The Sport still has a vibration in the drivetrain around 60 or so MPH. I've replaced the following...
-wheels and tires
-harmonic balancer
-differential (a total of three of them have been installed over time)
-driveshaft and u-joints (used driveshaft)
-motor mounts
-transmission (AOD to T-5)
Once the car gets to speed,and the vibration starts,I can throw the car into neutral,and the vibration is still there.I wonder if it's in the tranny?The vibration is there in any gear after a certain speed,though.I'm having the rear tires checked and balanced later and see if that's part of the problem.
On the driveshaft,the yoke up front,the ring that was on it came off.Could that be a big cause.Both driveshafts have them gone,and that made me wonder.
That thing fell of my car in the 90's and I've been through 2 different tranny's since then. No vibration. I forgot I did have my DS balanced after it came off.
I'm at a loss.
Vin-You just got new wheels and tires right? did it do it with the old wheels? I'm assuming your new rolling stock was balanced before installed. Do you have that big weight thing installed on the rear? I mean at this point you're running out of options. According to your list you've tried just about everything.
Yep,new rolling stock,and the dog bone is still on the diff.The car did have a vibration from day one,and so did the previous Bird.I agree,I am running out of options.
Jack the rear up, pull the driveshaft off, then run the car up to 60+mph. that'll rule out the DS, rearend, or tires.
have you had the drive shaft balanced. might be worth a try.
Vin, I have the exact same problem with my car. It started around the time I lowered it and installed the 8.8. I am leaning towards the driveshaft being out of balance. Mine really gets bad around 70 mph and just gets worse the faster you go.
Do you have any good driveline shops around? I've been thinking of dropping mine off at a local driveline specialty shop this spring and just tell them; "fix it". lol.
Good luck...these things can make a guy go crazy! :macgun::2gunsfiri
OK you all are much smarter than me but is the pinion angle correct?
It really needs to be at least 3*-4* off from the tailshaft. If it's less than 3 or aligned with the tailshaft then you'll get a vibration.
U-joints don't like to be in alignment.
I'll check into the angle. As far as driveline shops,we have one,but they can straighten a driveshaft,but nor balance....so,what good is that?
I'm hoping the T-5 isn't having issues.It shifts fine,and there's been no sign of trouble with it,and the fluid is topped off correctly.
I remember reading something awhile back, I believe on Corral. Something about the tranny causing that issue. I wish I remembered more. Maybe search it on Corral?
sorry Vinnie.
Mike
It's in your new wheels and tires man. Have you swapped them out for known good ones?
I had to read that on a few times...lol Anyway, i doubt its in the engine/trans.
my wheels and tires are still practically brand new (I bought them brand new a few months ago).As far as removing the driveshaft and running it,I can do that.
Just because they are new doesn't mean something isn't going on with them. If i recall you bought 10.5X17 from american raceing with the tires mounted and balanced?
Mine were out. I had the vibration. After having them re-balanced they were fine.
I'd wager on it being in the trans. Maybe the output shaft had a bad bearing? Anybody around with a Tbird you could borrow the d/s from to rule it out?
If the tires/wheels check out, I feel that it's in the tranny...
Tires were balanced yesterday....no change.I know nothing of the T-5.I wonder how hard it would be to replace that bearing.
It can't be the tranny-it was doing the same thing with the aod. Look I'll come pick the car up and bring it back to you at the end of the summer-that should be enough time for me to diagnose your problem.:D
LOL.....but NO !!! Thanks though.LOL I'm wondering if it's maybe the bearings in the differential.How hard are those to change? The axle bearings I've done,the carrier,I haven't done.
But youve changed the rear 3 times- bearings would make noise all the time. I'm stumped bro.
Swapped the rear completely out of the car for another one, you say?
How about the axle shafts....did you reuse those, or different ones.
(a little process of elimination here lol)
How about brake drums or rotors on the rear (front too..), are they anything new, or have they been on the car for some time?
Something rotational is causing...don't rule out something in the front.
Vinnie you got 2 post on this. I answered in the other.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?p=307421#post307421
Thanks Kitz.I'm going to focus on the driveshaft first,then i'll go from there.
I swapped the axle shafts and still a vibration.I also picked up a Crown Vic aluminum shaft today.Now to find somewhere to shorten and balance it.
