driveline shutter

[bigblock_doc]

I have always had a little shutter when taking off from a dead stop.

Ben that way since new. Nothing to worry about. After 130,000 shutter

got real bad. Well it was the center u-joint. Now, not even a little

quiver even with the trailer attached. Go figure, bad joint from factory????

 

[AH64ID]

Its more common than you think. Lots of folks end up going with a 1 piece drive-shaft to alleviate it.

 

[mpaulson]

I went to the one piece driveshaft when a joint went. It was only $600 some complete from Dodge here in Canada, so I'll bet it's about $500 some there. It fixed my problems with the shudder that I've had since day one also. When I asked the parts man what their price is for the joint, it was something retarded like $300 something!!! then I would have to pay for the labour which would put me at more than the cost of a new shaft!!??!!?!?!

Not that I would buy a joint from Dodge anyway, but next time I have a joint go, I'll just buy a new shaft and get two new joints that come with it for that price instead of just the repair of one for about the same money. No very green I know, but the aluminum is recyclable anyway. When one joint goes, it's quite likely that the other one may not be far be hind. Maybe once I have two shafts, then I'll just swap them and then I can deal with the joint repair at my leasure.

 

[AH64ID]

What application does Dodge put the 1 piece on?

 

[Prairie Dog]

What application does Dodge put the 1 piece on?

Well, I know the 08 Mega has one because thats the application I used on mine after it was shortened 1. 5".

I kinda thought they used them on all 08 and on trucks but I could be wrong.

 

[AH64ID]

Interesting. I guess I haven't paid much attention. The 1. 5" difference must be the G56 vs NV5600.

 

[MMeier]

Interesting. I guess I haven't paid much attention. The 1. 5" difference must be the G56 vs NV5600.

Pretty much, but it is wise to actually measure how much it needs to be cut. Did mine back in February of this year, no complaints yet ! Do a search on here, there is a decent thread on it, let me see if I can find it again . Hmmm... how do we refer to previous threads here again ??

 

[mpaulson]

I believe from 08 and up it is one piece on the mega cab autos.

 

[Bernie]

I have always had a little shutter when taking off from a dead stop.

I have the same problem. I wouldn't say I have been chasing it, because all of the below items would have needed to be addressed anyway. But, every time I address something I hope the problem will go away. The below represents the last year:

-135k Miles: Front shaft exploded (the two u joints with the centering ball or whatever they called it). I had a machine shop rebuild it (cut off the broken yoke, replace, balanced). $300

-150k Miles: I thought it might be the transmission or rear drive shaft, so I had a shop do a trans service (Drop the pan, fluid, filter, bands, it was due anyway) and check the shaft. Per the trans shop, both were fine. $300. At that time, the trans shop gave me a TSB (which I lost) on a drive line shudder that happens to the long wheel base trucks. Basically, it had directions to shim the carrier bearing to try to minimize the problem. I lost it, and never tried it. Does anyone have that TSB? Has anyone tried the repair procedure? Does it work?
-150K Miles: Changed the diff fluid as well. Inspected the diffs, and no problem there.

-160k Miles: Replaced the outer front Axel U-Joints. $150 for parts

-170k Miles: Replaced front wheel bearing hub assemblies. $300 for parts
-170k Miles: Had the rear shaft rebuilt as well. I didn't want it going in the middle of winter. It felt OK to me, but one joint was bad and the carrier bearing was shot. $350

It did get better with the rear shaft, but it slowly seems to be coming back. I am at about 175k miles now.

I would welcome any info on a single piece rear shaft if that corrects the problem. I would also want to hear any info from people who have successfully shimmed the carrier barrier per the TSB.

 

[bigblock_doc]

Boy, some of those parts are expensive. U-joints for the rear shaft were $19. 00.

American made, the bearing assys. were $250. 00 and the outer front axle joints were

about $45 ea.

 

[Bernie]

Boy, some of those parts are expensive. U-joints for the rear shaft were $19. 00.

American made, the bearing assys. were $250. 00 and the outer front axle joints were

about $45 ea.

I agree, it looks like that, but there is more to the story:



-The rear shaft rebuild included a new carrier bearing, and I had the machine shop do all the labor. They charged me $22 per bearing, $175 for the whole carrier bearing assembly (from Dodge dealer), and the rest was labor.



-I bought a pair of bearing assemblies from Dearborn Axel on eBay (thumbs up, by the way) for about $200. I also bought some other items that I had grouped in with that service.



-The only front U-Joints that my local Napa had were $70 each (and I needed them then). I also bought some shop supplies on that receipt.