rear driveline failure... any suggestions?

[oneshotkyle]

ya ya i know... ... . picked up this little vibration a little while back and suspected it was all tires. today went in to local tire store, rotated and checked tires but vibration was still there. (kinda like cleated tires when they grumble) any ways had the truck up on the alignment rack looking for wheel bearing failure or any thing that would be unusual, nothing? decided to run the truck in gear on rack and, holy #@%$!?... . driveline wobbles at slip yoke and makes the transfer case wobble up and down.

can any one help me find a complete upgraded rear driveline setup. how about all you 3rd gen pullers, who makes a bolt in replacement that will hold the power my foot demands... ... ... ...

 

[oneshotkyle]

i know iv'e seen or read somewhere about extreme duty driveline's like the pullers use.

 

[CIverson]

A new one is only a few hundred bucks from dodge (If you know where to shop). You most likely either got a bad one or hit it on something to bend it.

 

[Bob V]

I vote for bad u-joints

 

[DE Jeeper]

Sent my driveshafts out to DRIVESHAFTS SHOP: Stock, Performance Drive Shafts, Aluminum Drive Shaft, Racing Axles. He is in NC and sponsors me for off road racing. They usually build cv stuff for ricers and vetts, but they can build a shaft for any level of abuse. My truck is now vibe free after he ballanced and replaced the joints.



Aaron

 

[oneshotkyle]

CIverson this one wobbles at slip yoke behind carrier bearing, so i don't want to chance tearing another stocker and breaking any other parts.

Bob V sure wish it was that simple but all are tight and i personally watched it wobble while it was on the alignment rack.

i am looking into building one from scratch but live in a rural area and would have to travel. though i have seen some upgraded shafts in pullers that i thought where pre built, but can't seem to find it now.

 

[MMeier]

CIverson this one wobbles at slip yoke behind carrier bearing, so i don't want to chance tearing another stocker and breaking any other parts.



Bob V sure wish it was that simple but all are tight and i personally watched it wobble while it was on the alignment rack.



i am looking into building one from scratch but live in a rural area and would have to travel. though i have seen some upgraded shafts in pullers that i thought where pre built, but can't seem to find it now.

How do you know all the U joints are tight? These ones do not act like earlier ones. you really have to get some leverage on them to find the bad one(s). I say the rear one is definitely toast.

 

[rbattelle]

Carrier bearing is probably also bad. Very common.

Ryan

 

[NDanecker]

I replaced my 2 pc driveshaft setup with a single 1 piece shaft. Not sure on exact mileage but probably 40 to 50k on new 1pc shaft - no more problems!



I use the truck just to pull stuff. Longest/heaviest was pulling gooseneck fully loaded (27. 6k gross) from Florida to NJ. Still... . no issues!



IMO, don't waste your money on trying to get the double shafts working. Its almost physically impossible to get the angles right with a 2 pc setup as the axle goes up / down with load and changes angles.



With 2 pc, the first shaft needs to be parallel to transmission output shaft or perfectly parallel to second shaft. If you shim the center bearing to make first parallel then the second angle is too severe. If you shim it to get both shafts parallel then it changes when you load the truck as the center bearing doesn't move. Just go 1 piece!!! As long as the transmission and pinion shafts are parallel you are good to go! Accel and decell of both joints cancel each other out which won't give you the binding that an improperly setup / variable angle 2 pc shaft gives you.

 

[CBogner]

I vote for u-joints also. Mine rear joint seized at 60thou and it felt just like an out of balance tire. The dead give away for me was the awful squeeking it made in reverse and no the joint wasnt loose just completely rusted inside the joint(cheap nongreasable you know what#@$%!)

 

[Cattletrkr]

Dad recently had some work done on his 48auto. They check the joints when they had the shaft out and the rear one was shot. It was mostly fine except for it would completely lock up in one position. You'd never know it w/o pulling the shaft.

What kind of "wobble"? Does it look like something is bent?

 

[oneshotkyle]

the wobble is up at the slip yoke/carrier bearing. i am gonna take the drive line in next week and have it checked over. the slip yoke seems to have a good amount of play (up and down) in the splines, and the carrier bearing looks like it is cracking from the vibration also.
i am optimistic that it just needs carrier and u-joints but i think it is more than that.

 

[Cattletrkr]

the wobble is up at the slip yoke/carrier bearing... and the carrier bearing looks like it is cracking from the vibration also.
i am optimistic that it just needs carrier and u-joints but i think it is more than that.

The cracking is normal. Look for sompletely torn/missing corners. It sounds like you center joint is toast and maybe more but I doubt you need a new shaft.

That's just my $. 02

 

[basilry]

All three of my ujoints were bad on my rear driveshaft I replaced them and then had a vibration. Took it to a driveline shop to get it balanced and they quoted me a very high price so I called the dealer just to see how much a complete shaft was and found out I could get a brand new one for less then they wanted to balance it. And it was only a little more than what I just paid for Joints. Now I have a spare I throw in the truck for pulling.

 

[Johnstra]

I had one u-joint replaced a couple of months ago and I picked up a 60 MPH vibration. I took it to the dealer today and they say I need a new drive shaft too. They claim they took the rear shaft off and drove it with just the front to confirm the rear shaft is the problem. I asked them if they checked all the u-joints and they said they're ok.



My truck is stock power.



-john

 

[oneshotkyle]

well i got it in the driveline shop yesterday. he said dodges seem to be real common with or without any power. it turns out that it was bent at the slip yoke in the front half . 030 and was straightened and rebalanced all new joints and a carrier. one joint and the bend was determined to be the problem but i opted to do it all.

 

[JApol]

Took it to a driveline shop to get it balanced and they quoted me a very high price so I called the dealer just to see how much a complete shaft was and found out I could get a brand new one for less then they wanted to balance it.

Granted I have a short bed but I got my rear shaft balanced for $50 and I used the shop tools. I was in and out in less than an hour. Vibe runout was ~. 20. The shop got it down to ~. 02. I had to see the micrometer to believe it