2 hrs away in ok. Or ship to me I'll get it done, But I might keep it for myself.lol
It would be cheaper for me to do it.I'm going to call around in Durant Ok. (about an hour away) and see if they have a driveshaft place.
are you sure it will slip into the back of your T5? if it came out of a 4r70w, chances are it has the larger yoke and u-joints. meaning your stock t-bird yoke won't work.
The driveshaft came from an AOD car.
Oh,the Crown Vic drive shaft.....I'm sure they are different,but,they have adapter u-joints for such a swap.We did the same thing putting an Explorer driveshaft with the same rear and tranny combo.
The machine shop you know should be able to balance that.
I have adjustable CHE upper control arms and have adjusted the pinion angle perfectly and still have the vibration (although it helped). The way it sounds, I think we are having the same issue...
I also totally rebuilt the 8.8 after I swapped it in because of this vibration. I installed a new carrier and all new bearings and still vibrates. I am leaning towards 1.) driveshaft 2.) bent axle
What angle did you set it to? I have adjustable to.
I haven't had the time to find the sweet spot yet.
Right now it's set at -2 with the clamp on it. forgot to take it off when I did it. but it's better.
How do you check the axles for straightness....meaning,what's the best way?
It's highly, unliklely that you got 2 bent rears that have a bent axle! But if you want pull them , then check them with a long strait edge.
Should of got a Kat, It's a joke bubba.
Ha Ha Kitz.....I'd laugh more,but all of this vibration stuff really has me thinking deeply.It's really bugging me.I'd like to get the Sport over 55 mph without issues.Maybe the bushing in the tail shaft of the T-5 is bad.I don't know.
You had it with the AOD to remember?' there is is one thing the same the DS. Need I say more? How you fix it is up to you, you could try the hose clamp thing to get you bye for now.
Have you had the stock shaft balanced yet? Was it a good balance?
If I remember I set somewhere between -2 and -3. I have it written down out in the shop. It took some trial and error to get it right.
Something I have always wondered about is if the vibration is because of the fact that I have my stock driveshaft bolted to a different rearend. I makes me wonder if I unbolted the yoke from the diff and rotated it around say 180 degrees then bolted it back up, if the vibration would change? Vin have you tried this? I assume if this is the problem a good driveline place could get it balanced.
I haven't tried it,but I will.When I take my Crown Vic driveshaft up to Ok. City to have it done,it may make all the difference,but time is holding me back right now.
As far as the same driveshaft,the one I'm using now I've only had for a couple of months.Same issue.Although,the vibration is worse with the 3.73 rear than with the 3.55 rear.I'm baffled. 88Turbo is supposed to be sending me the front yoke with the vibration damper on it.Maybe that'll help a little with new u-joints and the clamp idea from Kitz until I can get the aluminum shaft done up for the Sport.I'll make some calls Monday morning.
refer to my theory in your other thread....
I didn't swap them,but I did look them over REALLY closely and they looked great.I am staring to feel strongly about the drive shaft not liking the lower gears.
did you try what i had mentioned yet?
I'm going to do that Monday morning when the sun comes up.It won't take but a few minutes to pull the driveshaft.I'll put the car on the jack stands,chock the wheels and run it.I'll let you know what happens.
By the way....good idea.
Alright,I just got off the phone with the drive shaft guys....$108.00 to shorten,balance the aluminum Crown Vic drive shaft,and install adapter u-joints for my car's yoke and such..Hello aluminum drive shaft.I'll try to get everything up there this week for them.While I'm there I'm going to try to hit a couple of new yards.
I'm not going up there,I'm shipping it to them.It'll cost me about $12.00,so,that's cheaper than gas,and,I don't have all of the driving and time spent as well.More news when it gets back to me.
, shipping is cheap where you live. which service do you use?
I just got back.Shipping turned out more than we had thought.The driveshaft was longer than I thought,and I had to include the yoke and differential piece,and shipping through UPS was $25.00 and change.Still,that's a lot easier than driving two hours,waiting for half a day,then driving home.I'm still pleased.I'll be posting pics and info when it arrives.Should I polish it?LOL.
that sounds about right then.
and nobody wants to hear about you polishing your shaft. :)
They do want to hear about,they just won't admit it.LOL.
That price sounds really cheap. It cost me more than that just to have my shaft balaced here. What company was it?
