wholey moley!!!, id just about given up on tracking down that damed vibration between 30 and 40 mph. balanced those wheels 3 times!! budy of mine said i should have my driveshaft ballanced?? calld a frend whose dad does driveshafts, 160$ and 2 days for new universals installed and to balance the driveshaft. but before i did anything i got to snoopin around my 72 and they look just about the same, c4/8" how diffrent could they be? the 75 has sum kind of balancer on the trany end yoke/ 72 dosnt, same legnth. swapped them and that 75 is so smoooth, i didnt want to park it. drove to paciffica and back. for you guys that say all mavericks shake, CHECK UR DRIVESHAFT!!
That original driveshaft might not be bad after all ... if the u-joints are chewed up it will shake bad. I had a 71 Torino that was OK and developed a bad shake at 40 mph all of the sudden. The u-joints internals crumbled as they were being taken out. Drove great with fresh u-joints installed. You can also get a shake if you remove the driveshaft and reinstall it 180 degrees out from its original position. Unless that shaft is obviously dented or bent, I would look at these two areas first.
Mine had a weird vibration too. I changed the u-joints and 90% of it went away. One old ones had a tiny tight spot that nobody thought much of. I'm sure if I get it balanced it would be perfect.
Just a tip to help you diagnose vibes: Remove the wheel weights from one wheel and drive it. You'll feel the difference between an unbalanced wheel and an unbalanced driveshaft. They're nowhere close to being the same vibration.
$160 for a u-joint replacement? You could have a new driveshaft made less than that...complete new tube, u-joints, yoke and balanced. Another place to look for vibrations is brake drums. You can spin balance your tires on a machine all day long but if the drum is out of balance the vibration will still be there. I have my tires balanced on the car. Be sure to paint or mark the lug or drum closest to the valve stem to know the tire location so you can install the tire back where it came from.
When mine started doing that i replaced the transmission mount and found that the old one had just worn to less than a quarter of an inch off line. this was of course after replacing the u joints and having the drive shaft checked for balance. over all not costly, just annoying. And one way to know difference in vibration is where you feel it. i have felt wheels balance, that seems to be more at one of the corners of the car. the drive train causes vibration to feel strongest in the dash between you and the passenger.
thanks captin but there is more wrong with that one than the universals, its got a few dents and scrapes. i was so hapy to get that pupy smothed out! yo sierra whats a F250 high boy look like?? is it all roadsterd out or is it lifted??
Old Wives Tale... the driveshaft is built/balanced off the car. it didn't know what car/rearend it was going in from the factory... ...to me...if this were true, they would have had to balanced it on the car... ...thoughts from someone that has never marked one before removing it... JMO....JFF
Verrrrrrry Interestink Frank ... You are probably right ... I have just always marked mine and never had a problem. Might try NOT marking my next one and see if it shakes my fillings out ... doubtful ...
The driveshaft are balanced when installed in the car then yellow paint dabs are painted on both shaft and pinion.
For some reason, when I clicked on this topic, the Beach Boys song "Good Vibrations" started going through my head. XD!
