[dyaroch]

Hi guys, I have read a couple different threads on this type of problem. My 05 crew cab has developed a light vibration. It is most noticeable while under acceleration or while towing my trailer. I road force balanced my tires, i changed both the front and rear driveshaft u-joints. The truck only has 54,000 miles on it but the cheap joints that came in it were at a point of failure. The grease was hard and no longer grease. Unfortunately, the vibration is still there.
Does anyone have any other thoughts on the source? Thanks

Doug

 

[rtc1184]

is the truck lifted?

 

[honda250xtitan]

check your tranny mount.

 

[rtc1184]

its either the pinion angle or you slung a driveshaft weight. the tranny mount wont cause a vibration. if it is broke like has been a problem on some, it clunks cause it will allow the tranny to flop when he hits the gas. he said when pulling a trailer it is more noticeable which makes me inclined to say pinion angle cause the [email protected]@ end of the truck sqauts cause the pinion angle to change.

 

[dyaroch]

Hi Guys, The truck is NOT lifted. It is totally stock. The tranny mount is fine. This all started a little over a month ago. I thought may have thrown a wheel weight so had the tires Road Force Bal. but no change. That is when I found the info on here about the u-joints so I did the change on them. Still there. The pinion angle should not have changed so I tend not to think that would be it. If the drive shaft threw a weight that could be a posibility. I will crawl under to see any sign of anything missing. Thanks for all your response.
These forums are a great tool to bounce info around.
Doug

 

[rtc1184]

the pinion angle will change over time if the springs get softer. like i previously posted, its a driveshaft weight or the pinion angle. is it aking cab or cc?

 

[dyaroch]

It is a Crew Cab.

 

[rtc1184]

then that eliminates the carrier bearing. driveshaft or pinion angle.

 

[dyaroch]

Hey Guys. So I have totally eleminated the tires from being the problem. I had it back to have the tires checked. We did rebalance them with no change in balance. We rotated them front to rear with the vibration staying what feels like in the rear. It does not transmit to the stearing wheel but can feel it in the seat and in the pit of your stomach. I guess I will need to take it to the dealer.
Any other thoughts???

Doug

 

[HRTKD]

Since it _developed_ a vibration then the problem can't be that the driveshaft is 90° out of phase. I did a driveshaft on my Ranger today and I didn't keep track of my alignment marks correctly and I'm pretty sure it's either 90° out of phase or the carrier bearing is out of alignment. I get a low frequency humming/throbbing sound almost as if the subwoofer is stuck on the same note. Like rtc said, since you have a crew cab, the carrier bearing can't be the problem since you don't have one. My bet is you have a differential problem unless you have ruled out the driveshaft as part of the problem. Did you find the balancing weights on the driveshaft?

 

[BBtruck]

I had a slight vibration under acceleration, found out one of the u joints went bad. Found little grease marks flinged by the drivrshaft. That fixed my problem.

L

 

[HRTKD]

The u-joints in my Ranger are greasable. So there is ALWAYS grease being flung around the drive shaft. I'm taking it to a 4x4 specialist shop tomorrow so they can correct my bungling attempt. I hate to admit defeat but I'm out of time and know-how.

 

[CVTitan05]

I had my u joints replaced because mine were on the BRINK of going bad, so i had them replaced and about 5,000 miles later its got oil on it, and i think i can hear it popping every once in a while

 

[dyaroch]

Hi Guys, update on my vibration. I took the Titan in to the dealer last week. They called me a couple hours later with a diagnosis. Here is what they came up with.
They said the breather valve on the rearend was plugged. Thus causing pressure to build in the rearend and causing the vibration. As you are thinking at this moment, how is pressure causing a vibration. I can drive the truck out of the garage after sitting for two weeks and the vibration is immediately there. I told them I didn't agree with the bogas diagnosis. They waned to charge me $108 to cut the hose and insert a barb fitting with a longer hose to reach up behind the tail light and it would fix my problem. They also wanted to drain the rearend to change fluid. I was ok with that as it had not been done yet and I have 55m on the Titan. So as you can guess, the work was done and the vibration is still there. Now what do I do?

Doug

 

[rtc1184]

Driveshaft or pinion angle!

 

[HRTKD]

I think there has been some reluctance to suggest the pinion angle - at least on my part - because the vibration developed instead of being there from the start. Also, wouldn't the pinion angle decrease when towing making it even less of an issue?

I'm scratching my head on the dealer's solution. If there was already a hose in place then it is likely that there was no breather vavle present. When the axle valve mod is performed properly the breather valve is removed, replaced with a non-valved fitting and a hose attached. I don't get it.

Referring back to post #12 (mine), my Ranger came back from the shop after a rear axle rebuild (bearings, seals, supposedly ring & pinion). Drivetrain noise is pretty much gone. Vibration at high speed (75 MPH was really high speed for that truck) is gone. Have you or the dealer opened up the differential cover to verify the condition of the gears?

For what it's worth, my axle vent mod has been in place for almost 4 years (August 2007). I checked the filter (located in the tail light) at the end of the hose. It was clean as could be. If it had any discoloration from the hose end I would have been quite concerned as that would indicate that my differential fluid had traveled up 3 feet of hose!

 

[rtc1184]

pinion angle will change over time, as the springs sag from use and/or carrying things. also depends which way the pinion angle is bad. when you tow it points the front of the rearend up further then without a load so the pinion angle changes several degrees actually.

 

[HRTKD]

It seems to me that when the pinion angle changes more towards 0° that any issues with pinion angle would go away as there would be less stress on the u-joints. But I don't know jack about the mechanics of driveshafts and u-joints so I could be completely off-base.

 

[rtc1184]

U want some angle. Also u don't want the pinion pointing at the transmission. U want the angle downward off the trans to be as close to exact of the angle upward off the pinion. Stock u-joints are good for 7*

 

[NBhunter80]

I'm still thinking u-joint or tranny mount.