It's "Precision Drive LTD".They were really helpful and patient while I kept them on the phone (the guy's name is David).He said they were going to use a high quality u-joint (s),and that he preferred not to use Autozone u-joints because they were too loose,and after disassembling the extra drive shaft,I believe it.After I removed the clips,the u-joint caps literally fell out (u-joints were new).I think the aluminum driveshaft will be great,and if I ever have to part the Sport out to feed the family,I can get more than my investment out of it.LOL.
Well at least you'll know the shaft will be balanced:hick:
I shipped it yesterday at 3:00 pm.....they called me around 4:00 pm today and said it was ready.They rock !!! I'll pay tomorrow and should have it by Saturday at the latest. I'll post a pic before it's installed.He said it balanced out perfectly.You guys need to do business with them.Grab a free or super cheap Crown Vic or Explorer shaft,and your current yoke and ,they'll do the rest.I am hoping this is the cure.I'd love to get the Sport out and really let her run.
how are the tires being balanced? by the lug holes? are they putting
2 sets of weights on? 1 set for dynamic, 1 set for static...most tire
imbalances start at 60mph because thats when they attain their shape...if your tire tech is only putting one set of weights to the
inside to hide the weights you are only getting a static balance at best. jack up one side under the frame and run the car at about
35-40 mph to diagnose which side the shake is coming from..repeat this with the other side..let me know
Funny you mention this.....I've had a vibration -- VERY slight -- between 49 an 56 MPH indicated through my steering column. Started immediately after the new tires. I'm actually gonna re-balance them tomorrow.
They have the weights on the inside,on both sides of the inner wheel.
I've only seen wheels balanced from the center (where the wheel isheld to the machine).
The drive shaft should be here sometime tomorrow.As I stated before,I'll post pics before I install it.Some of you may need to see it.
I hope it cures your little problem. I will be getting my 'shaft balanced this spring (no not that shaft the one on my car).
I had a long talk with the boss at the drive shaft place,and he said when you change gears,it can cause the vibration issue.He said he'd bet this will fix the problem,considering how the vibration persisted even through all of the parts that were changed.Also,as I may have already said,he said an aluminum drive shaft doesn't transmit the vibration in the drivetrain like a steel shaft will.I'll take his word for it,I'm not a specialist when it comes to this driveshaft issue.Only one way to find out.Grab a Crown Vic drive shaft and send it to them.
I'm watching this closely because my vibration issue sounds identical to yours. So what year Crown Vic? Any of the newer body style ones work?
I got it from a newer model Cop car.Not sure what year exactly.I didn't care,the driveshaft was a freebie.The thing is a lot longer than ours,but weighs a LOT less (apparently.....it's aluminum).I measured the width of the Sport's DS and i was 3 inches,the Crown Vic is 3.5 inches.I am not scared to have a good,happy cry if the vibration disappears.LOL.
I pulled a transmission from a '94 CV, it had the alum. shaft, but, it was a police unit. Not sure if the civvie CV's had them or not.
If Pinto was here, he'd tell us for sure, since he was apparently an expert on CV's, TC's, AMC's, and fawk-all else...
Vinnie, I hope this cures what ails ya, nobody likes a shaky shaft, lmao ;)
No shaky is a good thing.LOL.I got my DS from a cop car as well.I'm staying as optimistic as I can hoping this fixes the problem.It really would only take a couple of hours to polish it when it gets here.LOL.
I must be reading this wrong. If you jack up one side under the frame, that would leave the other rear wheel on the ground, and running the car in gear like that seems like an accident waiting to happen. What am I missing?
It would be bad if you have traction Lock...like the Sport.
Exactly what I was thinking. Even with an open end, it might be okay for one side, but switch to the other and look out!
:D
Hopefully the DS will be here tomorrow and I'll install it asap and we'll have some answers.
Is the vibration continuous or have a 'cycle' to it?
Haven't you changed the rearend at some time on the sport? I had a vehicle once that had a cycling vibration to it. Changed the rearend and it was cured. Hopefully it will be the driveshaft, but with it being noticed at certain speeds you never know.
It's continuous.The reason I don't think it's the DS is because with the 2.73's,all was fine.With the 3.55's,the vibration came around 65 or so.With the 3.73's,it came about 45-50.SO,I think the vibrations are caused by the drive shaft not handling the new (different) gears.NOW,that whole thought of mine is coming from no-where of course.basically a guess.LOL.
I'm anxious to hear how you make out. I've had a similar vibration in my Cougar. I was thinking it was the driveshaft, but I haven't taken the time to track down another one and find a place to balance it.
