Erska

So, my rear driveshaft is piece of junk, it's way out of balance, can't drive faster than 50mph, it has a dent near the rear yoke and carrier bearing.

Telescope was seized few months ago and broke few carrier bearings.

Today I drove over a hundred miles to get it balanced in the only balancing shop in this country and it was too big!

2500 Dodge dana 70 driveshaft is the biggest they have and can balance. They tought my 3500 is the same size...

My symptoms are, it really bounces at any rpm under 15mph so badly that my mirrors and my rear seat belts shakes!

What could cause that? It's not because the off-balance of the rear driveshaft but could the problem be in the rear driveshaft? Maybe carrier bearings support bracket is too weak or something?

Anyway, where can I buy a new complete driveshaft, possibly a better aftermarket product with better carrier bearing?

And now I want some ladder bars too... It would be great if I could buy those from the same place.

Do you guys have any suggestions to my problem?

Thanks!

Valv

For a second I thought you were kidding about "largest driveshaft", then I saw you are from FINLAND !!!!! Not much luck up there buddy....

Anyway, I am sure there's got to be somebody that can work it, think about big trucks, TIR, they have larger drivelines and they get worked on too. Check their dealers, repair shops etc.

getblown5.9

a dana 70 and dana 80 should use the same driveshaft...the only thing that changes the shafts is long bed/short bed, reg cab/quad cab

I agree with Valv, I am here on the East Coast of the US and I still use a big rig shop for my driveline work

Erska

Correction, they do big rig balancing, but those equipments are way too different/ big to my Dodge again then...

And that's the only place for those things too...

Well, If the dana 70 is the same... Then they haven't balanced one, because their yokes and everything were too small...

Erska

Anybody know where I can find aftermarket driveshafts and ladder/traction bars?

Beast2B

I would guess that your lift kit has a lot to do with the problem. I had a driveshaft built for my truck because of the combination of my lift kit and power additions. check out http://www.highangledriveline.com for more details. Jess builds all kinds of custom drivelines for rock crawlers and extreme vehicles.
*no affiliation, just a satisfied customer for my truck driveshaft and sandrail axles*

afoulk

If your shaft has dent in it, it might be tweeked just enough that its causing the vibration. Does it look like any of the weights got torn off?

Erska

It don't have any weights on the first piece of the shaft and has two in the rear piece.
It seems weird that there isn't any weights on the first piece of the shaft, but there isn't any marks of weights there so I think I got all of them left...

I have Tuff Country 4.5" lift kit in the rear.

Tapered blocks and add-a-leaf+ blocks for lowering the sway bar.

Erska

I just measured my wheelbase yesterday.

My wheelbase was 2cm/ over 3/4" longer on the other side!

I measured it everywhere, it truly is 2cm off.

My U-bolts are bended

Could that be it or just a funny coincidence?

nickg

Sounds like a broken center bolt, or the hole it sits in is oblonged, no matter as it wont cause a vibration just alignment issues(dog tracking, and abnormal tire wear)
if the drive shaft causes that much vibration, it must be bent! take it to a shop have them cut the yokes off, or do it your self with a grinder, find a new piece of tubing center the yokes and weld them back in, no matter how bad you center them it wont be as bad as it is now. What I would do if you need to drive the truck is remove the rear half of the drive shaft, leaving the front half hooked up to the TC and the hanger bearing hooked up, put it in 4x4 and drive it. this way you will not break any other driveline parts, like snapping the TC off the tranny because of the sever imbalance you have now. you will not hurt any of the driveline running around in front wheel drive, mind ya it will "feel" funny when you step on the throttle.

Erska

The vibration from 0-15mph vanishes completly when I put 4x4 on. No matter how hard I hit the throttle, no vibration. But when it is on the 2wd it shakes immediatly when I'll accerlate.

Few of my friends looked my rear axle when I accerlated from stop, they said my rear axle was shaking/bouncing a little.

And everything is double checked and tighten there!

I have showed that driveshaft to a lot of people which by the way allmost all are car mechanics... They are saying to me that my driveshaft is fine. The dent on the rear has been there since I got the truck and every yoke seems to be ok, so I'm not sure where it's coming from...

dj_souvlaki

maybe something inside your transfer case?

Erska

I also checked the shaft when I removed my driveshaft, it doesent move at all.

totalloser

Mine has a missing spline to prevent incorrect indexing on the second slipshaft, but if yours doesn't, it could be incorrectly indexed. The yokes should be mirror images at either end. Hard to describe without a picture, but make a "c" with your hands and make them mirror eachother. The yokes are the "c"s and should PERFECTLY mirror each other, or SEVERE driveline bind will be trying to raise and lower the axle rather than having the u-joints soak up the angle difference.

And though the yoke may match on a d-70 or d-80, some d-80 equipped trucks came with the nv241hd (versus the standard 241) which have a larger slipshaft into the transfer case, so the drive line won't swap.

pind

if your axle is out of line, especially with a lift, it compounds the rear u-joint angle. This can cause a binding condition, however slight, that will cause a "hop" or vibration. it will vary in severity, but it will happen. If you get the axle aligned, and the problem is still there, then look into the U-joint for brinelling. This occurs when the needles wear into the trunions on the cross.