Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
An interesting thing happened to me this week. After the truck had been sitting outside for about a week of sub freezing temps, I hopped in to do some around town errands. As soon as I let the clutch out I heard a distinct "tink". I didn't think too much about it, figuring that some ice had fallen off the truck on my concrete driveway or maybe a frozen shock absorber had come unstuck. Upon hitting about 20 mph I could feel a distinct shudder pulsating through the steering wheel, somnething I had never felt before. Keep in mind that this is a low mileage truck that has suffered absolutely NO abuse. I drove around town for a half hour or so, never getting above 45 mph and the shudder was there the entire time. It was too cold and too late in the evening to investigate the cause, so I waited until the next morning.
A little background here. My truck is a black, long bed quad cab with no bed cover. It spends all its time outdoors in Minnesota winters. It is usually parked in direct sunlight on a slight incline, nose down, *** elevated. The bed frequently fills with snow. So here's what happened.
When the sun is out but the temps are below freezing, the black truck soaks up heat, melting the snow in the bed, the water in turn trickles forward, drains through the gaps in the bed floor and drips DIRECTLY onto the cold driveshaft (it's under the truck, out of the sun) between the universal joint and the black rubber accordion boot. Given enough time and freeze/thaw cycles, a large amount of ice can form on the driveshaft. In fact, in my case, a HUGE icicle had formed solid between the driveshaft and the driveway. That explains the "tink" when I let out the clutch. I broke the icicle off, BUT a large chunck of ice about the size of your fist remained on the top side of the driveshaft. This was enough weight to unbalance the shaft and produce the vibration which I felt through the steering wheel. In the morning I crawled under the truck and chipped away all the ice. Problem solved. Maybe this has happened to a bunch of you guys, but this was a first for me. Anyway, if you have a dark colored truck that sits in the sun during the winter, this may happen to you. Fear not, it's an easy fix!
Doug
A little background here. My truck is a black, long bed quad cab with no bed cover. It spends all its time outdoors in Minnesota winters. It is usually parked in direct sunlight on a slight incline, nose down, *** elevated. The bed frequently fills with snow. So here's what happened.
When the sun is out but the temps are below freezing, the black truck soaks up heat, melting the snow in the bed, the water in turn trickles forward, drains through the gaps in the bed floor and drips DIRECTLY onto the cold driveshaft (it's under the truck, out of the sun) between the universal joint and the black rubber accordion boot. Given enough time and freeze/thaw cycles, a large amount of ice can form on the driveshaft. In fact, in my case, a HUGE icicle had formed solid between the driveshaft and the driveway. That explains the "tink" when I let out the clutch. I broke the icicle off, BUT a large chunck of ice about the size of your fist remained on the top side of the driveshaft. This was enough weight to unbalance the shaft and produce the vibration which I felt through the steering wheel. In the morning I crawled under the truck and chipped away all the ice. Problem solved. Maybe this has happened to a bunch of you guys, but this was a first for me. Anyway, if you have a dark colored truck that sits in the sun during the winter, this may happen to you. Fear not, it's an easy fix!
Doug