Hopefully today I'll have the DS.It may be next week,but I hope not.Oklahoma City washiznit really hard with snow and ice (that's where the company is that did the DS for me),and over 165,000 are without power.The selfish side of me want the DS now,regardless of weather.LOL.
if your wheels are not hubcentric, they should be balanced off of the
lug holes(most tire stores that do custom wheels have this adapter)
bolt 1 up, have the car on jack stands (put nuts on the other side
drum as to not lose the drum) and run the car up to 35 mph...if no
shake, add the other wheel and repeat process. do not let wheel hang on studs and draw wheel up to seats(sit on your butt and center first) all done by hand. you should do this also before adding
the tires with the driveline out to eliminate rear end. pinion angle is
also important for lowered cars (the guages are cheap)most quality
wheel companies have this installation procedure in the box if anyone
cared to read them. check the lug seats if wheels are used as it easy to gall new seats in the lug holes when using impact tools. if the lug seats are bad, balancing all day long from the center hole will
not help. let me know
incidentally Vinnie, we have 2 tire stores in oklahoma city call if you want their number
I've had the vibration with the 8 hole wheels,10 hole wheels,turbines,silver Cobra R wheels,chrome Cobra R wheels and now the 10th ann. Cobra wheels.
Same with me, the vibration has been there (and been the same) with swapping 3 different sets of wheels and tires.
No DS today.My guess is that the weather is causing the delay.It's probably a good thing.I don't need to be on the ground in the snow swapping the drive shaft out..............On second thought,yes I do.
If it snows 1" they call it the worst blizzard of the century there and shut down all schools. Snowed 2" here today an noone noticed...
They closed school here for Friday and didn;'t need to.I think the school faculty wanted a day off more than anything.
Wish me luck guys,I hope the DS is here tomorrow.It may not be necessary,but I am really excited.I always wanted an aluminum DS for the car,but had seen one for sale and it was really expensive.I had never thought of going the route I did until recently.I'm glad I did.
Got up to 37* here today, and bright sun:flip:
I was running a chainsaw most of the afternoon...lol
We had the snow and crud a coupla weeks...I'm done with it.
V-man, I've felt your pain...I've had to change my oil in snow, heat, wind, rain, you name it....never again. I don't care if I have lay on a piece of cardboard on a cat piss-reeking dirt floor in December, still beats laying snow to work on a vehicle. This ain't a jab at people who can't afford or don't have a shed/building/etc...just sayin'. :hick:
It's supposed to be in the 50's this week.The driveshaft,if it comes tomorrow,will probably installed by Tuesday at the latest.
Some of us are probably as anxious as you are to find out the result.
;)
Well,almost as anxious.Hopefully tomorrow.
So you think tomorrow huh? :beatyoass: j/k
I HOPE tomorrow.Believe me,you guys will be second only to me to know when it arrives.
Well,I got home and there was a surprise on the porch.My drive shaft was here.I didn't have time to install it,but first thing after work tomorrow,it'll be on the Sport,and an update will be given.
A reminder to everyone....when you start a thread,give the final results of the problem.Too many ask questions,then there are 5 pages of answers and more questions on the thread,then,nothing.We need a beginning,middle,and an end.
One drive shaft picture.....
(http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/Vinnietbird/DSCF6691.jpg)
You need to go ahead and install that tonight so we can all rest easy that your vibration is taken care of! And I thought you were dedicated! Shame shame...lol
I am dedicated.That's why the Sport was rescued from a salvage yard.LOL.Tomorrow,it will be installed and a formal report will be made.
Looks all shafty :hick:
Yep.All shafty and aluminumy.Also,a few more pounds off of the Sport without sacrificing comfort.
It's late...are you polishing your shaft before you put it where it belongs? :rollin:
Looks good...you have a nice shaft. (in a totally straight, hetero way)
I DO have shaft envy...but I'll stop well short of asking if I can touch it lmfao
You just freaked me out.
Boy did you get the shaft......:rollin:
Well it's today.... Is it in yet?
Polish it, I say polish it, son.
When polishing how do you know when it's done.:evilgrin:
When it's done,you'll know it.LOL
I just got home....checking in...going to install the driveshaft in about 10 minutes,a full report later.
Uh oh, it's been over an hour, maybe the old one crushed him....:shakehead:eek:
Nah, I bet Vinnie is still having too much fun polishing it.
