mark: yeah, probably but i want to move and i'd hate to stick around north texass for a hundred bucks or so from a small claims judge. who knows how long it would take to get a hearing. gerrald: the driveshaft is at fort worth gear and axel. they know what they're doing. they took one glance at it and noticed that it ws out of phase. i also spoke to the man who will be doing the job. tomorrow it should be ready then the 62 will be fixed. depending on how much it costs me to fix what the first mechanic screwed up, i may or may not file a small claims grievance. probably not though. it's just not worth it right now for me. i will however tell EVERYONE what a crappy job this asshole did on my driveshaft and how much trouble it caused me. what a POS..... oh, and another thing that muddied the water was all this discussion about driveline angles. most people seemed to not understand that this is a STOCK TRUCK, not a hot-rod build. the driveline angles are locked in. also the new trans is just a tad longer than the old 3sp so the angle from the front yoke to the rear changed very little and not nearly enough to cause problems. after a lot of uncertainty, i realized that the angles are not the problem but for a long time i was concerned about this non-issue because of all the posts in this regard. that took me off track.
I really doubted that you had a driveline angle issue from the start. Glad to see that you have the truck in the right shop at last. Keep us posted. Bob
If somebody screws you, you have to stand up for yourself. If you're not willing to do that, then you're setup to be screwed again If it's not worth it to you to file a claim against the guy, it probably isn't worth it to us to listen to your complaints either. Trashing somebody isn't the only recourse, especially when he cost you time and money.
i'm not driving back from florida (a 3000 mile round trip) to take this jerk to court for two hundred bucks. that doesn't make sense to you? and the thread isn't about a lawsuit, it's about a truck problem caused by a bad driveshaft build. got to pick up the new driveshaft today.
I was under the impression the first POS took you for $750.oo. I'd get even and I'm serious,, regrettably I'm known locally for getting even. SpecialK is right. Rippoffs cannot run loose without a good backlash in some form or another. I'm glad that there is some kind of closure to this nightmare. I just hate to see the first Neaderthal bilk you,,now he will hone his "skills" for the next guy.
This is a huge thread, didn't read it all---BUT-I just finished putting in a T5 in a 55. Had a very intresting thing happen-the clutch disc was off center when the pressure plate was bolted to the flywheel. I had the flywheel that came with the package i bought. Instead, I used my old flywheel, GM, and it centered perfectly. The package wheel was aftermarket. BTW, the T5 WOULD line up with the pilot bearing on the off center disc. Not saying this is for you, but something to think about. Didn't run it with the off center disc, but I'd bet it'd be a hell of a vibration. cooger
@cooger - he had no vibration problems without a driveshaft, so it's unlikely that his flywheel was off center.
he wanted $757.00 i paid him $600. he did install the trans, cut the input shaft, cut the bearing retainer and ground the splines on the clutch. he also made a trans mount and cut the floor pan. so he did some work that was good. it's just the driveshaft that he fuckedup. since he's been doing shafts for a long time, that was he part that i wasn't too worried about. so he'd only owe me for the new shaft and associated expenses.
Okay, it's hours now since the driveline was to be finished...Suspense is thicker than molasses! Is the vibration gone? Or was Jerry Lee Lewis right?
i couldn't get a ride into fort worth to pickup the shaft. tomorrow morning we are scheduled to go get it. we also have to get a new rubber mount because the IDIOT mechanic stripped one of the bolts. it should be a quick fix once we get shaft and mount. borntoloze: the trans angle-iron mount that was made did not pull the trans out of alignment, it merely secured it from twisting with the torque and gave it more support. so the angles of the trans in relation to the rearend ARE the same. furthermore; trans swaps and driveshaft mods are common. there is no way to modify the angles of the driveline without mangling the motor mounts. nobody does that and i'm not going to start. FURTHERMORE; the ONLY angle that changed SLIGHTLY is the "dogleg" from the trans to the differential, which is not perfectly centered. the problem was an out-of-phase and too short driveshaft. i'm confident that when we put it back together, it will be fine. all of the talk about angles is better suited for a NEW BUILD vehicle, not a stocker because the angles that are important is the horizontal relationship between the trans and differential and that doesn't change in a stock vehicle.
Hey, Dragsta: One more thing to check: make sure the trans yoke splines [internal & external] are not buggered/worn. W/the yoke sticking too far out, & the whipping shaft, easily a possibility. Hate to spend more coin, but I'd spring for a new one, as those'll drive you nuts w/the vibration. More prevalent on 4x4 types, as for some reason they never get greased, but the teeth-rattling end result is the same. Guess how I learned that one? Guess all P.O.s always do things right... Uh-huh... Hope you get this solved. If this doesn't do it, next thing would be the input shaft length, &/or the bellhousing needs dialing-in, along with proper OD sizing of the trans bearing retainer for the proper fit into the bellhousing. If it was never checked, &/or was altered... Good luck. HTH. Marcus...
