Hey guys,

I noticed a vibration today. Never had one before. Truck always ran perfectly smooth all the way up to 70-75 mph. Never pushed it further.

Only seem to get this vibration in 4x4 at ~25-30 mph. Then it's gone. It's just enough to make a few things rattle and i can feel it in the steering wheel. it's not an "end of the world" holy hell vibration either.

Sometimes it's not present at all, other times its there. Always at that speed. I haven't had it past 40 mph today because of the weather so i dont' know if it occurs at higher speeds.

I'm curious if i indexed the driveshafts wrong when i removed and reinstalled them. I didn't mark the U-joint cap or the yoke when i removed them. Not sure if i put them back in the same way either. How important is the indexing? Is there any marks on the front yoke or the t-case flange. I'm doubting the presence of marks. That would make things too easy.

Never had a vibration w/ the 700R4 and never had one w/ the SM465 until tonight. The front driveshaft that's currently in the truck is not the same driveshaft that was originally in there. The original needed a new front U-joint. That joint has since been replaced yet i never swapped the original driveshaft back in place.

I do want to mention that there was snowy/slushy crap on the ground while this was happening.

There's no protective "boot" over the front driveshafts slip joint either. Could that be seizing up?

Thanks guys,

- Dave

check axle u-joints and if wheel bearings are tight, both will do that. odd tire wear can be more pronounced in 4x4

check axle u-joints and if wheel bearings are tight, both will do that. odd tire wear can be more pronounced in 4x4

Any possibilty of it being the driveshaft?

Whats the best way to get to the wheel bearings? i'm guessing pull the locking hub and all that. Are these axles like the front rotors on a HD pickup? My pickup has the bearing races machined into the hub and the bearings just drop in. Similar concept? I've never had one of these axles apart.

How difficult is it to change an axle u-joint. Looks to be a pain in the ass.

the slip part of the shaft can wear out, and then the double cardian joint (wrongly called a cv) can also be going out and cause your vibes

well, basically when you pull the driveshaft to check the slip and double cardian, flip it 180* and see if that fixes it

The slip joint did look like shit when i went to install it. I didn't' want to put that driveshaft in, but the other wasn't useable at the time. The slip joint moved, but it was full of dirt and just nasty all around.

I'll grease all the u-joints tomorrow and the slip joint. The other driveshaft will get swapped in on tuesday.

axles arn't too hard. can usually get fingers in there and move them to check play first. the other problem i've had is the torrington. big sleeve that acts like a race for the bearings. i've swapped them out with another and play went away. get under and feel driveshaft for slop. try what jodean suggested

the slip part of the shaft can wear out, and then the double cardian joint (wrongly called a cv) can also be going out and cause your vibes

well, basically when you pull the driveshaft to check the slip and double cardian, flip it 180* and see if that fixes it
x2

ive had both axles out of my truck in around 20 minutes a piece. theres a video on youtube by pissonjapcrap1 when he removed the axle shaft to change out a u joint. i pulled both my axles because i was bored one day and i wanted to check the u joints. well i changed one because the cups were gone in it when i bought the truck.