Drive line Vvvvvvibrrratttttion. Exhausting my options
. It's not nearly as bad, and at a higher mph. starts at roughly 55 now, and gets worse from there. Ho hum, back to the drawing board. 
11-23-2010, 05:52 PM
#43
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Man I feel for you. I chased and chased a driveline vibration when I switched to my 9". I finally found out by process of elimination that I need to have my driveshaft balanced. I even tried two different driveshafts and nothing made a difference. My vibration came on strong at 55-60 mph and by the time I was going 70, I was in desperate need of a jock strap. In my case, I did go from a 10 bolt 4.11 to a 9" 4.30. Here is what I did and it appears you have done some of these steps already. I am mearly offering my advise so please don't be offended if I say something that is already obvious to you.
Step 1: Vehicle raised and suspension loaded
Removed rear wheels and retested - same
Step 2: Removed axles from housing and retested = same
Step 3: Adjusted pinion angle anywhere from +6 to -6 = same
Step 4: Removed center section and removed spool and ring gear. Reinstalled center section and retested = same
Step 5: Started really getting pissed = beer = much better.
Step 6: Keeping in mind that it could still be a bad pinion bearing, I reassembled everthing and started self balancing the driveshaft = smoothed right out.
To self balance my driveshaft, I used two hose clamps facing opposite from each other and fastened towards the front of the driveshaft just behind the factory balance weights. I had the clamps oriented so they both had the worm screws on the same side. I made a chalk line on the driveshaft centered between the worm screws so I knew where I had started. I kept moving the clamps away from each other slightly and retesting. Mind you this proceedure took me about 15 tries before seeing improvement, but I kept after it. By doing this, I was able to make my driveline vibration all but dissappear. My car is by no means a DD so I havent made my decision yet to send off my driveshaft and have it high speed balanced or just buy a custom made one.
Hope you may get something usefull out of this because I know how frustrating it can be.
Step 1: Vehicle raised and suspension loaded
Removed rear wheels and retested - same
Step 2: Removed axles from housing and retested = same
Step 3: Adjusted pinion angle anywhere from +6 to -6 = same
Step 4: Removed center section and removed spool and ring gear. Reinstalled center section and retested = same
Step 5: Started really getting pissed = beer = much better.
Step 6: Keeping in mind that it could still be a bad pinion bearing, I reassembled everthing and started self balancing the driveshaft = smoothed right out.
To self balance my driveshaft, I used two hose clamps facing opposite from each other and fastened towards the front of the driveshaft just behind the factory balance weights. I had the clamps oriented so they both had the worm screws on the same side. I made a chalk line on the driveshaft centered between the worm screws so I knew where I had started. I kept moving the clamps away from each other slightly and retesting. Mind you this proceedure took me about 15 tries before seeing improvement, but I kept after it. By doing this, I was able to make my driveline vibration all but dissappear. My car is by no means a DD so I havent made my decision yet to send off my driveshaft and have it high speed balanced or just buy a custom made one.
Hope you may get something usefull out of this because I know how frustrating it can be.
Last edited by holeshotkid; 11-23-2010 at 05:57 PM. Reason: more info
11-23-2010, 07:32 PM
#44
So far, things that I've tried. 2 different driveshafts
1. Suspension loaded on stands - vibrated
2. removed wheels / tires - vibrated
3. Removed axles - vibrated.
4. Took center out and had the specs checked
-pinion was too deep. fixed. still vibrated, but not as bad
5. backed the car out of the garage so i wouldn't throw anything at it.
6. went to work on my datsun project, and guess what - still vibrates
11-23-2010, 07:50 PM
#45
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I would try removing the spool and ring gear and see if that eliminates the vibration. It's highly possible since it did get better after reshimming the pinion. The only reason I didn't bother with pulling apart the pinion bearings is because it was assembled with a new bearing kit and pulling the ring gear didn't help a thing. Worth a try IMHO.
11-23-2010, 07:54 PM
#46
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On another note, it wouldn't take that long to raise it up and slowly start rotating a single hose clamp around the driveshaft to see if it gets better. Keep in mind that unless you get really lucky, it will be worse to start out and if it is out of balance, will slowly start getting better.
11-23-2010, 10:05 PM
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I have heard of this method before, but only to tame minor vibrations. I'll definitely try it, and see if it helps. The machine shop that balanced my driveshaft is a hole in the wall, and not known for their quality. I wouldn't say it's perfect, by any means.
