Ralph, you mis-read what I wrote way back. I never said I was keeping the damaged joint. I don't know where that came from. It makes no sense to keep a damaged joint.

Like I said I don't really know where that came from but never had any intention of keeping it.

The point I was trying to make was regarding failure and replacement. If in fact the GMB joints were/are not original, and I'm not saying they aren't although Don is, it means that at some point the alleged OE installed Spicer joints in that driveshaft failed and were replaced wholesale by GMB, which is, in my opinion, a pretty big leap of faith.

I can (and will) do a random survey of JY Dodge Daks next time I'm there. It's relatively easy to check and see who made the joints on trucks in a JY which are off the ground. And, the statistics are valid when the reason your group is there has nothing to do with the content of the survey...and it does not. So we shall see...

Thx

Steve

 

Random question that surprisingly hasn't been brought up. Have you checked your pinion angles at all? It's not hard or time consuming to do. But if something isn't right it can actually cause the vibration you're talking about as well as cause the brinelling on your u joints. I just rebuilt the entire rear half of my truck, down to bare metal on everything. I checked the setup of my rear end before I started and all the angles were off by a decent amount and after tearing apart ujoints I found that the u joint at the trans had a fair amount of brinelling in them and they were clean and we'll greased. Now my rear end has been set up perfectly which did take some extra work but I plan on my truck being on the road still in 30 years so it was worth the effort.
some parts stores carry the angle finders for drive line setup and will rent them out to you.

 

I gather you meant "trashed" there not in the "I tossed it in the trash" meaning, then.

But I did sped red *sic* and missed the "Yes, I assumed that, the damaged joint is obviously not being kept." line. I apologize.

RwP

 

Let us know how the truck runs/idles when you get the intake gaskets done, make sure you set your ign timing correctly

 

That's quite alright, just wanted to be sure and convey that I recognized that there was no value in keeping that particular u-joint.

On the rear end I just changed fluid and installed a replacement cover so I won't be going in there anytime soon. I thought about taking a look at pinion wear angle but this truck was supposed to be on the road by now as a winter driver and I'm still battling a nasty vibration that is present even with the truck on jack stands with no tires or drums on the rear and with the rear section of the drive shaft removed so there's no rear axle being driven at all. It's lessened in the latter situation but still annoying to be in the cab and feel it come on around 30 mph. At first I thought there might be a problem with the TC but now I don't believe that's the case. I just can't seem to identify what it is at this point but with the cab completely gutted except for the driver seat the vibration and the associated noise is really noticeable.

As for the intake, that too is something that will come later. I will do the extensive TB cleaning soon but the intake has to wait. The truck is actually running very well now, really well. And now since I have a working fan clutch it's not roaring anymore either! Woo hoo for that one, the good clutch came from a 2001 Dakota 3.9L.

So now I'm on to cleaning the TB, which might help with the idle control problem, and then I will probably start in on making sure the door weatherstrips are good and then start in on getting the floor fixed up. This truck had some water leak issues before I got it and I want them resolved before putting it on the road in the winter. I also need to install the forward parking brake cable since the carpet is out and I need to replace the aftermarket radio with a factory unit from the junk yard.

Also considering all new tires all around. I had bought some used ones to replace the bald pair but the rear tires were dated 2010 and didn't look too bad. I'm not all that happy with the setup and I might splurge and have new tires put on all around, that is if I'm convinced I don't have a bent wheel....

Thanks for all the tips guys

Steve A

 

We can now rule out tires, I replaced with new set of four, problem still there.

Steve

 

Front drive shaft is out, how about the rear drive shaft? Neutral or park at the same RPM is smooth but it's rough in gear?

RwP

 

Only have a rear driveshaft, but it's a two piece unit. I don't see any indication that the driveshaft is a problem. In the end the u-joints didn't need to be replaced but since I had it out I did it. There's no evidence that driveshaft has been hit or lost any weights or anything that I would think could cause the problem.

I can shift into neutral while traveling down the road and the vibration / noise continues on at the same level. I'm beginning to wonder if it's rear axle bearings but since I've never experienced that I couldn't say. I have a friend across the street who arguably has more experience with RWD vehicles, he'll drive it tomorrow.

Odd though, I can feel it a bit through the steering wheel at road speed and I noticed in park the engine has a vibration around 2500 rpm that I didn't notice before. It's not much though.

Steve A

 

It could be a wheel bearing - but I thought you said you'd had it up on jack stands and the vibrations continued with the driveshaft out.

Ah. Not a wheel bearing, not a rear axle bearing.

Quoting you very early on:

That lets out wheel bearings, TIRES, and axle bearings. Also let out the differential. NONE of that is in motion while up on jack stands.

If you split the front yoke off, and put it in the transmission (to keep it from bleeding out), do you get the vibration still?

With it up on jack stands and with the entire driveshaft out?

RwP

 

Ralph
Have not split out the yoke but might do that. I'm taking the driveshaft in for balancing tomorrow, if only to prove my neighbor wrong. He didn't seem to want to listen to what I said and kept repeating to me things that I was categorically telling him were false. He claimed that the vibration went away when he shifted into neutral at speed when in fact it does not. He then said that if the driveshaft was not the culprit then he was saying transmission although when I am driving at 60 and I put it in neutral and let the engine Idle down I continue to hear / feel the vibration so that tells me at least that it's not a load issue and it's also not likely to be transmission.

When I ran the engine with the rear half of the driveshaft removed there was a vibration but not as much, and it may have been result of the engine and not the actual problem that I feel when going between 30-50/60 mph. The engine does have a vibration at about 1600rpm (I think) when in neutral and just revving but that vibration is not nearly enough to cause what I'm feeling during actual drive, and it wanes once it gets closer to 1800 rpm.

I am still of the belief that the rear axle bearings might be the problem but I haven't investigated it further, but tomorrow after the driveshaft balancing ends up being a wasted effort I will move in that direction. I don't really think that the transmission is the problem when I can shift it into neutral and the vibration / noise continues on at the same level while the engine moves to idle speed, that is just not consistent with a transmission problem.

Thanks Ralph!

Steve