GearVendor Tolerence Question

[tfiler]

I am away from my home in Phoenix and started to experience a shaking problem at freeway speeds. When I start to go over 50 MPH I get a shake that feels like an out of balance driveshaft. It will come and go, but it is very nerve racking.



I called a great TDR member who volunteered to come over and look at my truck last night. He discovered that where the driveshaft goes into the GearVendor the driveshaft end could be moved about 1/8". He can grab onto the "yoke" and move it up and down. My question is, is this normal? Could this be the problem? How much play is normal?



I am about ready to rip that GV out and use it for target practice!

 

[Woodenhead]

Like he said, the output shaft on his Gear vendors unit has about 1/8" play at the yoke for the U joint when I push it up and down by hand. I checked both U joints and they have no play.



Probably also worth noting that there was a significant amount of oil around the transmission. I checked his transfer case which was full but his transmission was about 1. 5 inches below the fill plug.



If this play is normal and his vibration is not related to the GV unit then I'm wondering if the low fluid in the trans (NV4500) could have cooked a bearing. Or is there a pretty short threshold between starting to lose a bearing and sitting beside the road?



tfiler, you should fill out your signature in your profile so everyone know what year (98. 5), model (3500), transmission (NV4500) and mods (gear vendors etc. ) you have.



Good luck!

 

[DerekW]

I am about ready to rip that GV out and use it for target practice!

got any plans to travel to the east coast? i wanna shoot it with you sounds like fun :-laf whats your favorite drink? also might you want to check used GV prices on ebay. but if you shoot it you may want to look into scrap metal prices for clean steel and clean aluminum.





but yes 1/8" would cause a nice vibration. you may also want to pull the shaft out and check the joints for binding as the would only increase vib.

 

[hsmith]

The tail housing uses a bushing. I have had to replace the bushing and yoke together a couple of times as they were both worn.

Is your yoke bolted to the unit? If it is, the bolt will work loose and cause a lot of play you are describing. It needs to be loctited and tight.

 

[Woodenhead]

The tail housing uses a bushing. I have had to replace the bushing and yoke together a couple of times as they were both worn.

Is your yoke bolted to the unit? If it is, the bolt will work loose and cause a lot of play you are describing. It needs to be loctited and tight.

How would the yoke be bolted on? With a bolt through the center into the end of the output shaft? How hard is it to change the bushing?