So far, things that I've tried. 2 different driveshafts
1. Suspension loaded on stands - vibrated
2. removed wheels / tires - vibrated
3. Removed axles - vibrated.
4. Took center out and had the specs checked
-pinion was too deep. fixed. still vibrated, but not as bad
5. backed the car out of the garage so i wouldn't throw anything at it.
6. went to work on my datsun project, and guess what - still vibrates
So far, things that I've tried. 2 different driveshafts
1. Suspension loaded on stands - vibrated
2. removed wheels / tires - vibrated
3. Removed axles - vibrated.
4. Took center out and had the specs checked
-pinion was too deep. fixed. still vibrated, but not as bad
5. backed the car out of the garage so i wouldn't throw anything at it.
6. went to work on my datsun project, and guess what - still vibrates
trust me...
Ask them when you go which machine they have and how fast does it spin the shaft to.
The hose clamp thing is not balancing a driveshaft...
Balancing a driveshaft can take anywhere from 1 ounces to as little as 1 gram, i have balanced thousands upon thousands.....
Even starting off with a single hose clamp can be entirely to much weight and you'll be wasting tons of time...
11-23-2010, 10:06 PM
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I have heard of this method before, but only to tame minor vibrations. I'll definitely try it, and see if it helps. The machine shop that balanced my driveshaft is a hole in the wall, and not known for their quality. I wouldn't say it's perfect, by any means.
So far, things that I've tried. 2 different driveshafts
1. Suspension loaded on stands - vibrated
2. removed wheels / tires - vibrated
3. Removed axles - vibrated.
4. Took center out and had the specs checked
-pinion was too deep. fixed. still vibrated, but not as bad
5. backed the car out of the garage so i wouldn't throw anything at it.
6. went to work on my datsun project, and guess what - still vibrates
So far, things that I've tried. 2 different driveshafts
1. Suspension loaded on stands - vibrated
2. removed wheels / tires - vibrated
3. Removed axles - vibrated.
4. Took center out and had the specs checked
-pinion was too deep. fixed. still vibrated, but not as bad
5. backed the car out of the garage so i wouldn't throw anything at it.
6. went to work on my datsun project, and guess what - still vibrates
trust me...
Ask them when you go which machine they have and how fast does it spin the shaft to.
The hose clamp thing is not balancing a driveshaft...
Balancing a driveshaft can take anywhere from 1 ounce to as little as 1 gram, i have balanced thousands upon thousands, even starting off with a single hose clamp can be entirely to much weight and you'll be wasting tons of time...
11-24-2010, 08:41 AM
#49
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I partially agree with your statement, however, I feel that using a hose clamp was not a waist of my time. It was a quick test to see if my driveshaft needed ballanced or replaced. Now I know what is causing the vibration. I know that this is in no way a permanent fix. I also know that the driveshaft is not balanced. That 15 minutes with a hose clamp saved me hours of work trying to fix something in the rear that wasn't broke in the first place.
With that said, what do you charge to balance a driveshaft?
With that said, what do you charge to balance a driveshaft?
11-24-2010, 06:52 PM
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Every area is different so don't go by what i say for your area, also different shafts are different prices. 55 for steel 1 pc and 65 for al 1pc, your area could be cheaper then i am
11-24-2010, 07:52 PM
#51
I realize that the shop I took it to is not top notch. I plan on getting the DS high speed balanced, and I feel that it should be the next step. That being said, I have no idea where in KS a shop could do such a thing. I'd like to keep from shipping it, if possible, to keep the cost down. If I have to ship it to a good shop, so be it. Who all balances driveshafts out there?
11-25-2010, 10:07 AM
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11-25-2010, 03:54 PM
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Depends, dd and street cars see 2000 to 3000, race cars are higher, being most street cars are well beyond the SL at those speeds.
I'll see who is near you Steep and get back to you
I'll see who is near you Steep and get back to you
03-07-2011, 04:40 PM
#60
I am fighting the same type of issue in 99 WS6 with a new 9" rearend.
Have done what you have done, but added one more step to the list, slipped a yoke in the back into trans. (Put grease on the splines to prevent the yoke from coming out, no driveshaft attached to yoke.)
Brought the motor up with trans in gear to the mph where I am having the vibration, bearing sound. Repeated several times. Still have the issue, kicked into neutral vibration goes away. In the car I am working on, it may be a trans issue.
Have done what you have done, but added one more step to the list, slipped a yoke in the back into trans. (Put grease on the splines to prevent the yoke from coming out, no driveshaft attached to yoke.)
Brought the motor up with trans in gear to the mph where I am having the vibration, bearing sound. Repeated several times. Still have the issue, kicked into neutral vibration goes away. In the car I am working on, it may be a trans issue.