Need Driveshaft Advice

AlaskanRider · Oct 5, 2011

So my question is, how imperative is it to get these suckers balanced?

I just shortened mine myself, and did a pretty mediocre job. I got it pretty straight under the truck, but Im not much of a welder, and after I tacked it i could hear it moving as it cooled.

I couldn't bring myself to check how straight it was after I welded it up, Instead I just bolted it on and drove it!

It works pretty well, when I put my hand on the T-Case shifter it doesn't shake any more than I'd expect it to. There is a vibration that gets worse with more speed, but I can only feel it with my hand on the shifter, and its hard to tell if its just the engine or not.

I guess im skeptical whether it's worth my money to get it properly balanced. Those bearings on the pinion are HUGE, and the twisting force on them must be incredible under normal operating conditions.

Has anyone welded up a driveshaft and needed to get it balanced? What did it drive like?

06RangerXLT · Oct 5, 2011

if you dont have a wheel shake over highways speed id say your good to go.

4x4junkie · Oct 5, 2011

An out-of-balance driveshaft is gonna make a very low hum at speed that may or may not surge louder & softer 1 or 2 times a second as your driving (as was my experience anyway). This hum vibration can be destructive to the bearings in your diff or the transfer case, so I'd try to get it to where you aren't noticing it as much or at all.

I cut & welded the driveshafts on mine after I put my doubler in, and with some experimentation using a couple hose clamps around it, I was able to get it pretty good. If your shaft has any visible wobble at all as it turns though, chances are good you might not have much luck getting it to balance.

alwaysFlOoReD · Oct 6, 2011

4x4junkie said:
may or may not surge louder & softer 1 or 2 times a second as your driving

I've had this but I was told it was because I didn't put the ring gear back in the same spot, ie; the teeth of the ring and pinion were not meshing in the same place. But maybe it was the drive shaft as I had it shortened and balanced at about the same time. My memory is a little vague as this was about 30 years ago.

Richard

4x4junkie · Oct 6, 2011

alwaysFlOoReD said:
I've had this but I was told it was because I didn't put the ring gear back in the same spot, ie; the teeth of the ring and pinion were not meshing in the same place. But maybe it was the drive shaft as I had it shortened and balanced at about the same time. My memory is a little vague as this was about 30 years ago.

Richard

That's only on certain ratios, IIRC none of which are used on RBV axles.

3.00:1 or 3.50:1 are two examples of such used on the Ford 9". Ratios like 3.73:1 will have every ring tooth meet up with every pinion tooth at some point. I could see this influencing a driveshaft vibe to some extent as it wanders from tooth to tooth, though I suspect the vibe would have to be present to begin with (out-of-balance driveshaft) before it could affect it.

AlaskanRider · Oct 6, 2011

using a couple hose clamps around it

That is hilarious and brilliant. Ingenuity at its best. Will remember that one.

Well i did a little more experimenting today. At 65 I put my hand on the t-case shifter, and gave it gas, and then put the clutch in and coasted, and the amount of vibration at coast is nothing compared to when i give it gas, so I think its pretty good.

Im getting no hums or rythmic vibration. Im just gonna run it, and not pay to have it balanced.

Thanks for the input! Much appreciated.

4x4 Junky, if your still following this thread, I was reading about your b2 and I see your running a d35 front axle. How is it holding up for you with big tires and a doubler? Broken anything yet?

The reason I ask is I am currently running a 2wd truck with a transfer case, and found a cheap parts explorer. I'm wondering if it's worth more driveshaft work in order to use its front end, versus just finding a d28 and bolting it up. Or maybe I should really SAS, but i think d35 and 8.8 is gonna be easier and cheaper.

4x4junkie · Oct 7, 2011

AlaskanRider said:
That is hilarious and brilliant. Ingenuity at its best. Will remember that one.

Well i did a little more experimenting today. At 65 I put my hand on the t-case shifter, and gave it gas, and then put the clutch in and coasted, and the amount of vibration at coast is nothing compared to when i give it gas, so I think its pretty good.

Im getting no hums or rythmic vibration. Im just gonna run it, and not pay to have it balanced.

Thanks for the input! Much appreciated.

4x4 Junky, if your still following this thread, I was reading about your b2 and I see your running a d35 front axle. How is it holding up for you with big tires and a doubler? Broken anything yet?

The reason I ask is I am currently running a 2wd truck with a transfer case, and found a cheap parts explorer. I'm wondering if it's worth more driveshaft work in order to use its front end, versus just finding a d28 and bolting it up. Or maybe I should really SAS, but i think d35 and 8.8 is gonna be easier and cheaper.

I've had no issues with the D35 whatsoever.
The D35 shares many of it's major parts with D44 axles found under ½-ton and even ¾-ton trucks (such as the axle u-joints). They're pretty similar when it comes to the biggest tires you can reliably run on it (35-37", depending on the weight of the truck).
However in converting a 2WD Ranger to 4WD, to use the D35 you would need to change out the engine crossmember, as they are different between a 2WD and 4WD and the passengerside-axle bracket won't bolt up to it. Its a pretty good job requiring removal of the engine. I'd probably lean toward a D44 SAS on that truck.

As for the hose clamps, that's actually a pretty common trick.
Two hose clamps immediately opposite each other would give neutral effect, but as you move them toward each other, you effectively change the amount of balancing force. I put two clamps on each end of the shaft and then just kept moving them around in different positions until the vibration was no longer perceptible and just left it (my original intention was to take the clamps off and weld a small curved piece of thick steel there, but never can seem to get around to doing it lol :icon_twisted:

).

AlaskanRider · Oct 9, 2011

they are different between a 2WD and 4WD and the passengerside-axle bracket won't bolt up to it

I did not realize this! Thanks for letting me know, I noticed the different brackets, but figured they would bolt up! Ill have to bust out my tape measure, maybe I can come up with something :icon_welder:

I think ima do it anyway, I talked to a guy about his explorer, and he said he'd take a 100$ for it. Haven't seen anything with D-44's for that price. So be it if i have to swap the crossmember, i'm getting pretty quick at pulling ranger engines.

I did a balljoint/hub job on a friends ram-3500 with the d60. What a nightmare! Hopefully the d44 isn't as bad to work on, because I hope I never see a d60 again! Alignment shop wanted 1800 for the job +$1000 if they couldn't pull the hubs from the knuckle. I know why now! We bent pullers, presses, marred sledgehammers, bent cold chisels, and sqaushed the nut on a slide hammer. Took about 6 hours on one side!

Raced a guy in his naturally aspirated impreza yesterday, beat him and didn't notice any weird noises or vibration at 75 mph.

Need Driveshaft Advice

AlaskanRider

New Member

06RangerXLT

New Member

4x4junkie

Forum Staff Member

alwaysFlOoReD

Forum Staff Member

4x4junkie

Forum Staff Member

AlaskanRider

New Member

4x4junkie

Forum Staff Member

AlaskanRider

New Member

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Staff online

Members online

Today's birthdays

Member & Vendor Upgrades

Latest posts

Truck of The Month

Recently Featured

Follow TRS On Instagram

Latest Album Photos

TRS Events

25th Anniversary Sponsors

Check Out The TRS Store

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Amazon Deals