Vibration shakes steering wheel up and down. Speed related. Pinion bearing?

Topic: Vibration shakes steering wheel up and down. Speed related. Pinion bearing? (Read 6639 times) previous topic - next topic

Vibration shakes steering wheel up and down. Speed related. Pinion bearing?

Reply #15 – October 21, 2015, 04:44:01 PM

I plan on running drag radials at the track. I want better control arms and quad shocks before I do however.

Vibration shakes steering wheel up and down. Speed related. Pinion bearing?

Reply #16 – October 23, 2015, 06:10:00 PM

Well it was the 7.5 rear causing the issue. I swapped the 8.8 rear in today and took the car for a spin. Vibration is gone at all speeds.

The 7.5 rear was trashed. The pinion and carrier bearings were bad. So bad the pinion washiznitting the carrier. The carrier actually has marks in it from the pinion hitting it. I'm pretty sure that's where the noise was coming from as well. The ring gear has a couple small chips as well. Surprisingly the axle shafts and bearings were fine. The only salvageable parts were the axle shafts and carrier.

Vibration shakes steering wheel up and down. Speed related. Pinion bearing?

Reply #17 – October 24, 2015, 01:27:12 PM

So here's a picture of the rear in the car.

I discovered a little issue after installing the rear. I reused the stock springs but took out the original stock spring isolators and replaced them with new poly isolators. Now the rear of the car sits about 1/2" higher and about the same amount higher than the front.

I was planning on replacing the rear control arms next year so I should be able to fix the problem at that point. I'm going to go with some Maximum Motorsports adjustable lower rear arms: http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Extreme-Duty-Adjustable-Rear-lower-Control-Arms-1983-1989-Thunderbird-P1444.aspx and some Mach 1 or Bullet springs. That way I can get the rear ride height correct.

Vibration shakes steering wheel up and down. Speed related. Pinion bearing?

Reply #18 – October 27, 2015, 04:24:47 PM

Well I have to take the Thunderbird to the shop that built the rear Thursday morning. The pinion seal is leaking. I found a silver dollar size puddle of gear lube under the rear axle Monday morning. It's coming from the pinion seal (brand new one from a Ford racing install kit). The shop that did the work is going to check it out and install a new one free of charge. The figure something went wrong when they installed it. Other than that the new rear has been great. It doesn't make any noise at all. It's the quietest 3.73+ gear set I've heard in a Fox/SN95 car, in other words it's silent like a factory rear differential.

Vibration shakes steering wheel up and down. Speed related. Pinion bearing?

Reply #19 – October 27, 2015, 05:38:01 PM

Glad to hear there are no more vibrations. :y:

Vibration shakes steering wheel up and down. Speed related. Pinion bearing?

Reply #20 – October 30, 2015, 11:43:43 AM

The rear actually needed a new pinion and seal. The shop (and I asked them to) reused the pinion from the 8.8. It looked good (no nicks, burs, or worn spots) but apparently was just worn enough to leak. Swapped in a new pinion and seal and all is well.