New rear u-joint now fine driveline vibes

Opinions welcomed

I had the rear most u-joint changed, it was going out for sure, heavy vibes and lots of play.

I got my local shop to change it, they did and when i got the truck back I now have a very fine vibration from 50k/h to 90km/h (30 to 55m/h). I figured they didn't allign or install it properly.

Well they took it back in and said everything looks fine. Shop said sometimes this happens these in 2 piece shafts. It is likely out of balance now...but would cost me too much money to find out where it is off and to rebalance it. Said something about shops not even having machines to do this.

I'm kinda p.o'd the truck rode without this before they changed the u-joint, now my hands go numb pretty quick holding the steering wheel, and in general rides rough now.

Any suggestions are welcomed. As well I don't want this vibe to mess anything else up.

Cheers, DC

 

It sounds like they didn't index the shaft's orientation before they removed the U joint. If one of the shafts rotated a bit while doing it, it could be off 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 turn (4 bolts).

 

Thanks Scocar,

Is there a way I can correct this? Or is it all a guessing game now because they likely didn't index? I'll have a look underneath for some chalk etc... I bet you're right, you think they could have admitted that to me....

Cheers,

 

If it isn't all worn off, you might be able to make out some assembly paint marks from the factory.

If not, I think it is just a matter of methodical trial and error. It could only be in one of four positions. Make your own marks, unbolt and rotate the shaft 1/4 turn to the next set of bolt holes, and see if it goes away. If not, proceed to the next set, etc.

Hard part is torquing the bolts correctly. Not only do you need the torque wrench, but you also need an extentsion head to get in behind the flange.

Like this:

 

Sounds like a phasing issue to me .
Here,s some reading material .
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Driveline-101.shtml

 

Well that is interesting. Since nothing else has changed (not other variables), are you suggesting that replacing one OEM U-joint with a non-OEM could cause the out-of-phase?

Why do you think it is this rather than a lack of indexing the shaft to get it back in the same orientation during the work?

 

Well I had it in at the dealership this am for the spare tire carrier recall.

Spoke to the tech when he was done, (hindsight should have mentioned it to him before, just figured they would try to take my cash) and he suggested indexing was the issue, figured most common would be the 180 degrees mistake, and that should be the first to try and most likely. Makes sense, I also checked...there is no paint or chalk indicated that they had indexed it in the begining.

I'll check that out first (thanks scocar) then I'll look into phasing, a little over my head by thanks gearcruncher.

DC

 

Cool. Good luck.

 

Sometimes when replacing universal joints , its easier to remove half the shaft than to drop the hanger bearing and pull the complete shaft . Some techs forget to put the driveshaft back the same way they pulled it out .
This is common on driveshafts without master splines - it would only take 1 spline " OUT " to cause a vibe .
I am not saying that this was a mistake for sure but all the OP would have to do is stick his nose under the truck and make sure the yokes line up perfectly .

 

The shop said they didn't even have to pull it out, just dropped it down? They didn't touch anything from the carrier bearing back... Sounds a bit funny?

BTW...what part of the great white north you in?

 

I am a little confused that the shop was able to replace the universal joint while it hung disconnected from the rear diff ???
Even with a universal joint press , the use of a large bench vise really helps . Simply hanging the driveshaft would make replacing the u-joint a nasty job .
Wondering if the shop is trying to cover thier @ss .
From Thunder Bay but live in Red Lake now . I know a lot of peeps in Sudbury .

 

Ah, the splines on the slip yoke. OK, now I get it. Thanks for explaining.

 

Does indexing matter on the slip yoke?

 

yes it does

 

Ya, gotta clear up what and how the shop did the work before I start figuring out how to fix. Funny I took it through town, and our potholes are rediculus right now (need 4by to get around town..lol) and I took it on the HWY, drove it a few k @ 120. Vibes are much less now. But still notice it pretty heavy on accel from 0 going up hill, under load. I'll hit the shop up to maybe call them on their bluff....


Red Lake.... A drinking town with a little fishing problem. I'm up in Tbay a lot, awesome area of the country.

DC

 

Feck. Feck. Feck.

That's my problem then. Feck.

Any advice other than the obvious for getting it re-indexed correctly?

 

I just talked to the shop, asked them what they pulled apart and how they change the rear u-joint.

Well the said they pulled it apart at the slip joke. After that I said i did not see any paint or marker that they may have used for indexing at the slip yoke (I did see silver paint from the shaft yoke to the shaft yoke on the carrier assembly).

You guys may no different, but the shop said they could not put the shaft back improperly because there is a master spline only allowing it to go in one way? Is this true?

So if there is paint on the last shaft yoke to the carrier housing, I can assume that went on properly and the only thing left would be 180 degree flip on the U-joint?

I asked the shop this, they said it should not make a difference, dealership said if for sure could...???

All this has helped thanks guys.

DC

 

I know when I experimented with my Beefed Taco CB drop that I let my slip yoke come apart (not marked) and put it back together thinking the index did not matter. (FYI I'm not running a CB drop)

I've had a vibe ever since.

Upon further inspection, it appears my counter-weight on the shaft is 90 degrees out from the zerks. I'm going to place the counter-weight 180 degrees out and see what happens.

 

Just a thought here but typically, when vibrations are in the steering wheel, the source of those vibrations is in the front end.

Are you certain you have eliminated the possibility that the vibs you are feeling are not from your front wheels? A simple way of checking this is to rotate your wheels front to back.

 

Digiratus, It's driveline for sure, It's in the floors and my change I put in the ashtray now rattles all the time...annoying. I'm going to check out my counter balance like tacomajjp, and likely rotate. Man I just wish some shops would do it properly. I didn't want the hassle of doing it myself....looks like this is more of a hassle.

DC