:D
I've been done for about 30 minutes or so.I haven't had a chance to drive it yet.I will in a little while.I have some stuff to do here at the house first.At least it's in. One step closer.Now,I hope that cures the vibration !!!
Yeah, ok fine, I'm pretty sure my vibration is in the transmission itself, but it is fun to antagonize you about your shafts:D
I won't feel any relief until I drive the car.Right now,our daughter parked behind me and left with a friend,so I'm waiting for her to move her Volkswagon.
You don't have a key to her car?! Oh well, it is a volkswagon, you could probably put a jack under the engine and drag it out of the driveway if it's a bug!
It's a new Bug....they are a lot heavier.
Doesn't she know she's standing in the way of progress..
That's probably why she parked there.LOL.
You just got shaft-blocked!
:hick:
come....... on............
The suspense is killing me............
Good grief, the suspense is killing me! Must.... have.... answers.
Ugh, you just barely beat me daminc
It's killing me as well.I've been waiting to get the DS here,now that it's installed,I'm stuck.No worries,she'll be back and going to the gym soon,then,I'm off and running..........I hope.
I'm checking out for a while.When I come back.....positive or negative results.....hopefully positive.Keep your wrenches crossed.
Good luck man! I sure hope that takes care of it for you! You've been chasing that vibration for a while now. I know I'd be pretty frusterated with it.
O.K.,I just got home from the initial test drive with the new DS installed.I took the Sport to about 8o or so.The vibration was gone.WOO-HOO !!!! I'll test it at a higher speed later when I can get to one of the long stretches of empty highway around here.But for now.All is good.I feel relieved,and thirsty.Time for a glass of sweet tea (strongest stuff I drink....LOL).
Now,everyone needs to get an aluminum drive shaft !!!! Precision Drive did a great job,and did it fast.
Grats man! That is great news!!! I guess I'll have to hunt one down now.
:D
Grab a Crown Vic DS and send it to the company I listed.They do great work.
That's awsome Vinn.!
Glad to hear that you finally got it straightened out.
:burnout:
No lie,I could actually tell a difference as soon as I took off down the street.
Righteous! I bet you feel better now, knowing your shaft is in great shape!
You can forgo the pics though, I for one an happy knowing your shaft is back in business, no need to see it lmfao!
(sorry, had to get one or 2 last puns in there :rollin:)
great job Vinnie, I have one sitting in my garage just waiting to be put in but it's just to NASTY outside :D.......just had 8"s of snow saturday and now it is raining with more snow coming this Friday.....REALLY SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm pretty happy.I mean,I love working on the Sport when I want to,but NOT when I HAVE to.The biggest thing that bothers me,with this vibration for example,was,I didn't care what the problem was....engine,tranny,differential,whatever. I didn't care,as long as I KNEW what the problem was.It's the not really knowing that bugs me so much.If you know what the problem is,then you have a direct course of action you have to take.But when you don't know,and it could be quite a few different things,that sucks.LOL.Either way.the Sport seems happy.....and isn't that really all that matters?LOL.I may swap the 3.73's back in and see what happens with those on my next couple of days off.....after a salvage yard run (I need a boneyard run to celebrate).
Congrats, you bested the vibration. Now back to the motor upgrade thread. ;)
Good job, Im glad to finally see it fixed. I hate vibrations.
That's exactly what I am gonna do! What year Crown Vics should I look for? I went back through this thread but didn't see any years listed (unless I missed it).
I'm going nuts with cabin fever right now. Just got some snow last night, and we may get more this weekend. I have a bunch of things to do on the Cougar, but I have to do all my work outside due to a ridiculously small garage (can't even open my doors if I pull the car in). On top of that, my driveway is on a stupid "decline of death" sloping from the sidewalk down to the garage, so to jack the car up, I have to do it in the street. I'm waiting for the weather to be dry and at least a little above 40 so I can use a tow strap on one of my Mountaineers and pull the Cougar in the street to do the fuel pump. Right now I've been living vicariously through your vibration stories.
:D
In the meantime, I could do a junkyard run to find a driveshaft and then send it to the company you used. It would be nice to have a new driveshaft to put in at the same time I do the pump.
I really don't know what year the car was that I got the DS from.It was a 4.6 Crown Vic cop car.Probably a couple or three years old.To send the DS,I used UPS.It didn't cost that much,and you can pay by credit card,money order,or cashiers check.They were great to do business with,and wicked fast.They had it finished just a few of hours after they received it.Awesome.
