Could a bad U-joint do this?

Skip to post 4.

 

skip to post 4.

 

Edited the 1st post cause it was too generic.
Lets try it in an easier way.

Could an U-joint that is on his way out cause a vibration that sounds like the diveshaft is hittin the floor?

It seemed like rising the car a tap of the switch cured it (for now) and as there is no rub mark on the newly installed and freshly painted driveshaft i really dont think it hits anywhere, plus, i rised the tunnel and the only thing that could interfeer with it is the exhaust, but it never did b4, and again, i see no hit marks.

I changed the last portion of the driveshaft and the mid support/bearing/rubber, as the bearing rubber "housing" was TORN and the driveshaft was hit pretty bad from years b4.
The u-joints on the new driveshaft were moving free with no extra play so since they came from a low milage car i gave for granted they were ok.

So, could a bad joint cause an "all hell breaks loose" sorta noise? or the new components more likeley hit somewhere due to who knows what?

Help appreciated. This problem scares the living fuk outta me. Trust me when it starts doin it it aint fun. And i dont wanna drive with the ass up any longer...

 

Yes, bad u joints can make all types of weird noises. I had one that was completely destroyed, it didnt vibrate or clunk, but sounded like a noise )brbrbrbr) coming from my exhaust on take off. New u joint, noise gone.

 

Look around the caps for rust. It sounds like one is frozen.

But yes. bad U joints can do alot of damage

 

I always replace and grease U-joints when the drive shaft has been removed. HRP

 

I had one that sounded like the torque converter was rubbing in the bellhousing. No play, but one cap rusted. New joint, noise gone.

Carl

 

It sounds like you are talking about a 2-piece driveshaft with a center carrier bearing?

 

If he is, I had a carrier come apart once. The whole thing spun in the tunnel, and sounded like it was going to come right through the floor. Bought the Inland Empire one, no problems since.

 

Yeah, if it is 2-piece then I'm wondering about that center bearing. They can make some dreadful noises when going bad.

 

Yes. Replaced the carrier bearing, the support, and the rubber housing that keeps the bearing.
The rubber was TORN, but the bearing was ok. This car before gettin juice had a severe drop that caused the driveshaft to hit on every deep hole in the road. So 3 years later, yeah dumb i kno, i changed the worn to hell parts, but made it worse...drove with no noise or anything b4, just a very low woshwosh noise comin from the bearing.

Anyway, thanx all, i have a spare u joint n will see to change it soon.
Why do you think drivin higher seems to solve it?
Severve pinion angle at near full drop making the u-joint work harder or something??
Damn physics

 

May need to check the preload on the center support bearing

 

Agreed. This slip joint shaft will solve a LOT of problems when lowering:

http://www.iedls.com/Center-Support-Bearings/1958-64-Chevrolet-Cars.asp

 

You may be changing the angle just enough to keep it from binding like it was before.

Make sure that the yokes on the half with the support bearing are in phase too. Some guys get them out of phase when the take them apart to change the bearings or Ujoints and don't pay attention to how they go back together or put them 90 degrees out by mistake.

 

Its probably the driveshaft angles.
Since raising it a touch made it shut up , or the drive shaft is too long and binding up in the lower position.

Now I had a car that vibrated horribly at 50 mph .
My buddies got in and off we go without any vibrations. Drop them off and vibrations back.
I lowered the rear about an inch and all was well vibration went away.

 

The driveshaft has a splined connection at the bearing, and has a square tooth so to avoid misalignment. Its also same lenght as the old one, even thou it comes from same model i measured carefully before the swap. And the balance weights are on the same spot too, which might be coincidence thou.

