Tom Wood driveshaft play

taylormade73

taylormade73

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Removed front drive shaft after noticing slight harmonic vibration following recent removal of tc drop and installation of 8 Savvy DA CA's. Got pinion angle dead on on front and with 0.1 on rear and still had slight vibe at 67+mph. Felt minor lateral play in front shaft (2 month old Tom Woods) so I removed it. Vibe mostly subsided. Put shaft back in and it was back. While wiggling the DS I noticed the play is coming from front UV joint on DS. The joint is moving (in and out directionally) inside the bearing cup. Will call TW tomorrow. Also have slight lateral play in front output yoke on tc. Not sure what to do with that
 
taylormade73 said:
Not in and out rather side to side.
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Unless you're moving the transmission on the rubber mount, you might want to get that looked at. Most likely the bearing on that output is worn.

Pull the front shaft for now to isolate the rear and fix one thing at a time. With the LJ you should be able to get the rear to be quiet.

taylormade73 said:
0.1 on rear
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Angle the rear pinion down by a degree and see what happens.
 
taylormade73 said:
5.13 auto.
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Before trying to dial in the front I'd make sure your TC output is in good shape or else you're never going to solve the problem. After you get that done:

This combo with your lift height is likely to cause vibes regardless of what's going on with your TC. You can try angling the pinion up higher by a degree (but keep adjusting more or less to see if it has a happy place) but you'll loose caster angle and your steering might feel loose and not have a strong return to center. If you can't tolerate the steering or you can't find a spot where the vibes stop you're going to need locking hubs in the front so the driveshaft doesn't spin.
 
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toximus said:
Unless you're moving the transmission on the rubber mount, you might want to get that looked at. Most likely the bearing on that output is worn.
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That's what I am thinking.

toximus said:
Pull the front shaft for now to isolate the rear and fix one thing at a time. With the LJ you should be able to get the rear to be quiet.
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Already pulled it.

toximus said:
Angle the rear pinion down by a degree and see what happens.
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Will do tomorrow.
 
Are you saying that the ujoint on the front DS at the front axle is moving side to side? If I understood that correctly then check that all the ujoint retaining clips are in and tight. If the movement is at the pinion itself (ujoint held by straps and bolts) then it could e that the mounting surface has spread a bit allowing those bearing caps to move away from center cross. If that is happening I think the only cure will be to replace that on the axle.
 
Goatman said:
Are you saying that the ujoint on the front DS at the front axle is moving side to side? If I understood that correctly then check that all the ujoint retaining clips are in and tight. If the movement is at the pinion itself (ujoint held by straps and bolts) then it could e that the mounting surface has spread a bit allowing those bearing caps to move away from center cross. If that is happening I think the only cure will be to replace that on the axle.
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The u joint is moving side to side in the bearing caps which are not moving inside the yoke. The yoke is less than 2 weeks old. It was replaced when I had my diffs regeared. I can see the ujoint itself moving slightly back and forth while the bearing caps do not when I wiggle it. There are actually outside retainers built into the yoke which centers the joint and keeps it from moving.
 
The "cross" has to be short. The caps lock inside the tabs when bolted in. Does it have any play on the drive shaft side of the ujoint too?
 
The pinion could be spread I guess, but some evidence of damage should be under there. Like a DS broke loose and wacked around a bit.
 
Goatman said:
The pinion could be spread I guess, but some evidence of damage should be under there. Like a DS broke loose and wacked around a bit.
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The bearing caps aren't moving within the yoke rather the u joint is moving within the bearing caps. I called Tom Woods a couple days ago and they sent me a prepaid label. They're going to check it out and rebuild the joint with non greasable joints and check balance. They're really a class outfit.
 
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taylormade73 said:
The bearing caps aren't moving within the yoke rather the u joint is moving within the bearing caps. I called Tom Woods a couple days ago and they sent me a prepaid label. They're going to check it out and rebuild the joint with non greasable joints and check balance. They're really a class outfit.
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Glad they are going to take a look at it for you. TW has one of the best customer services I have dealt with. I hope they are able to resolve the issue.
 
taylormade73 said:
The bearing caps aren't moving within the yoke rather the u joint is moving within the bearing caps. I called Tom Woods a couple days ago and they sent me a prepaid label. They're going to check it out and rebuild the joint with non greasable joints and check balance. They're really a class outfit.
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They are a total class outfit. I'd give them a call to specify Spicer 5-1310x u-joints which they'll use if you ask them.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
They are a total class outfit. I'd give them a call to specify Spicer 5-1310x u-joints which they'll use if you ask them.
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Those are the non greasable ones right? When I spoke with them a couple days ago and told them that if I would have known that the non greasable ones were an option in the build that I would have went with them when I ordered from them a couple months ago. He said no worries we can rebuild it with the 5 - 1330 X ( I have Rubicon) when you send it in. Very highly recommend them as a company for anyone looking at Driveline parts.
 
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taylormade73 said:
Those are the non greasable ones right? When I spoke with them a couple days ago and told them that if I would have known that the non greasable ones were an option in the build that I would have went with them when I ordered from them a couple months ago. He said no worries we can rebuild it with the 5 - 1330 X ( I have Rubicon) when you send it in. Very highly recommend them as a company for anyone looking at Driveline parts.
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Yes those are sealed/non-greasable. Their recommendation for the Spicer 5-1330x is the way to go, that's one of Spicer's sealed/non-greasable u-joints which I'm running f/r in my Rubicon. It's a very high quality and durable u-joint that is a step up from the 1310 strength-wise.
 
Perhaps stupid question.
My stock DS's have maybe an inch of movement. (lengthening and contracting)
Is this normal for them? 06 Rubicon. And have to really push or pull to get them to move. Ujoints appear to be fairly new. Never had driveshafts so hard. First TJ.
 
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