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Driveshaft halves installation (SOLVED)

Here’s my driveshaft. Still vibrates at highway speeds. You can faintly see the yellow scribbles. They’re somewhat lined up but idk exactly how they're supposed to go. There are no arrows as far as I can see. <strike>Here’s what I’m thinking..notice how the rear ujoint appears to be about 5 degrees clockwise when the 3 bolt flange up front is flat. Does the orientation of those 2 matter?</strike> nvm that doesn’t make any sense.

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Turn the other half 180 degrees and try again. Sometimes it can be all it needs. Just making sure, both joints move freely and without force?

Got to say that 240 has been really forgiving for driveshaft virbrations compared to 700/900. I've installed different halves together that have suited the purpose and really rarely there has been any sort of vibration. If there has, then turning the other half 180 has fixed it.
 
Lankku said:
Turn the other half 180 degrees and try again. Sometimes it can be all it needs. Just making sure, both joints move freely and without force?

Got to say that 240 has been really forgiving for driveshaft virbrations compared to 700/900. I've installed different halves together that have suited the purpose and really rarely there has been any sort of vibration. If there has, then turning the other half 180 has fixed it.
Click to expand...

I don’t think there is a 180 degree out option. There’s x amount of splines so there’s x amount of different ways it could go in.

I believe m46 cars could be 180 out?
 
IMHO, wrong on both counts.

Think about it. If the number of splines is even, then you pull it out, rotate it by half that number of splines. It has moved 180 degrees. (I don't know if the number is even)

With a shaft that is all u-joints, such as with an M46, you are aligning two yokes that are symmetrical. If you rotate it by 180 it is the same. Worst case is 90 out.

That guibo d/s is crazy. Why didn't they put a key spline in it if there is only one correct position?
 
I am not commenting on that (sorry, I know that is what you want to know). What I am saying is that with a shaft that is all u-joints you can align it by looking at it. With the guibo end being three lobes, and the u-joints being two lobes, there is no visual scheme for easy alignment.
 
Harry Tuttle said:
I am not commenting on that (sorry, I know that is what you want to know). What I am saying is that with a shaft that is all u-joints you can align it by looking at it. With the guibo end being three lobes, and the u-joints being two lobes, there is no visual scheme for easy alignment.
Click to expand...

Yeah I?m pretty much ****ed as far as I can see. This is extremely annoying and I have no idea what to do.
 
Assuming the technical diagram is correct courtesy hiperfauto, then you can deduce 2 only possible locations for(driver side arrow) on long center piece(rr shaft section). Finally noting the position of the triangle end there should only be 3 possible locations(of arrow).

If the diagram is correct that leaves 2 possibilities for rr section and 3 for frnt section.


** I have a similar situation,.. I had previously replacd m47 rr drive shft section, torq rod bushings, inspectd guibo & centr bearing but still a lingering vibration around 45-55 mph
 
I marked the pinion flange and the piece of the driveshaft the bolts to it: both with a white paint marker and facing downward. Then I also marked the triangle part up front. Both facing downward. Looks close to me but I’m wondering if being a spline or 2 off is enough to cause vibrations.
 
Alright just jacked up the sedan, not the (vibrating) wagon. This is the driveshaft of a car that does not vibrate. Then i had a look. First off, I can watch the Rear DS in this car shimmy side to side when it’s spinning, yet it does not vibrate?? Oh well.

Only the front section of this DS is marked with yellow paint, there’s even a yellow line drawn as pictured below. Seems to have no relation to the front tri flange.

When I put this yellow line facing directly DOWN, the pinion flange seems to be side to side. This is hard to word, but hopefully pictures help. And I don’t wanna hear **** about my booger welded pie cut exhaust. It was dirt cheap like 2 years ago.

Here’s that tri flange. It has no obvious specific orientation in relation to the yellow markings.
rbPNBOp_d.jpg


First yellow markings on front section of DS
ZNkLm5d_d.jpg


Here’s a yellow line that the wagon does NOT have. When this is pointing straight down, the pinion flange seems to be ‘squared’.
IuRDvWn_d.jpg


Note the pinion flange/u joint orientation when that yellow mark is straight down.
QbmVDO5_d.jpg


Do you folks think this means anything?
 
PromiseRing said:
...I?m wondering if being a spline or 2 off is enough to cause vibrations.
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I'm gonna say yes. One of mine had an obstinate driveshaft vibration that persisted even after renewing the u-joints and verifying all the matchmarks lined up. SOLVED by tightening a radiator hose clamp around the driveshaft where I saw the most vibration. Using a whiteout marker I index numbered all around the circumference of the driveshaft there by the hose clamp (think I got 12 numbers, like a clock) and experimented with placing the sticking out part of the hose clamp (where the screw is) at each number in turn, and watching for the vibration.