My car has a really bad vibration issue. 70+ mph is not a comfortable ride, although I did notice something strange.....
The exahust pipe on my car has literally snapped 3 times this year...it was the stock pipe, and the 3rd time, it was replaced from the cat back.
The third time it snapped though (right behind where my glasspack is located) it rode like a dream past 70 mph. NO, and I mean absolutely NO vibration when it was disconnected. I did 80-85 on the highway and it rode like a lincoln!
After I got it fixed with an all new pipe running from the cat back and my glasspack reconnected to the whole system, I had the same vibration issue again and still have it..
Is the exhaust connected to solid mounts to the car or is there rubber in the mounts?Is the exhaust touching anything?Do you have a damaged drive shaft (bent,dented,etc?).
The driveshaft looks fine.
There is a kind of C chaped mount (appears to be metal) where it looks like the original exhaust ran through that is empty. The new exhaust runs right next to the C mount, but not through it. And the glasspack isn't attached to anything, it's just welded into the pipes. No hangar or anything...And it doesn't look like the exhaust is touching anything besides that C mount it runs next to, but I couldn't get a good enough look....the passenger side is right next to the mud and I wasn't about to lay in that right now.
Does this mean we don't have to here about the "vibe" again?
Glad you got it , Bubba.
That's what it means Kitz.Now,to find a new problem to gripe about.....after I swap my valve covers.
I'm proud of you. Really. Like I said you got it.
Well Kitz,as you know,the Sport has come a LONG way since I picked it up.I've said it before,and I'll say it again,if you hadn't "pushed" me into some of the work,I may have never done it.I owe you for that (not in a vengeful way LOL).I'm down to just 5 parts before I install the new engine....
pilot bearing
rear main seal
aftermarket MAF
throwout bearing
plug wires with 90 degree plug boots (I'll probably get the ones I cut myself and assemble).
Thw whole engine swap/clutch swap will only take an afternoon.There aren't any rusted or bad bolts on my Sport.I need to get a pair of py 16 inch wheels for my extra Raptor tires so I can ruin them when I install the new engine.I don't want to kill my 275's on the rear.They'll probably cost a lot to replace.The Raptors (tires) in the garage only have about a hundred miles on them,and they've been out there for a long time just waiting for fun.I'm starting to get "spring fever" and I want to get to wrenching.VERY soon I hope.Believe me,you'll know when it happens.
Awe...I thought you already had an aluminum D/S. Well, Glad you got the issue tackled man....
I have always wanted to install one,but I saw the cost of a custom DS and cringed.Very expensive.I had never even thought of just having one modified to fit."So obvious I didn't even see it" kind of things.LOL.As I stated before.Upon simply taking off in the car,I could tell it was different.The DS is so light that I easily one handed it into the tranny and up to the differential.Well worth what it cost,which was a lot cheaper than buying a custom DS. wonder how many others here have an aluminum DS already and just never really mentioned it.Heeeeeeey,maybe I'll be a trend setter......whatever.LOL.
Awesome news Vinnie. Glad you got the vibration out of it. Mine is driving me crazy and getting the drive shaft balanced will be the first thing I do to it when it comes out of the garage in the spring!
Unbelievable how light weight they are. I thought that they couldn't be all that much less, but wow, a LOT of difference.
Picked mine for 20 bucks, and there's a 4 dollar core...ANY shaft will work, so long as I bring one back..I've got one that doesn't have the trans. end yoke. :evilgrin:
Both of the Crown Vic ends go in the trash anyway.You'll need to use the stock ones from your car on the Vic DS with adapter u-joints.Send it to the guys I told you about.They do great work,and do it fast.....wicked fast.For a $4.00 core,I wouldn't worry about it and just call the $4.00 a loss.You're still out for cheap......unless you're going back and have one to take to them anyway.Get it done and install it.
On another note Freek,I have your package in the trunk ready to ship the day the payment arrives.
There is a shop in OKC north of the airport on Meridian that did my DS years ago, I believe it is called Drive Train Specialists. They built the DS from scratch and it was about $140 total. I brought them the front yolk and the rear , that was it. I had to measure the distance from the rear face on the rear end to the center line of the u-joint of the front yolk. I fully inserted the yolk into the tranny and then pulled it back approximately 0.75" per their instruction prior to measuring. I did all of this as I had installed a Tremec TKO and my stock DS was useless after that.
