1960 Buick - Vibration

[JohnO]

I have a vibration that is most predominate around 40 - 47 mph. At 35 mph and at 70 mph it is perfect. I put on new tires (switch from bias to radial) and it does exactly the same thing, so it can't be balancing. It does not seem to be the drive train as the vibration is there whether your accelerating or decelerating.

The vibration is not your typical steering wheel shimmy or a wobble. It would be as if there were alot of little ripples in the road so the steering wheel is vibrating more up and down rather left / right..

It just seems odd that it is limited to those speeds. The car is a convertible. Any ideas? Thanks

Edited August 12, 2011 by JohnO (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

I had a small squeak and some vibration in my '60 Electra. After 50 years this inaccessible u-joint failed. Smooth ride on the new biased tires.

It is not too hard to get the rear end out, but a real PIA sliding the shaft back in.

And then you gotta put it back in pretty.

Bernie

[Guest cecsquare]

Hey guys... I have a similar problem as JohnO with my 1960 Buick LeSabre convertible. I have a mild vibration which seems to get worse around 40 -50 mph. I initially thought it was coming from the front end after I got a disk brake conversion done last year. After 4 sets of tires (road force balanced), putting the stock wheels back on, front end work, new shocks, new transmission mount, etc. I'm at my wits end! Could the problem with the vibration be from the "inaccessible u-joint" as Bernie suggested? And is it possible to check without yanking the whole rearend and torque-tube? Thanks!

 

-Chuck

[37_Roadmaster_C]

Unfortunately the answer is...  NO.  There is no way to isolate the u joint from the rest of the final drive (torque tube, rear end, axil etc) and rear pump on the transmission.  Any of the mentioned items could cause speed related vibrations as they all are rotating at specific RPM verses road speed.

 

Sorry,

R

[60FlatTop]

 

Here is where the critter lies. The rearend is not hard to remove. Some of the old flat raters would disconnect the shocks and use a Porta-Power to push things back.

 

55 years is pretty good service. I replaced an axle bearing on mine prior to doing the U-joint.

Bernie

[60FlatTop]

 

Here is where the critter lies. The rearend is not hard to remove. Some of the old flat raters would disconnect the shocks and use a Porta-Power to push things back.

 

55 years is pretty good service. I replaced an axle bearing on mine prior to doing the U-joint.

 

Wow! A 2011 post and we are pushing '16. And I had that car for 10 years then.

Bernie

[Beemon]

Whatever your gear reduction in Low Range is, divide the MPH you experience the vibration by the gear reduction and that will give you an estimate of whatever speed you can recreate the vibration in Low Range. If it vibrates in Low Range, then it's either your U-joint or the torque tube is bent.

[Guest cecsquare]

Thanks guys... I think I found a shop that will do the work. I'll drive it tomorrow to see if I can experience the problem in Low Gear. I found the driveshaft bearing on the Cars, Inc. website for around 59 bucks. Additionally, is there a way of telling if you have the Saganaw or Spicer U-joint without disassembly? I think there's a 1/8th inch difference in the two.