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driveline vibes

W

whosyourdaddy?

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Cincinnati
Kinda the same post as that click clack noise thing. My 00xj has the Tom Woods Shaft and SYE with 3" OME lift. I had vibes til I got it aligned. Smooth sailing til yesterday. When I let off the gas it vibrates all the way to 0mph. It feels like its gonna come apart at 25 mph. I checked everything and it seems the front driveshaft has a little play in it. It doesn't seem to have so much play that it leads me to believe its something else. Rear u joints are fine. Any help would be awesome. :worship:
 
Do you have rear shims? If so, what degree? It's possible that you are not shimmed enough, or not at all, so on acceleration, the torque points the pinion up to the correct angle, but once the torque drops, so does the pinion, dropping the angle of the shaft out of its prime operating angle, which will cause vibes on deceleration. It is possible one of the shafts may be out of balance as well.
 
The rear is not shimmed. I didn't shim it becuase after I got the alignment it the vibes I was having at around 45 mph went away. I also thought since I spent all that damn money on a sye and new tw shaft that I shouldn't need to shim with only 3"lift. Barely had enough time to put on the ome 3" let alone shim it. I just crawled under it again. If I put some force on the front shaft, where the double cardan joint is, it moves a little. Seems like there is play in it. I'm gonna pull the shaft off tomorrow. Whats the best way to tell if there is excess play? Thanks again.
 
I couldn't really explain how to tell if you have excess play. It is possible one or more of the UJoints in the front shaft are bad and could cause some wobbling/vibes. Would be a little strange for an '00 XJ to have bad front UJoints, but it is possible. Also, if you install a CV DS/SYE, you need to shim. Here is some reading for you to help understand why: http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-shaft/index2.html

For 3" of lift with stock shackles, I would say a 2.5-3* shim would really help, but you should measure your angles to be sure.
 
I bought it from the dealer last year and it allready had new bearings in the drivers side rear, so I guess u-joints in the front at 65,000 wouldn't be out of the question. I don't know how shims would be an issue now since I had no vibes at all after the alignment but I know I need to measure the angle anyway just in case. I guess what I'm getting at is one day I have no vibes at all, then today it just vibrates like mad on decel.
 
When i first lifted my jeep it shook like hell at 90kms (55miles). When I checked it out, it was actually my front shaft, not my rear that was vibrating. I checked this by removing the rear drive shaft and driving in 4 wheel high on the highway, sure enough it vibrated really badly at 90k. When i did the opposite, removed the front and drove only on the rear shaft, no vibrations. To resolve it, i had a local shop refit my front axle tubes on the differential to point the pinion gear straight at the t-case. Solved it in one fell swoop (despite $200 CDN for the work).
Buck
 
Thanks for all the help! I'll tear it apart tomorrow and see if its the front shaft. Is it ok to drive only on the rear shaft?
 
whosyourdaddy? said:
Thanks for all the help! I'll tear it apart tomorrow and see if its the front shaft. Is it ok to drive only on the rear shaft?
Click to expand...

Yes, and since you have a 2000, you can run front wheel drive if you take out the rear shaft without any problems if you need to test if the vibes may be coming from the rear.
 
Pulled the front shaft and even though the joints have a little binding in them, its not too bad. Called the stealership and he said 52.75 for the ujoints. Not bad til he said "a piece"! I said i needed three and he said that'll be around 160 bucks. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, while I had the front off, I jacked up the rear and ran it in drive. Vibes still there on decel. Question is this, how much should the rear tire move if your holding on to the top and bottom to check the bearings. It moves, but I think it is only the drums moving. Most cars I've checked this way only move if the bearing need tightened. I'm getting ready to pull the rear shaft now. If it turns out that I don't have vibes then, how long can I run on the front shaft and till I get shimmed. I was gonna pull a trailer about 150 miles this weekend but that looks to be out of the question.
 
actually you may be able to pull the trailer...
load it and hook it up, the extra weight may correct the angle... then again it may make it worse
 
Don't you have to rotate the pinion up when using a CV driveshaft? That would mean shims to get the proper angle for the pinion, since your leaf spring mounts are set up for running a regular driveshaft.
 
Inisadow said:
Don't you have to rotate the pinion up when using a CV driveshaft? That would mean shims to get the proper angle for the pinion, since your leaf spring mounts are set up for running a regular driveshaft.
Click to expand...

That was my thought. If you haven't rotated the pinion up for a CV shaft, it will vibrate like absolute crazy. Deceleration vibes definitely sound like a low pinion angle. A 3" lift doesn't dictate whether you need shimming...it is your angles. With any SYE and replacement driveshaft you need to set the angles properly.

I wouldn't waste my time with the front driveshaft on your '00...you'd have had to bend it to get that thing vibrating at this point. I think you have bad angles, and maybe an unbalanced driveshaft. Don't look for ghosts when the problem is right in front of you. :guitar:

Nay
 
Took off the rear shaft and no vibes. The rear u joint on the rear shaft is binding pretty bad which would explain why I had no vibes for about 15,000 miles on the new tom woods shaft and now its toast. I'm gonna do a search for shim install as this will be my first time. I wanna just let the rear hang, undo the ubolts, let the axle drop, and then shim under. Dunno if I could get the springs back on that way though.
 
I installed lift blocks and it's about the same thing. Just have one jack to jack up the truck and another floor jack to hold up the axle. Then once you get your shims placed back on jack the axle up tell the springs line up in the holes and you're good to go just ratchet everything back together.
 
whosyourdaddy? said:
Took off the rear shaft and no vibes. The rear u joint on the rear shaft is binding pretty bad which would explain why I had no vibes for about 15,000 miles on the new tom woods shaft and now its toast. I'm gonna do a search for shim install as this will be my first time. I wanna just let the rear hang, undo the ubolts, let the axle drop, and then shim under. Dunno if I could get the springs back on that way though.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you found it. Just do one side at a time for the shims. Take the tire off and lower the frame onto a jackstand. Loosen the u-bolts (you don't need to removed them completely, and lower the axle slowly. Once the axle drops off the spring, insert the shim and raise it back up. You may have to muscle the axle around to get perfect alignment. Torque the u-bolts with weight on the suspension. Then do the other side.

Remember that the fat part of the shim to the rear will raise the pinion, and skinny to the rear will lower the pinion. Good luck.

Nay
 
I also had a front driveline vibration on my '95. I checked all my ujoints and they were fine. I found the problem in the double cardan joint. It was completely dry and the seal was gone. Its just another place to check. :wave:
 
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