Sounds like the U-joints might be related to the vibration. Something could be causing BOTH. Seems unusual to go through that many. Did you say that you had the driveshaft checked for balance? How about the yoke for any problems?

On a second note, I had a lesson learned on Nogalitos Gear on Zarzamora St. There used to be a building next to them by the same name that handled, I guess, the parts and then the other place was for service. That "parts" building is vacant and they moved to 433 New Laredo Hwy 210-923-4571. I had my transmission rebuilt BEFORE at that parts building. Great deal and transmission. This time when that building wasn't there I went to the "service" building not knowing there was another place. Charged me more than I expected but less than some. Well when I purchased the Trans Flush to clean out the lines, the place on New Laredo Hwy came out as a vendor. They said they are not affiliated with the other. The only reason I'm telling you this long drawn out story is that I ended having to have my truck towed in since the tranny is still not downshifting 2-1 (original problem) and tried to drive it in but didn't make it up a hill. At this point I don't know why and may be an issue with them. I guy I talked to on Zarzamora named Roy is personable but couldn't talk shop. Should have been a clue that he didn't have one. That place on New Laredo is big and professional looking with a service area in back. Worth a drive over to check it out.

 

yea joints are new and it was balanced by Driveshafts unlimited in SA.
that is the nogolitos gear that i talked to,210-923-4571. on new laredo hyw. the yokes seem to be good. slight play in the front yoke,but its a slip yoke,im guessing there should be a slight amount in this slip yoke,so it could slide in without binding? thank you sixgun

 

I was driving home the other day and saw a Jeep with a bumper sticker for www.saoffroad.com and looked it up. San Antonio Offroad is all local and a mixed bag of makes and models. Seems like a pretty tight knit bunch of guys. Read some posts for recommendations for gears and this place, 87 Gear, came out highly recommended by quite a few guys. They sure weren't shy about letting you know whose burned them before.

http://www.yellowpages.com/san-anton...ervice-1460337

 

thank you sixgun, i will check out 87 gear if i have to go that route,its closer to my house than nogolitos gear. i hope i dont have a problem with the rear, for someone to rebuild it its probably 1,000 that is alot just for a rear. normally i would do it myself but im going on tuesday for back-disk surgery for the second time,{this sucks}. i got this weekend to get this figured out. i got about 6,000 invested so far,so no turnig back now.
it is so mind boggling that not to many auto part places carry good quality parts anymore,lot of looking around,everything made in china{junk}
nobody caters to us dodge guys,just ford and chevy.
thank you for the info

 

well went to discount tire this morn,they said tires are good,they spun balanced them.left there got on highway,thought the shake or vibration was gone drove up to 65 where it was shaking,no shake. 5mi later it was back again,so it is not gone. took it tot a shop that rebuils rears,the owner took it for a ride felt the shake @65 bad. said he dont think its the rear.maybe the bearing in the tail shaft of the trans overdrive unit.
took it to a trans shop,they checked the slip yoke play,they said it was not that bad,to cause a shake/vibration. what to do now???? come monday i probably will take it to a garage and leave it there for them to find out what the hell is wrong with it???? dont know what route to go already!! anyone have a thought?? thank you

 

i changed the rear lube 3,000mi ago, i pulled the cover and cleaned the rear out again,did not see any wear,ring and pinion mesh look good,new oil 85w140 + friction addative. what could it be??? thank you

 

Ok....you can rule out your driveshaft because it has been balanced ( they should have balanced it with the trans slip yoke on right? I ask because I used to work in a shop that built/repaired driveshafts and thats the only way to balance the entire shaft) but if you really want take the driveshaft out and check the way the u-joint pivots back and forth on both ends, sometimes when replacing a u-joint the yoke can compress a little as you pound the cap in,and make the u-joint harder to pivot one way as the caps are not aligned with the trunnion of the u-joint, the way to fix this is to smack the yoke with a hammer right below the u-joint cap so it will spring itself back into shape, but a driveline shop should know this, and this is probably not the case.

Now I lean toward your rear end because you did say that it was hard to turn your wheels by hand and you still had vibration when you ran it jacked up with rear wheels off the ground after having the driveshaft balanced (didn't you?) so this also eliminates your front tires as they were not moving, so when you take the drveshaft off, jack up the rearend and try to spin the diff yoke by hand....it should spin without too much effort(without park brake on of course haha) if it doesnt spin freely...well you have pinion bearings, crush sleeve, carrier bearings etc. that could be causing this (not sure which rearend you have) next inline you have your posi unit, side gears, AXLE SHAFTS, wheel bearings and finally your brakes and brake drums....inspect all of this to see if something is not right or aligned.

I mentioned axle shafts earlier in this thread because I had a bent one before...imagine your axle flange where your wheel bolts on not being true (from hitting a curb hard or some other form of abuse) and everytime you take your wheels off to get balanced looking for your problem they always check out ok....when in fact its the axle that your wheel bolts to thats the culprit.....

Just my 2 cents, good luck !

 

thanks for the info 1&2genrams, i have to take that back,what i said about rear being tight. checked it out again, it seemed to be ok,unless something loosened up from driving it more. thank you

 

maybe i will go buy a dial indicater,and pull the wheels and drums off and check the axle flanges,it could be worth a try. thank you

 

I'm not trying to cost you money but I think its worth a try, also what have you done to your truck? is it lowered or lifted in anyway? did you take out any tapered blocks? this would alter the angle of the driveshaft.....driveshafts are balanced on a machine when they are completely level which usually works out in most cases but if it is at a wierd angle in your truck this could have an affect......have you pulled your engine or tranny lately? replaced the torque convertor? you mentioned you replaced your tranny mount, was it a direct replacement part or a urethane (energy susp.) mount?