in china, and are considered budget parts
mevotech may be better than those 3 I just mentioned. I may be mistaken, but I think their products are made in canada
"No offense, man, but I wouldn't have gone with westar."
What can I say. It was cheap to buy. Mevotech website makes no mention of which country/countries their parts and manufactured.
I would imagine that if Mevotech manufactured in Canada they would have that on their home page: “Proudly Made in Canada by Canadians”
Forgive me for being cynical, but I would put my money on all those companies manufacturing their parts in China or Mexico… not that there’s anything wrong with that.
@“Jack Dak87”
I said I knew all of those brands
And we’ve used many of them in our fleet over the years
I do look at the boxes. Trust me, they’re not all made in china or mexico
We just got some mevotech control arms . . . I thought I saw “made in Canada” on the box
I thought I saw "made in Canada" on the box
You “thought” you saw “made in Canada”? That and a buck eleven toonie will get you a Maple Syrup Frappuccino in Toronto.
Just kidding around here , I once bought a TV that said made in the USA on the box but on the TV it said made in Taiwan . I guess the cardboard box was made in the USA . True story .
I agree… I didn’t realize you ran it without the rear shaft in place… Im also wondering why you would do that…
I also didn’t catch that this was 4wd as well… Duh.
Here is my understanding…you got the rear shaft rebuilt and now you have a vibration problem. That’s how i am reading this…right? You will have all sorts of wierdness with only half of a 4wd system running without the other half…at least that’s been my experience. You are starting to suspect the neighbors dog with this vibration problem… If it began directly after the rear shaft was rebuilt and did not exist prior then stay with the rear shaft and brakes.
Also…the “test” needs to be on the road…not jacked up on jack stands… I know its a lot more work…but that is the test you need to pass. Keep on trying.
Blackbird
@“Honda Blackbird”
It’s a 2WD with a two section driveshaft. In the test I mentioned previously I removed the rear section and just ran the front section between the tranny and the carrier bearing. Got the same vibrations. I did this to try to isolate the vibe source.
To recap, in the beginning there were no vibrations. Then I started hearing chirping noises from the rear when accelerating from a stop. Turned out the rear ujoint was shot. The rubber of carrier bearing had been sloppy for years. With these conditions the driveshaft was smooth as silk at freeway speeds, not a hint of vibrations. I decided to change the ujoints myself and about two weeks ago order three Moog ujoints and a Westar carrier bearing from RockAuto. I replaced the ujoints with a big C-clamp ball joint/ujoint press being careful not to stress the yokes. I took the front DS section (2WD, remember) to a local driveline shop and they installed the new CB on it. I reinstalled the 2-section driveshaft with 3 new Moog ujoints and a new Westar carrier bearing and immediately went on a local beer run.
The next day I took it on the freeway. That’s when I noticed the vibrations. I took it to the driveline shop and asked them to balance this 2-piece driveshaft with a carrier bearing for my 2WD Dodge Dakota longbed pickup. The shop called later and said they couldn’t balance it because the indicator on the balance machine would not stabilize, but kept rotating around and around on the balancing machine display. Larry, the driveline guy, said this was usually cause by bad ujoints. I asked him what brand they used and he told me Neapco and said they never had any problems with them. I asked if he could guarantee that there would be no vibrations if I had his shop install them and he said no. I asked him to throw the DS back on the truck and I paid him and drove off and that’s about when I posted the original post on this thread. Everything that I tried to get rid of the vibrations has been documented here, including removing the Moog ujoints and installing Neapcos, which did not help in the least.
After trying everything I could think of, included removing the tires and drums, I got to the point of removing the rear section of the 2-piece DS to see if the front section still vibrated. Of course this was done with the rear end jacked up. When the front section only continued to vibrate I was forced to conclude that the carrier bearing was likely at fault.
Against the advice of db4690, I am now in possession of an Anchor carrier bearing, simply because I could get it today, and I have everything I need (I hope) to remove the Westar and install the Anchor.
Does the front of the driveshaft slide into the rear of the transmission or does it have a u joint that bolts directly to the trans ? You mentioned before that the shop didn’t press the new carrier bearing on as far as the original had been .
Unless the shaft has a yoke that slides into the trans , it seems to me that the carrier bearing bolts wouldn’t have lined up if the new bearing wasn’t on as far . Just curious .
@Sloepoke The DS is spline mated to the tranny. I’m putting off doing any work until tomorrow. Before swapping out the carrier bearing I thought maybe I’ll use a length of pipe to push it further onto the shaft to see if that makes a difference.You can see the diff between the old and the new. I’m also wondering if the Oetiker hose clamps in the old photo could have en effect on the balance. I foolishly tore them off, not realizing they could be released. They can only be adding 2 or 3 grams at the clamping point. I should be able to duplicate their effect by using copper wire and twist the ends and cut the twists at a point that seems slightly heavier than the hose clamps and position the twists in the same locations. If I get to the point of actually changing the CB I want to try cutting the rubber to duplicate how the old CB rubber was. It can be seen in the bottom photo. Truck ran smooth as silk that way.
@“Jack Dak87”
you definitely want to replace the hose clamps with the proper part. Most good parts stores will have an assortment of those clamps, in various sizes
But some loser parts stores won’t stock them, because “nobody ever asks for them”
I can always get them on eBay. What is your opinion on what effect their absence might have on the DS balance? I can’t imagine that they are much more than 2 or 3 grams overweighted at the clamping spot, nothing near as much as regular hose clamps.
@“Jack Dak87”
Personally, I don’t think the clamps have much effect on balance
I’m saying that because I’ve replaced quite a few center support bearings . . . I think you call them carrier bearings . . . and I don’t bother to mark which way the clamp “head” was oriented before I remove them
And I’ve also replaced many cv joint boots over the years. Same thing . . . I don’t bother to make any marks, as far as the clamp head is concerned
No problems so far
Thanks, I won’t worry about them either. When I get this vibration problem solved I’ll put them on. I’ve had that driveshaft in and out 4 or 5 times since this began.
Another thing I’ve been wondering… if new quality ujoints of the proper fit are properly installed on a properly balanced driveshaft, how likely are they to throw the driveshaft balance off. Do you have any experience with this happening?
@“Jack Dak87”
Sorry, don’t have any experience with that
could you have had a coincidental failure of say…, a front wheel universal?
It’s 2WD. The vibration began immediately after replacing the ujoints and carrier bearing.
OH…I got you now… I assumed correctly the first time. Im not sure you can run just the first section of the shaft as a test to prove anything because of the way the shaft was meant to have the second section involved… I understand why you did it…but I dont think that is a valid test however.
Well… I suggested to redo those damn u Joints from the get go… Let us know…obviously you mean to see this through !
Blackbird
@"“Honda Blackbird”
I expressed my doubts about the validity of running only the front DS section in a post on page 7, but I didn’t know what else to try. And the vibrations came in at 75mph, a little higher than with everything spinning, DS, diff, and tires.
Anyway, the sun is out and as soon as I finish my big steaming mug of morning tea, I’m back out there to swap the carrier bearing… the last desperate act of a desperate man.