slip yoke boot question

I've been chasing down a driveline vibration for a few months now.. I have a two inch AAL on a 97 cherokee sport, and with a 1 inch tcase drop it's been vibe free for about two years since lifting. A couple months ago I noticed a rear end shimmy (passenger seat wiggling away) and went the rotation, balance, alignment route. Shimmy still showed itself at 90km, disappears after 100km. Next up, I tightened everything I could get a wrench on, and changed both rear d/s ujoints. Shimmy is still in the exact speed range. I'm now going to have to drive with out the shaft and see if that elimnates it.

My question is, when I last put the shaft back on, i had to replace the factory hose clamps that hold the boot over the slip yoke and tcase spline. I used the standard hex hose clamps to hold it back in place. Does the head of the screw that tightens the hose clamp enough to throw a shaft off balance? I wouldn't think it would be that sensitive enough to throw off balancing, but then again, the weights welded onto the shaft for balance aren't that big either. Should I go and put the slimmer/sleeker factory boot clamps on instead?

I'm thinking this wouldn't be bad enough to notice in the drivers seat, which is why I'm pretty sure a shimming is in order next. Has anyone noticed a decreased pinion angle from removing just the very smallest leaf out of the pack? I figure I would try that, and then shim if that still doesn't do the trick. I realize you can only do so much for me w/o true pinion angles so I'm gonna cross that off before doing anything. thanks guys

Just for grins, what is the condition of your transmission mount?

Screw clamps for hoses are used to balance driveshafts sometimes.

T&B Nylon Electrical Tie-wraps work fine on those boots.

(Don't cost much to swap and test!)

Check Joe's tip above too!

Good Luck,
O

Thanks for the ideas guys... the tranny and motor mounts look good in the fact that the rubber seems to not be falling apart, and is in good condition....but post tcase drop, i did notice the rubber pulling away from some of the metal contact areas due to the new angle. Now that you're talking transmission, is it just a coincidence that the vibes kick in almost as soon as the tranny drops into overdrive? Usually when it shifts into OD i'm going around 60mph (90-95km) and thats exactly the speed my shimmy acts up.

Well, that shift into overdrive is changing the forces acting on the drivetrain.

Try using a prybar and see if you can get much movement out of the trans mount.

When I replaced mine it still looked fine, but it really was toast.

Just found this post, and have a few cents if you are still trying to find the vibe.

I have driveline vibrations. For giggles I took the driveshaft off and put the tranny into D (in 2wd with the wheels chocked) so the output shaft is spinning. I used to the creeper and went to take a look. I wasn't happy with what I found but it explains a lot. My drive shaft is slightly bent, it wobbles. I don't know if this is the source of all of my vibes, but its the first thing I'm gonna deal with. I went to the salvage yard got a transfer case. I plan to rebuild it this winter and put it in next spring.

I hope this isn't your problem, but it might be worth checking.