Made In Michigan Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 My 1937 1.5 ton truck has a vibration at around 35 mph. the faster I go the worse it gets. Feels to me like a unbalanced driveshaft. I removed the driveshaft from the rear and spun it 180 degrees then reinstalled it hoping it might solve the problem but it didn't. Any suggestions? I just recently solved my death wobble problem, the toe in was way off and I had the front wheels balanced. Rides real smooth now till I get up to speed then the vibration starts. Its too rapid or fast paced to be the wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 18 minutes ago, Made In Michigan said: My 1937 1.5 ton truck has a vibration at around 35 mph. the faster I go the worse it gets. Feels to me like a unbalanced driveshaft. I removed the driveshaft from the rear and spun it 180 degrees then reinstalled it hoping it might solve the problem but it didn't. Any suggestions? I just recently solved my death wobble problem, the toe in was way off and I had the front wheels balanced. Rides real smooth now till I get up to speed then the vibration starts. Its too rapid or fast paced to be the wheels. Try this on a wide-open road. Pull the drive shaft and have a vehicle pull you at 35-40 mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 35 minutes ago, Made In Michigan said: My 1937 1.5 ton truck has a vibration at around 35 mph. the faster I go the worse it gets. Feels to me like a unbalanced driveshaft. I removed the driveshaft from the rear and spun it 180 degrees then reinstalled it hoping it might solve the problem but it didn't. Any suggestions? I just recently solved my death wobble problem, the toe in was way off and I had the front wheels balanced. Rides real smooth now till I get up to speed then the vibration starts. Its too rapid or fast paced to be the wheels. Once at speed and the vibration is felt put it in neutral. If it is still vibrating it usually is a wheel balance problem. If it stops vibrating it is a driveline issue. The U-joints move freely? Are these original u-joints and can they be lubed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Made In Michigan Posted April 19, 2023 Author Share Posted April 19, 2023 If I get it up to speed and put it in neutral the driveshaft is still spinning, the u-joints are new and greased. I like the idea of removing the driveshaft and towing it at 40 mph that would tell me if it’s the driveshaft or not. If I can get someone to help me I’ll try both ideas this weekend. Thanks for the replies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 4 hours ago, Made In Michigan said: If I get it up to speed and put it in neutral the driveshaft is still spinning, the u-joints are new and greased. I like the idea of removing the driveshaft and towing it at 40 mph that would tell me if it’s the driveshaft or not. If I can get someone to help me I’ll try both ideas this weekend. Thanks for the replies Make sure no cops are around. lol Jack up the truck with the tire off the ground about an inch. Put something on the ground about 1/2 inch away. rotate the tire to see if mounted correctly. if not, it will wobble. Look to see if the tire is out of round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 Jack the back end up at the rear end. Have the wheels about 2 in from the ground. Be careful with this procedure. Don't try this at home in your garage. LOL. Run the truck up to 40 slowly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 (edited) Where are you feeling the vibration? Steering wheel? Shifter? Seat? Floor? Edited April 20, 2023 by countrytravler (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Made In Michigan Posted April 20, 2023 Author Share Posted April 20, 2023 When I had it in the frame shop they balanced the front wheels and shaved the high spots on the tires to make them perfectly round and corrected the toe in. That cured the death wobble, apparently the vibration was always there and I never noticed it because I couldn’t go faster than 25 without the front end shaking so violently (death wobble). Vibration feels like it’s under the floor. The slip joint is bolted to the sack of the hand brake I suppose it’s possible that could be out of balance but doubtful, I’m going to remove the driveshaft and do the tow thing at 45 mph. Gotta start somewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 3 minutes ago, Made In Michigan said: When I had it in the frame shop they balanced the front wheels and shaved the high spots on the tires to make them perfectly round and corrected the toe in. That cured the death wobble, apparently the vibration was always there and I never noticed it because I couldn’t go faster than 25 without the front end shaking so violently (death wobble). Vibration feels like it’s under the floor. The slip joint is bolted to the sack of the hand brake I suppose it’s possible that could be out of balance but doubtful, I’m going to remove the driveshaft and do the tow thing at 45 mph. Gotta start somewhere I have been a wrench most of my life. Owend full-service gas-repair gas stations in Detroit. We were better than most Mechanics working in dealers. That's because we worked on anything that you put fuel in. Go Karts to Semi trucks to heavy machinery. We even had dealers bring cars to us. We always had a great crew. Worked on cars starting with my dad at 8 years old in 1960. These are the things that are a challenge to diag. Vibration Overheating intermittent electrical shorts Drivability- this is the hardest one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 (edited) Rotate tires from back to front-front to back if it still vibrates after removing the drive shaft. Some of the vibrations over the years. bad fan blade engine transmission motor -trans mounts bent frame Clutch Flex plate torque converter driveshaft bent rear axle tires wheels front end parts worn master cylinder e brake brakes and a few more Edited April 20, 2023 by countrytravler (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Made In Michigan Posted April 20, 2023 Author Share Posted April 20, 2023 Haha, WOW! I’ve heard a bent fan blade can cause vibration I’ll check that too. Anyone want to buy a 37? I’m going to give it a good deal of attention and report back, thanks so much for all your input Dave, I sincerely appreciate it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 The Fords back in the 70s were losing a fan blade. It was a faulty Revit that was breaking-coming lose. Mechanics were getting injured from reaching over the front of the engine to rev the engine. Ford came out with a gauge to check the rivets. I never reach over to rev the engine anymore on a belt-driven fan blade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Made In Michigan Posted April 30, 2023 Author Share Posted April 30, 2023 Problem solved. I jacked up the rear end and started it up, checked the belt, pulley, fan blade. Everything ran fine so I removed the driveshaft and took it to a specialist, they told me it was so far out of tune it couldn’t be fixed so they cut off the ends and welded them on a new tube and balanced it. $188. Just now went for a test run, got it up to 45 mph and it was all smooth sailing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted May 1, 2023 Share Posted May 1, 2023 That is great news. Darn good price for a shaft. You did not get the shaft on that one!! LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted May 1, 2023 Share Posted May 1, 2023 5 hours ago, Made In Michigan said: Problem solved. I jacked up the rear end and started it up, checked the belt, pulley, fan blade. Everything ran fine so I removed the driveshaft and took it to a specialist, they told me it was so far out of tune it couldn’t be fixed so they cut off the ends and welded them on a new tube and balanced it. $188. Just now went for a test run, got it up to 45 mph and it was all smooth sailing! Had another customer with a 35 Dodge pickup. Went over with him and we went through the possibilities. He said it started when he hit a curb with his pass rear tire. Told him to jack it up and put an object on the ground and spin the wheel. It turned out to be a bent axle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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