I have a 97 extended cab. 4.3 5 speed. I’ve been doing some research for a driveshaft. I have the 2 piece shaft BUT mine appears different than the other 2 piece shafts I am seeing online. I assume the shafts for automatics are different than the manuals? But anyways, I have a vibration at 40mph. Not horrible but it’s noticeable. I’ve replaced all u joints and carrier. I’m pretty sure I threw it out of wack when the carrier locked up and came out while 300 miles away from home lol. Any suggestions of who to go to? My local shops want $800 plus tax to rebuild the current one I have. Which consists of new u joints, carrier, and balancing which I think is insane. And thats with me pulling it.
Who is the go to for driveshaft conversion?
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Is your truck lowered? You might have bent a tube.
No. 100% stock
I am almost positive there is adjustment. Left to right yes. And no, did not quote tubes or yokes.
Ok, lets go further with the questioning. Did you mark all the yokes/shafts in their original order? Rotating them 180 degrees could send the driveshaft out of phase.
Where there any shims/washers for the center support? If that shaft angle is off you could get a vibration. When it "locked up", did the bearing spin inside the carrier support?
$800 is bit steep for a ujoint/bearing/balance job - especially since you already put those parts in. But that's just me. We are trying to figure out if your vibration is coming from the shaft or something else in the setup (shaft angles, etc). I asked about the trans mount as this would also cause a vibration since the tail of the trans would be moving slightly and throwing off your drive angle.
The side to side adjustment is also in question. You could move it and see if the vibration changes. Not sure if you have room to run a string from trans tail to rear end to see how far off the center support is. Not a great test by any means...just helps give a visual. Similar to how the poor man's wheel alignment was done back in the day. Post some pics of your driveshaft/setup if you have any.
Where there any shims/washers for the center support? If that shaft angle is off you could get a vibration. When it "locked up", did the bearing spin inside the carrier support?
$800 is bit steep for a ujoint/bearing/balance job - especially since you already put those parts in. But that's just me. We are trying to figure out if your vibration is coming from the shaft or something else in the setup (shaft angles, etc). I asked about the trans mount as this would also cause a vibration since the tail of the trans would be moving slightly and throwing off your drive angle.
The side to side adjustment is also in question. You could move it and see if the vibration changes. Not sure if you have room to run a string from trans tail to rear end to see how far off the center support is. Not a great test by any means...just helps give a visual. Similar to how the poor man's wheel alignment was done back in the day. Post some pics of your driveshaft/setup if you have any.
When the bearing locked up, the rubber piece came out causing the driveshaft to flop. All happened at interstate speeds of 75. The shim from the factory is there for the carrier bearing. I will double check the transmission mount. I am not near the truck and won’t be until I return home from working in 2 weeks.
I will also add that I am replacing the transmission. Nobody will touch it since it’s a manual and I do not trust myself to dive into a transmission rebuild. So I purchased a reman to put in. It’s pretty much toast and near to the grenading stage.
When I replaced the u joints, I did pay close attention to how the shafts were aligned to put back together as so. I however did find a sticking u joint in the process of doing all of them. It definitely helped, but the vibration is still there at 40mph. I even took to the tire shop to have the tires checked for balancing. One tire was 1oz and the rest were fine/ no additional weight needed. Leave the shop and no change in vibration.
I do not know what transmission vibration feels like as I have never experienced it. If it was the trans, would it be doing it all the time or maybe just certain speeds? Just a theory I thought of. But I still am leaning towards the drive shaft getting out of wack when I limped it home after the carrier came out. I have a self-service salvage near my house. I may go try and scope one out to try when I return home.
Check out Tom Woods custom driveshafts. Think you can get a one piece for under $800
Just to give an update. Installed new reman transmission (new trans mount too) and no change on the vibration. I didn’t think it would change it any but 1 problem is fixed. And next up is the driveshaft. I’m going to get a shaft out of a salvage yard to try. I’ll put new u joints and carrier bearing before I throw it in. I’m assuming the shaft got tweaked when the carrier locked up on the interstate and I limped it home 200 miles. 😳
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not sure where you live, but there has to be a driveshaft shop around you.
Its like $75 dollars to have a shaft checked locally for me, and not much more to replace u joints.
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