front driveshaft rebuild?

[JDKammin]

My 04 has 59,000 miles on it and started developing a vibration that gets severe at 70 miles an hour. I replaced the rear u joints and wondering if the front CV joint and u joint could be the problem. I had a similar problem on my 96, but had 170,000 miles on it. The truck had a MN owner and did not know if the winter salt could be worse than in Iowa. I have aftermarket tires and wheels and just got done putting the stock tires back on, but have not driven it yet.

 

[snuff]

where did the vib feel like it started from?

the ones u replaced where on the rear drive shaft or the rear of the front one?i go ahead and replace the other joint, even though it may not get used much, the front shaft wears out also.

 

[jelag]

Drive your truck slowly and make a sharp turn... . do it in both directions... . if you feel the 4x4 hump or jump as the wheels turn at 45 degrees or so... you've got a bad joint in the knuckle... .

Another way to find which side it is, is to raise the truck and roll the front wheel... if it rolls free straight ahead, but is hard to turn when the wheels are at 45 degrees its that wheel... .

Also if you have a 2 piece drive shaft in the rear, make sure the carrier bearing is good... .

 

[JDKammin]

The rear driveshaft is one piece and those are the u-joints that were replaced. I drove the truck tonight with the stock tires on and still vibrates worse at 70 mph, but can feel it starting around 60 mph. I cannot really isolate where it is coming from, maybe a little thru the seat and floorboard. It does not come thru the steering wheel and if I try a panic stop, it is predictable without any vibration thru the steerin wheel. I even threw the truck in neutral and let off the throttle, but still had the vibration. I my next step is to remove the front driveshaft. Thanks.

 

[WMoroni]

When I had my 05 the front drive shaft developed slack in the splines causing it to vibrate. It only had 35000 miles on it and dodge replaced it under warranty.

 

[steved]

To isolate the front shaft, pull it from the truck and drive the truck.



I believe someone stated a new shaft from Dodge is only $225.

 

[JDKammin]

I took the front shaft off this morning and drove the truck up the road. That is not the problem. A friend of mine drove it and says he can feel it vibrate in his foot that is on the throttle pedal. I will jack the truck back up and check the axle shaft u-joints one more time, but do not think that is what it is. Just a long shot, but what would a bad front differential bearing feel like. When I had the front of the truck jacked up, I also checked for loose wheel bearings and ball joints. The top left has just a little play in it, but that should not cause this problem.

 

[Matt400]

About your rear shaft. .

It may be possible that you fixed one fault replacing them while creating another.

Are you sure the yoke ends were installed exactly the same and not 180 degrees out?

The shaft is balanced as an assembly with the yoke ends installed so having them in a new location can cause this.

If your not sure I would have a driveline shop check the balance on it.



Also the aftermarket joints used can be questionable. I changed worn out joints on the front once and had this trouble afterwards, I had a driveline shop check the balance only to find the poor quality joints where not as true as OEM. The driveline shop recommended Spicer which I changed to and while it was better there was still a vib at 70. I had been careful with the shaft and to put the yokes all back the same, A replacement shaft was the final fix.

 

[JDKammin]

I had the same vibration before I replaced the u-joints on the rear shaft. The u-joints came from NAPA and I have used many from them without any problems.

 

[snuff]

i agree on the carrier bearing idea. but also there was a tsb on the angle of the rear drive shaft, others who know more will chime in, but the dealer replaced the yoke or something at the differnetial i think, it changed the angle by a few degrees on the drive shaft. i think the tsb was for binding of the last u jont at the differential.

 

[steved]

How would the angles change?



That typically applies to a "new" truck and is not something that just comes on after 50k.

 

[snuff]

not sure i see if i can find it, i believe it the tsb for a high speed shimmy from the back... .

 

[snuff]

2004 TSB's





maybe you have a shimmy instead of a whine.....

 

[snuff]

still though give the carrier bearing a shot... ...

 

[JDKammin]

I do not have a carrier bearing on the rear driveshaft. I am going to look harder into the front axleshaft u-joints.

 

[JDKammin]

I just figured out that I have powertrain warranty on this truck, but has a $100 deductible. Taken it in to the dealer on Monday.

 

[snuff]

wiggle the front shaft, if it has play it is bad

 

[JDKammin]

I have the front driveshaft off and still get the vibration. I took it to the dealer and had a tech ride with me and told him what all I have tried to eliminate. He cannot look at it until Wednesday. I am going to put the rear axle on jackstands and let it run at idle in gear. Maybe the rear driveshaft is bent.

 

[JDKammin]

It is fixed!!!

I put the truck up on jackstands and stuck the truck in drive. It seemed to be running out of round. Running the truck at speed on the jackstands, I think the driveshaft turned too fast and could not see the out of round or imbalance. I took the shaft off and took it to local machine shop. Picked it up this afternoon and he had welded three of the balancing washers on. Two were on the back end and one was on the front end. I cannot believe something this far out of balance made it off of the assembly line, let alone be driven for 48,000 miles. Now, I can put the front driveshaft and good tires and wheels back on.

 

[steved]

Have you driven it? Mine took five balancing discs on one end and six on the other.



I never felt it.