You say the angles are the same in one sentance and then in another say the only angle that changed SLIGHTLY is the dog leg...am I the only one confused? I think you have 2 issues...the drive shaft is one....why not use the stock mounts....my 2 cents
No, your not. I have no idea what "dogleg" is, but it sounds like the trans isn't parallel with the frame rail. I would be checking EVERYTHING the first guy touched.
the trans has to be parallel becuase it's bolted flat to the bellhousing. the angles to which i was referring are the rear end and the transmission. the driveshaft angle changed only slightly. nrgwizard: i thought about the yoke being bad but my main concern was slop at the output bushing. it's in there and seems tight. we put on a new driveshaft and it's much better but there's still a vibration that starts around 55mph! the low-speed vibration is totally gone. just as before, when i push in the clutch at speed the vibration is slightly worse. it sounds just like a driveshaft out of balance but this shaft we had done at fort worth gear and axle and they know their stuff. the truck is driveable but i'm not confident that i can take it to florida. i'm going to check the lug nuts and a few other things. i'm running out of ideas. but that other shaft was way out of phase and an inch too short so that had to be done. it's incredible that there's still a vibration. it totally goes away under 50mph and is contingent upon speed not the gear or engine rpm because it's the same in 4th or 5th gear. when i'm in 4th at speed and i push in the clutch to put it into overdrive, the vibration is very noticeable. goes away a little when i put it in gear. also when i go over a dip in the road, it sends the vibration up through the floor pan sounding like a lawn mower going over an exposed root. this isn't good. at first, i thought that it was fine but then i pushed in the clutch at about 50mph to put it into 5th and it made that vibration! if i can't get this goddamned thing to stop vibrating, i'm going to have to put the old trans back in and that means getting another driveshaft made. any ideas?
Motor mounts allow for some movement, so while it may be straight as far as bolting to the motor, that does not equate that it is at a proper angle in relation to the driveshaft. If it was allowed to drop low, or was raised just high enough, you can get things out of whack. The first mechanic is already suspect. No matter how clean the setup looks, it is definitely worth looking into again. Also check to make sure the end of the pilot area of the transmission was cut correctly. Make sure the motor mounts are in decent shape. Make sure the trans mount is made correctly. Check it from front to rear end. If he can mess up something obvious like phasing, I would be even more concerned at the less obvious stuff.
Dragsta, I'm not picking on you, trust me. Myself and tons of others have advised you several times to check pinion angles and output shaft angles on the trans. You just said that the driveshaft angle changed slightly. That's all it takes to create a vibration. Your motor mounts are flexible enough that if the first guy moved the tail shaft of trans over 1", they wouldn't care. Same with up or down. But one degree of separation between the angle that pinion sits at and the angle that the tail shaft sits at will cause exactly what you are talking about.How do I know this? Because at forty five years old, doing this stuff a time or two over the last thirty some years, I've chased this problem myself. If the first guy moved that tail shaft up or down an inch or so to "make it fit", there is your problem. Same with side to side. It's now time to crawl back under the truck with an angle finder and a tape measure and check whats going on down there. Doesn't matter how quality the work looks, if it isn't right - it isn't right...
I would trash the so called transmission mount and go back to the stock set up....I still do not understand why a transmission mount was made.....I bet that will fix your problem....
Have you looked at the clutch? The disk could have been damaged when the T5 was stabbed in. Just a thought.
For the ten dollars for an angle finder, why not check it the right way. As i see it, everything but the pinion angle in the non issue. Until you know what it is, you have 2 unknown variables in one equation. Everything else is moot until you AT LEAST check it. C'mon. Ten bucks
that is going to be the next thing i check. it's possible that the mount is pushing up or down on the trans slightly when tightened. i'm going to loosen that mount and take it for a test spin tomorrow. as far as the angles are concerned; there is no way to change them without fucking with the motor mounts. the trans bolts right up to the bellhousing, solid. it's on the same horizontal plane just like the old trans. the rear end is on the same plane. the angle of the driveshaft did change slightly but i don't see how that can create a problem. to change it would require the shifting of the engine on the mounts. that's fucking nuts. i'm not going to do that. the differential is offset on the axle forcing the shaft to "dogleg" to the drivers side. when the shaft was shortened a few inches this increased this "dogleg" angle slightly. that is the ONLY angle that was changed and there is no way to change it without reinstalling the old trans. i'll upload some pics tomorrow. i appreciate all of the input.
Maybe I missed a thread. Working the clutch!!!Have you tried putting in it neutral, Push in the clutch, and rev it up a little at a time and see if the vibration comes in. If so, I would suspect the input shaft/bearing combo. I read about all this bearing fitting,spline grinding,cutting input shaft, retainer grinding,etc,etc. What's that all about???. If you do what I mentioned, and you get this vibration, I would say your input shaft IS NOT supported by the bearing, and your clutch disc and input shaft is thrashing all over Hell. When you let out your pedal ,the disc is clamped between the pressure plate and flywheel. MAYBE SOMETIMES IT"S CENTERED, SOMETIMES NOT. That is why you get intermitant vibration. Your luck, your off center line 90%. If you wind up pulling the tranny, you need to measue from the face plate of the tranny to the end of the input shaft, then measure into the bearing, also compare dimentions to the old tranny. Maybe the Fuck, cut the input too short. Hay ,he could'nt do the driveshaft right!!! It's late. I'm out of here.
Get it up to speed about 65 and kick it in neutral and turn off the engine. As it drops to 50 see if your vibration is still there. If it is then it is not engine or clutch related. Plain and simple. I dont remember reading but you measured the drive shaft while all tires were on the ground correct?
The Jalopy Journal