My vibration started here and ended when the motor ate a valve. I swapped the TKO out for another TKO that was in a buddy's car with no vibrations, completely rebuilt the rear end (bearings, races, gears), swapped wheels out, even went so far as to check how the motor and tranny were sitting between the frame rails, checked and changed the pinion angle multiple times, reclocked the DS, jacked the car up and check the DS for excessive run out, took the DS back to Drive Train and had them check the balance and tolerances (no charge by the way and it was good to go), had the tires balanced on the car...all to no avail. I even shipped the internals of my TKO to a dealer and he checked all the shafts which were all fine. Guess I learned how to tear one down...yea me.
My vibration was cyclical in nature and was there if the tranny was in or out of gear at speed. It was not an rpm based problem. Like I said, the problem went away when the 306 ate one of the valves off of the AFR heads. I am just hoping that it is not there when I get it back on the road this summer with the new motor and suspension. One of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced and I hated driving the car because of it. I think I was more upset with myself for not knowing how to fix it if truth be told.
I ran across this article by a Ford engineer that I wanted to share. Granted its a bit of a read and took me a couple times through it to complete understand what this guy was talking about (still not 100% sure I understand him but I think I do).
http://tccoa.com/articles/tranny/transmission/page17.shtml
Darren
I'm not sure what you meant by it went away when you ate a valve? Did you mean it didn't run no more? I've had a few motors vibrate the shiznit out of shiznit through the years for different reasons, some I still don't know why. Mostly diesels, Bad enough to vibrate dash boards off there mountings, brake flywheel bolts, brake Trans mount bolts, the list goes on. This is an interesting subject, because it can be hard to find the problem. I do know a few here have this issue. And it may not be a drive shaft.
I called them,and they were a lot higher than Performance Drivetrain.It was cheaper for me to ship the Crown Vic shaft to them,have the work done,and have it shipped back by Performance.
The valve came apart at about 6000rpm between the stem and the head. Basically trashed an expensive 306 but I was able to salvage the AFR heads with some welding on the combustion chamber that dropped the valve. It quit vibrating the hard way so I never really figured it out. I usually watch threads like this to see if someone finds the golden bb that will fix mine.
That is good to know about the cost as I did not know the shop you took it to was around. I may take mine to them and have them check it as a second opinion.
Darren
Shipping it a long square box through UPS was only twenty something dollars.Easy stuff.Cheaper than the gas I would've used.
The car is in Lawton so it is about an hour or so from them. My dad makes a trip to OKC at least every other week so I can talk him into dropping it off. Basically free shipping.
Coolness.I used to do my grocery shopping on the Base there in Lawton when I was stationed in Altus back in my old Air Force days.Haven't been back in a long time.I'd like to go there and hit the salvage yards.
Ha ha ha!!! Small world, I started my engineering career living in...you guessed it Altus, OK. Was a controls engineer at the sheet rock plant in Duke, OK. Moved to OKC after that and have been in TX for the last five years. L-Town has some pretty good salvage yards but the one that had the majority of all the T-Bird/Cougar parts closed down and they crushed all the cars. I was ticked I did not plunder that place earlier but I did not have the $$$ then. I found http://www.car-part.com about three years ago and have ordered parts off the site and have had great luck.
Will quit high jacking the thread now, sorry.
Darren
I've been wanting to hit a couple of new yards,but no time.I'm going to take a week off from work and spend a couple of days hunting for treasure.
Did you lose a spring or did the valve just give out? What model do you have? As you see I'm interested because I redid my AFR's.
I am pretty sure I have one of the first sets of the AFR 185's. Ordered them in early 2000, still have the receipt around somewhere. From what I understand they installed two piece valves that were formed by heating the stem and head and basically shoving them together. In all honesty the entire valve train sucked but I did not know any better back then. They now have Manley severe duty valves, Manley titanium keepers and retainers, and Isky 8005-A springs. The guy that repaired the one head and installed all of this for me also worked on the heads a little bit and cleaned the profiles in the runners and in the bowl areas. Picked up the peak flow numbers but more importantly the flow under the curve was increased throughout the range of lift.
Darren
Never heard about 2 piece valves, glad i mine were changed.
Well that is what I was told. All I do know is I was left with the stem still in the keepers and we found the head of the valve all beat up in the #7 cylinder. I have pictures of the carnage somewhere.
Darren