I've got a weird vibration around 35-40 mph. If I'm in 4th or 5th gear and am accelerating OR decelerating the shifter (transmission) bounces like crazy. I have a driveline vibration. I found the tranny mount almost split in half so I replaced it, yet it still vibrates (less than before though). Could this be a driveshaft problem seeing as it's speed related? Or would this be a tire problem? Cause it doesn't ALWAYS do it, just notice it at certain times, other times it's fine.

Oh, and it doesn't do it any higher than 50 mph.

Thanks for any help. I'd like to get this fixed.

Kyle

 

There are a lot of things that can cause a vibration. The weird thing is that it goes away at 50mph. I assume you replaced it with a stock mount? If not that might be the problem. I would sugguest starting by checking your engine mounts and also check and make sure your torque arm is installed properly front and back, mainly making sure the back bolts are tight. I doubt it is the tires/rims/driveshaft just for the reason that it stops at 50+.

 

two simple things...check your Ujoints and check your wheel balance.

driveshaft vibration often occurs at higher speeds...75+

you could also check your alignment

 

Well, it doesn't totally go away at 50+, but it's not really noticable, not like it is at 40-45! I was thinking maybe u-joints, but wasn't sure. I might take a look at those, and go get my tires balanced, too.

And I also have a crazy vibration up around 90+, I figure that for sure is the driveshaft, but that's not a huge deal for me (at least not always! )

Thanks for the help so far.
Kyle

 

I'm gonna go with U-Joints too. I just replaced mine b4 i brought it outta storage from the winter, i didnt really have any vibration b4.......maybe just a touch at higher speeds, but i also had a bit of a clunking when braking going over bumps, dont know if that applies to u or not. but anyways, now the clunking is gone and i took it upto 130-135Mph on the highway the other day and it was as smooth as a baby's bottom all the way.

Ryan

 

Ok, so I'm thinking u-joints too, it seems to be getting worse. How hard is it to change these? I'm mechanically inclined (Hell, i'm a mechanical engineering technology major!) I should be able to figure it out. Just wondering if there's any online tech pages about it.

How much aprox. would this cost me to replace? Also if I DID take it somewhere what's the labor usually?

Thanks a lot for the help guys.

Kyle

 

I dont know of any tech pages, however, i can tell you this, i was a little nervous about doing it at first by myself (because of how precise they need to be), but in the end i'm glad i didnt take it to a shop. It really wasnt that hard. And the shops wanted about half the price of new one for the u-joints and to balance it. They tried to tell me that mine would need balancing after new joints, but I found out they were full of crap after putting mine in without balancing it.

Removal:
If you have a stock driveshaft, then the ujoints will not use c-clips, they will be plastic injector molded rings. To get these out, u will need to heat them up with a torch, then the plastic will shoot out like a snake out of the side of the drive shaft. As far as removing the main bearing caps goes, this was a bit of a pian. What i did was put a socket on end of the ear of the drive shaft (so that the bearing cap could fall out into it) and hammer a bit on the cap on the opposite side to knock it loose. Obviously being careful not to hit the driveshaft itself.

I'm in canada and my new u-joints (with a company discount at a parts store) were $35 CAD for both. They were Rockford u-joints or something like that. NOt spicer u-joints, but no big deal, i'm sure they'll last for awhile. And the ones i bought are greasable too.

Install:
Installation was a lot easier with the c-clips. All u have to do is set the u-joint in between the yoke ears and slide the caps on from the outside. A vise and a socket is advisable to get through the yoke ears. Make sure the socket is smaller than the yoke ear hole because u want to force the caps to far in. Because once this is done, you'll want to put the c-clips on from the inside of the yoke ears, then knock the caps back out into place. Make sure once the clips are in it moves freely and is not very stiff, otherwise you will still get vibrations.

In addition i sandblasted and painted my driveshaft aluminum before doing the u-joints. Looks 200% better now. Should have seen the rust that was blasted off of it. So if yours does have rust, would be a good time to do that.

Hope my instructions make some bit of sense. Its really hard to describe it in writing. If you have any more questions, or wanna see some b4 and after pictures of the sandblasting, email me and i'd be happy to help. I'm no expert at this, but like i said, it ended up being a lot easier than expected.

Ryan

 

That's badass man. Thanks a ton for the info. I'm going to wait til this weekend and get under there to see what's up. I've done a LOT of stuff on this car and my old IROC(incl. pulling the engine apart) and I think I can manage it.

Thanks again for the help.

Just to make sure I'm going on the right track here, the vibration is bad enough that it makes my shifter bounce a good half an inch up and down, but yet it goes away mostly after 50 (gone in 6th gear). Anyone else have any opinions? Just making sure Im not missing something.

Thanks,
Kyle