I wonder if it could be just a pinion angle problem and the torn rubber corrected it somehow before. The car has a huge notch but the stock trailin arms....or its bullshit?
Gotta try the joint first anyway

 

I had this problem on a couple of 60 Chevys I owned.The center bearing support had a very short life as did the bearing itself. What is really critical on this setup is when you re-install the assembly,make sure the rear axle is in the normal ride height position before tightening the bolts holding the center support.If this isn't done,it will side load the bearing and cause premature failure.Bearings(especially ball type)are great at absorbing loads perpendicular to the axis but lousy at side loading which is why most new bearings are of the tapered roller variety.
I found that when I put the car in reverse and started to back up the vibration was very audible and felt when the support and bearing were failing.

 

If you hear what sounds like a bird chirping ,it`s usually grease rot.Which means replacement time.

 

the sound is of the ''shittin my pants'' kind.
Dunno if you ever had a driveshaft hittin, but it really sounds scary as fuck, sonds like a poundin hammer hittin from underneath.
Well, this is the same type of noise, but sounds more like a vibration.

So, the replacement joint i have is the kind with the clips, and i kno i can pull those on the vice with dies and counter dies (sockets should do).
Can i do the same with the old style caps?

 

Had the exact same thing on my '60 Cadillac. One seized u-joint at the rear, and one half-seized in the middle near the center support. The rubber was almost torn all the way around the support. Replaced all 3 u-joints, the carrier bearing and the center support rubber/metal with a new one and it went back to being smooth.

Cause and effect. Seized u-joint puts more strain under load (especially the 2-3 shift), drive shaft torques more on the torn rubber than usual and flops around like loose titties. Horrible noise that freaked me out a couple days until I figured it out. Replace everything.

 

Check and see if the shaft is out of phase on the yokes. easy to screw up on those 2 piece shafts when you take them apart to change the center bearings.

 

Bump for my last question. I wanna do this like yesterday but without fuckin up things any further.

 

Oem style caps need to be heated so the plastic lock ring melts out of the hole.
Then proceed as you've said.

 

Thanks. Will have a go tomorrow. Today i wanted to remove the d-shaft but ended up servicing the hydros. Customs as dailies are fun...well, at times

 

Talked with the mechanic at the shop in fnt of my house. He thinks that all is fine, and that the torn rubber on the carrier bearing allowed the shaft to take a good enuff angle to run fine when dropped LOW, and now with everything new and thighter than b4 cant get past a certain point making it hard on the joint at that xtreme angle and causing a hard vibration.
Remember that this car has a huge step notch but stock trailing arms, so the pinion angle gets way past the lowest point on the stock config. Hearing it from him made total sense.
Whats your take b4 i attempt at swappin a good u-joint without even having a lift? LOL

 

^^^ could that be true? ^^

 

U-joints are like $10. Get your floor jack out, jack the son of a bitch up and replace the U-joint. If the noise and vibration stops, you're done. If its still vibrating and making noise, then you spent $10 and you know that the problem is not the U-joint. Its a hell of a lot cheaper than taking it to a mechanic. Next thing to replace is the carrier bearing. They aren't that expensive either. Something is certainly wrong. Violent vibration in the drive line is not ok.

Lots of people don't have a lift, and we all get by just fine.

Do you text a lot? You must, you abbreviate the shit out of everything.

Adam

 

No i dont text for shit, but i type from a phone most times as i dont have a compuer home, and the uber tiny letters are a pain to type.

A U-joint is 80euros BTW, sorry By The Way and the mentioned car is my daily.
Im just tryin to troubleshoot the problem to avoid doin stuff twice, or trice.

If this can be caused by the driveshaft angle i'll just wait and do a slipjoint converrsion. The car gets almost 4" lower than its lowest point on the stock frame.

Also, i just replaced the carrier bearing, its rubber housing and its bracket, then replaced the second part of the d-shaft with a low mileage one. The joints on inspection had no rust and moved freely without extra play, which is why im startin to lean toward the "extreme pinion angle cause".

 

sounds like lengyh and balance to me.new partial shaft may not be balanced to old.

 

Replace everything that moves. Is being cheap worth your life?

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