Jballard81's 1994 super cab 4.0 4x4 Restore

[jballard81]

Nice work.

I'd much rather repair the old through-hole circuit boards than deal the newer surface mount stuff.

I work on game systems sometimes, but i don't have the hot air stuff and i'm too impatient/bad at soldering to try and remove surface mount stuff with just an iron.

 

[jballard81]

ECU/PCM is back in the truck. Starts up with no issues. need to take it for a drive later to see how it goes. I'm starting to wonder if I misdiagnosed my vibration/shudder issue as related to the transmission. Truck seems to have plenty of wobble/shudder even in park when rpms are 1k or so.

I need to get under it again and check out the drive shaft, ujoints and test the motor mounts. I'm starting to think that there isn't a magic bullet here and that there is likely a number of things worn/broken that could be part of the problem.

Also noticed that my front tires have a noticeable negative camber. I want to inspect and repair the front suspension parts as necessary before getting it aligned. at least i'm working through the list still

 

[jballard81]

Traced my shudder to my drive line. Driveshaft support bearing is totally shot.
So since I have the ds out, figure I should get the ujoints done.
Was easier cutting out the ujoint on the flange side of the smaller part of the ds.

Not a super easy job and all but broke the loaner ball joint press, but ultimately not that bad once I got going.

However, I am stuck removing the yoke from the smaller 2nd part of the ds. It is seized up solid as far as I can tell. I've tried using a puller in 2 jaw mode but it ended up just mashing in the threaded part in the middle of the yoke.

Plenty of lubricant, heat and still no luck. I've cut all of the old support bearing off except for the remainder of the race. It's seized up. I've cut into it as deeply as I can with the angle grinder but can't get it to break loose.

I've chipped through a tiny bit on both sides of that cut in the race. But I've run out of steam today.

Can anyone give me some advice on what to do to remove the yoke? Much appreciated!

 

[Terrys87]

I have been reading that the computer sometimes has burnt components in them. I have seen other models with burnt resistors in them. Hope that fixes your problem.

I have a fortune wrapped up in my driveshaft. I was trying to remove the U-joint and broke the flange that bolts to the axle. I did have the part number at one time. I bought a driveshaft out of the boneyard and the drive shaft shop broke it. That is a very brittle piece be careful with it. Orielly sent it to a driveshaft sop and rebuilt it for me. It is a great driveshaft now.It fixed my vibration.

On the yoke, I think I put it in the vice and banged on it with a rubber mallet and also used my propane torch to seperate it if I recall correctly.

Orielly charged me around $400 to have mine rebuilt as I was having such difficulty with it. They had one heck of a time getting it balanced and marked it to where I had to get the two pieces installed correctly. I was shocked at the price but it is one smooth running truck. You may want to look at getting it professionally balanced when completed.

 

[jballard81]

I have been reading that the computer sometimes has burnt components in them. I have seen other models with burnt resistors in them. Hope that fixes your problem.

I have a fortune wrapped up in my driveshaft. I was trying to remove the U-joint and broke the flange that bolts to the axle. I did have the part number at one time. I bought a driveshaft out of the boneyard and the drive shaft shop broke it. That is a very brittle piece be careful with it. Orielly sent it to a driveshaft sop and rebuilt it for me. It is a great driveshaft now.It fixed my vibration.

On the yoke, I think I put it in the vice and banged on it with a rubber mallet and also used my propane torch to seperate it if I recall correctly.

Orielly charged me around $400 to have mine rebuilt as I was having such difficulty with it. They had one heck of a time getting it balanced and marked it to where I had to get the two pieces installed correctly. I was shocked at the price but it is one smooth running truck. You may want to look at getting it professionally balanced when completed.

As always, thank you! I'm going to get more propane tomorrow and hit it hard. That yoke is on my last nerve though. I'm going to try a Dremel to work through the last of the bearing race.

I'm already looking up replacements on eBay though. Maybe I'll have a bit of good luck

 

[jballard81]

I have a buddy with a 12 ton hydraulic press, I might give that a try. Gave it some heat and WD-40 cycles today with no luck.