Left the hose clamp in the position where the vibration was the least, it worked great forever after!

Moral of the story: small changes in the weighting and position have big effects on a rotating driveshaft.

LATER: talking to a marine propshaft technician, he told me they sometimes use a similar method to figure out where to attach the permanent balancing weights on oceangoing vessels.
 
tintintin said:
I'm gonna say yes. One of mine had an obstinate driveshaft vibration that persisted even after renewing the u-joints and verifying all the matchmarks lined up. SOLVED by tightening a radiator hose clamp around the driveshaft where I saw the most vibration. Using a whiteout marker I index numbered all around the circumference of the driveshaft there by the hose clamp (think I got 12 numbers, like a clock) and experimented with placing the sticking out part of the hose clamp (where the screw is) at each number in turn, and watching for the vibration.

Left the hose clamp in the position where the vibration was the least, it worked great forever after!

Moral of the story: small changes in the weighting and position have big effects on a rotating driveshaft.

LATER: talking to a marine propshaft technician, he told me they sometimes use a similar method to figure out where to attach the permanent balancing weights on oceangoing vessels.
Click to expand...


So it?s essentially like a trial and error type of thing. Do you put the clamp on the front or rear shaft, and do you put it in the front, middle, or back of the shaft? I?ll try this today.
 
I tried a hose clamp on the rear shaft in the middle, in 4 different positions (every 90 degrees). No change in vibration at all. Moved it to the front of the rear shaft and repeated test, same results.
 
Alright. Now I used a paint marker connected to a scissor jack and slowly jacked it up while the vibration was happening. I got a white line on 1 side of the shaft (I did rear shaft, front and back), so I added hose clamps to the opposite site of the white marks. White marks would be the heavy side so I thought I balanced it. Literally nothing has helped. What a pile of **** these cars are.
 
I feel your nightmare, sorta. I have a car that runs badly for no apparent reason.

Anyway, I have thought about this more. Regarding the spline alignment and balance, I am a skeptic. While many driveshafts are no doubt balanced with splines engaged, as a unit, and with good results, I just don't see that making a large difference unless something was flaky about the spline. If it mattered much, the shafts would have non-removable marks on them, or would be made to assemble only one way.

I do believe that each piece should be balanced well. Is this the shaft that you put u-joints in recently? Any chance something is still off, or even bent? How about swapping in the smooth-running shaft from the other car? That would help isolate the problem. Mark it well before removing it, if it makes you feel good :-P

I am impressed with the story tintintin tells of balancing with a hose clamp. The weight of the screw part of a clamp is quite small, though. I have seen large chunks of metal welded to driveshafts for balance. It is quite possible that a clamp is not enough to make a difference. Maybe use the clamp to hold a larger weight in place.
 
Harry Tuttle said:
I feel your nightmare, sorta. I have a car that runs badly for no apparent reason.

Anyway, I have thought about this more. Regarding the spline alignment and balance, I am a skeptic. While many driveshafts are no doubt balanced with splines engaged, as a unit, and with good results, I just don't see that making a large difference unless something was flaky about the spline. If it mattered much, the shafts would have non-removable marks on them, or would be made to assemble only one way.

I do believe that each piece should be balanced well. Is this the shaft that you put u-joints in recently? Any chance something is still off, or even bent? How about swapping in the smooth-running shaft from the other car? That would help isolate the problem. Mark it well before removing it, if it makes you feel good :-P

I am impressed with the story tintintin tells of balancing with a hose clamp. The weight of the screw part of a clamp is quite small, though. I have seen large chunks of metal welded to driveshafts for balance. It is quite possible that a clamp is not enough to make a difference. Maybe use the clamp to hold a larger weight in place.
Click to expand...

Everything in the ujoint looks and feels perfect. It moves freely and makes no noise. Also, when I put in the *first* ujoint that I cracked, the vibrations were identical to how they are now i believe. So it seems like the ujoint itself isn?t really the problem to me.
 
PromiseRing said:
Everything in the ujoint looks and feels perfect. It moves freely and makes no noise. Also, when I put in the *first* ujoint that I cracked, the vibrations were identical to how they are now i believe. So it seems like the ujoint itself isn’t really the problem to me.
Click to expand...

Maybe the u-joint or flange is only noticeably bad when it is under load? A human can't really load it by hand
 
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