Noticable vibration

[ati190]

I have noticed vibrations at 45mph+ that doesn't go away. Here's my train of troubleshooting. Checked transmission mounts they were fine. Had the driveshaft balanced, as well as 3 brand new u-joints, and center bearing. Vibration is noticable. Took wheels off, vibration still occured. Took the drums off, vibration still occured at same speed. Next inline I inspected wheel bearings: Tried to wiggle from side to side, no movement. Pulling the axle shaft (the thing with the wheel studs)straight forward, then pushing in, there's play. From what I can see, i'm able to pull it outward roughly 1/8th of an inch, maybe a 1/4 inch at most. The shafts seem to spin freely for the most part, however while spinning the shafts, I hear a noise coming from the shaft, sounds like a bearing making a ticking sound. If i put my ear on the cover, you can hear the sound inside there as well. What could my problem be? A Bad axles haft/wheel bearing? Also, One other thing, while the tires on the vehicle, you can see noticeable wobble. The tires are new, and balanced.
thanks
ati190

 

[ati190]

bump

 

[Captain Ledd]

possibly a bent axle shaft from the tire wobble description. Which usually has a high correlation with blowing out the bearing. The wobbling tire(s) are on the rear axle right?

the rear axle shaft will have some play back and forth, and is normal.

Ticking from the cover: More than likely something stemming from the axle shaft (if it turns out to be the culprit). Pull the cover and give the differential a good perusing for anything looking suspicious or loose.

So the initial theoretical prognosis is rather grim... Do you have another vehicle for a few days? if not I'd start calling some friends.

 

[ati190]

Alright, did a little more digging around, without pulling the cover. Here's what more I found. With the vehicle up on jack stands, wheels able to spin freely. I put the truck in 4th gear, up to about 45-50 mph (where the vibration starts). I put the vehicle into neutral, and let it coast to a stop. While coasting to a stop you can hear a grinding noise from the right side wheel. The left seems to be quiet. I'm wondering if I have a bad gear in the rear end, or maybe a bad shaft.

 

[canyoncritter]

could be a wheel bearing a diff bearing, a spider gear or a bent axle shaft. And there is even a chance it could a bent axle tube. then again it might even be something as simple as a brake/backing plate issue, or the axle shaft flange could be warped.

time to get dirty and smell the stink of your rear end.....gear oil stinks