Got a new vise though! Wish I had time to find an older quality vintage vise but is what it is.

 

[Bgunner]

you can set the yolk in the vice to hold it, put the nut on just till the top of the nut is flush with the threads, this is for protection, and use a brass drift and hammer to shock it. OF course use heat and colling cycles while doing it to help break it loose. If this does not work then hit up your friend and use the press. Still in the press I would use heat and cooling cycles to help.

you could use an air hammer if one is available to help shock it loose also but be careful as you can damage the threads more easily this route.

I got lucky on mine and it came apart easy with the 2 jaw puller but was prepared for a fight just incase.

 

[jballard81]

Got it! Other than hot/cold cycles the trick for me was getting the puller as tight as possible then beating on it with a hammer.

 

[jballard81]

anyone got a part number or size and thread pitch for a replacement for the midship half round yoke retaining nut? with all the hammering and moving of parts, i think it got bounced off somewhere. i spent the last 45 minutes looking for it...

just kidding. after cleaning up the workbench and organizing/putting away my tools, i was moving my magnetic socket rails and found that in my infinite/tired wisdom, that would be a safe spot for that retention nut. manual says 120 ft-lbs of torque, will have to snag a bigger torque wrench tomorrow.

 

[rumblecloud]

I love magnets. They are sooo "attractive."

 

[jballard81]

So driveshaft is back together and back in the truck and torqued down. I paint marked all the bolts so that I can visually inspect them in a week or so to make sure nothing is moving.

Took it for a ride and damned if I STILL have the shudder issue. Pretty much in the same speed and rpm ranges. So I put the rear on jack stands and ran it through the gears. Help me interpret my findings please:

With no real engine load it seemed like I had to go 'faster' for the gears to switch. I guess that's normal?

-In what I believe was 3rd gear, around 1800-2k rpm I noticed a vibration still. I'm by no means a driveshaft expert but it didn't seem to be coming from there.

-It appeared to be rotating pretty smoothly. But at those rpms maybe my untrained eye just can't see it.

There was definitely some type of vibration still. Since the rear was on stands, that eliminates (at least for this situation) the front end suspension.

So either it's still the driveshaft or possibly engine mounts, what else am I missing or should be looking at?

Thanks!

 

[SenorNoob]

Since describe it as "shudder", any chance you have a torque converter issue? Or maybe an internal transmission problem?

 

[jballard81]

Since describe it as "shudder", any chance you have a torque converter issue? Or maybe an internal transmission problem?

Maybe vibration is more accurate. Drove it today and can replicate the vibration by getting up to 45 mph and coasting until rpms drop to ~1500, give it a bit of gas but keep it under 2k rpm (all done with OD gear off).

I will check the manual on how to diagnose the torque converter. It could also still be an internal transmission problem.

I need to be smarter with my trouble shooting methodology. I'm jumping from one possibility to another all while sprinkling in parts and a lot of time. Trouble i'm having is that there are so many things that could be the cause (or even multiple issues compounding it).

While i would like to rule out the rear driveshaft now that I've put in all new joints and carrier bearing, its possible i could have messed something up or it was just un-balanced in the first place (which in turn destroyed the carrier bearing).

After looking up the torque converter in the manual, I'm going to do some more research on trouble shooting the driveshaft.

I appreciate the help! thanks!

 

[SenorNoob]

Is the rear suspension completely stock? That sounds kinda like the way mine acted after I put in the lift shackles. (A severely worn transmission mount could cause the same thing.)

 

[jballard81]

Is the rear suspension completely stock? That sounds kinda like the way mine acted after I put in the lift shackles. (A severely worn transmission mount could cause the same thing.)

Bone stock suspension all around.

I checked the manual regarding the torque converter and found a stall test that can be performed. Notes say a line pressure test should be performed first. i don't have a vacuum gauge yet so i'm looking into that. For the stall test the manual says to connect a tach to the engine. is there any reason I couldn't use the tach in the gauge cluster?