Vibration at 50 mph

[AndyG]

If it's stock gearing , you need to check the following -

Front hub/unit bearings

Front hub u Joints


Wheels need to be perfectly balanced

Rotors checked

All u joints checked

All control arms and tie rod, drag link and track bar ends

All mount bolts -transmission, skid plate , motor mount , etc

 

[Chapman4266]

In the steering wheel?

As in shaking back and forth?

Trying to help isolate the problem...

In the whole tub, clutch, gearshift, steering wheel, seats, etc. everywhere. Harmonic vibration

 

[Chapman4266]

If it's stock gearing , you need to check the following -

Front hub/unit bearings

Front hub u Joints


Wheels need to be perfectly balanced

Rotors checked

All u joints checked

All control arms and tie rod, drag link and track bar ends

All mount bolts -transmission, skid plate , motor mount , etc

Pulled the rear shaft before I got this one and ran with front only. 70+ with no vibration. The old one had come apart at some point and needed replaced anyway. I appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks for helping

 

[twistedlv]

pull the front driveline and go for a spin. I know you said it worked ok with the rear DS removed, but it might act differently when it is not having to pull the full load.

 

[AndyG]

That is pretty unusual for the back drive shaft to resolve the vibration....usually , only pulling the front one gets it but I don't know all thats going on.

 

[Chapman4266]

That is pretty unusual for the back drive shaft to resolve the vibration only pulling the front one gets it but I don't know all thsts going on.

Not sure what you mean

 

[AndyG]

Not sure what you mean

The first thing most shops do is pull the front shaft to take the entire front system out of play ....it seems vibes are often related to the front drive train or wheels , axles , etc .

If it's the rear shaft , its likely going to be simpler to solve , and you have it half figured out , knowing it's the back half of the vehicle .

 

[Chapman4266]

I measured my angles. Keep in mind it is stock. It is 2degrees difference at the pinion and dead on 0 difference at the transfer case. I know I need at least 1/2 degree so the u joints work and don’t prematurely fail. Can I shim the transfer case to raise it higher and bolt it back? I don’t think that is the issue, but need to fix it before it hurts my new u joints. I’m still yet to pull the front, but will try in next couple days.

 

[TripleBlack]

It could be the output bearing in the transfer case. My '08 Ram 2500 was the same way. It would vibrate like crazy with the rear shaft in then it was smooth as glass with only the front shaft. My output bearing was just a tad loose and that all it took to shake the fillings out my teeth.

Rebuilding a transfer case is very easy because it's just a two speed manual transmission. There's a planetary gear, a large chain, and a dog clutch. I did mine in my garage. You'll need a 20 ton press, a large socket set (to press out and in bearings), bearing set kit, parts cleaner, and a GOOD set of snap ring pliers. Lots of videos on You-Tube on how to do it.

 

[STREETBOB2007]

Any news as to what caused the vibrations? I started with the same issue two days ago!

 

[Chapman4266]

I am about to rebuild my tcase. I let it go for a while because I had no noticeable slop anywhere. I now have some at tcase output for rear shaft. I replaced my pinion yoke a couple months ago because it wasn't true. Helped a bit. I haven't driven it much. I will update when I do the rebuild

 

[STREETBOB2007]

Well, I figured out my issues...bad U-Joints on the front and rear shafts. The front shaft was pretty bad, there was a lot of play when I moved it around with minimum force. For the rear shaft, it was solid. So I changed the bad u-j from the front shaft and the hard vibrations went away but no as I expected. 5 days after, the vibrations came back and worse! They started at approximately 30 mph.... got under the Jeep again, wiggled the rear shaft and there was a slight play, but not much....anyways, removed the shaft and the bearing caps of the u-j fell off. When I removed the u-j completely I cam across the horror... New Spicer u-j and it's running so smooth! Now I am off to rebuilding the front end with new drag link, tie rod etc....

 

[Howee2746]

Last post was 2019, did you ever figure out what the problem was?

 

[Chapman4266]

Combination of things. No slop in u joints, but tight on a couple. Transfer case rebuild due to slight slop in output bearing for rear and replaced rear pinion yoke doe to slightly bent ear

 

[Howee2746]

Turned out it was both front and back UJoints!