Found my clunk

[Bamamav]

Decided to adjust the rear brakes on the Lincoln today to see if that was why they weren't holding. Sure enough, the left one had backed way off, so I adjusted it up and moved to the right. Right away I saw a problem--the balance bar had come out and the spring for it was in front of the adjuster. I knew I needed to get that fixed before I adjusted that brake, so I backed off on the adjuster, that side was a lot tighter that the left was, and pulled the drum off. As I was pulling the drum, I noticed the axle hub moving.[S Grabbed a hold of it, and it wiggles pretty good. Looks as though the axle bearing is shot. Going to rent a puller Friday to snatch the axle out and get a new bearing pressed on. After a second look, it appears the pinion isn't loose like I thought it was, optical illusion I guess. So I don't think I will have to swap chunks now, just get the axle bearing changed.

As a side note, I changed the ignition module on the Vette yesterday, and it won't fire now. Went back and took another look at it and found the wires in the harness to the module were in sad shape, only a couple of strands holding on one, one completely broke off. Think this may finally be my starting problems with it. Ordered a new harness today, will put it in probably Friday, hope it cures it.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Always something to fix... sigh...

 

[Yankee Transplant]

I have took about a 10 foot chain and whipped the axle out . on several trucks ... some times its a booger though.. but back in the early 80s I didnt even know they had a puller and I dont think the parts house even rented then.

 

[Bamamav]

I tried the chain trick , didn't work, its in there. Plus having limited room to work in the rapport didn't help. If I had of backed in it would have been the outside wheel but I wasn't thinking of that at the time.
I'm still undecided on changing the chunk. May just go ahead and do it while I have the puller .

 

[Bamamav]

Got my axles out today with the rented puller. Would never have gotten the left one any other way, with the bad bearing, it had gotten hot and was stuck good, had to keep pounding to get it out. Right side came out with two jerks. Going to replace both bearings and seals just for sake of mind.



Also pulled the Maverick axles and chunk. Still undecided on changing the chunk, the one in car spins freely, no tight spots, and doesn't make any noise. Too tired now to even try to get it out, after cutting grass all morning and pulling the Maverick rear apart, I'm bushed.

 

[Bamamav]

Look at this driveshaft and tell me whats wrong with it---




Some people need to be kept away from tools. I know what's wrong, can you spot it in the pics?

 

[21willys]

The first thing I notice is the index is off.

 

[smallfoot]

I think Eric is right! Index is off. Looks like somebody tried extra weight to adjust it out too. I was thinking also in the first pic that maybe there was a bend near the other end but the last two shots don't look like it.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

you have to line them cup holes up ... and I havnt ever seen any one weld the front of one either ,,, I would guess it had a vibration to it ?????? seeing how they didnt try to line it up at all .. I have put a shaft together and it was just a little off and it vibrated pretty bad ... Maybe they just threw that thing in there to get it sold [S...

 

[Bamamav]

The first thing I notice is the index is off.

Winner Winner Free Chicken Dinner! {If we ever meet up, dinner is on me!}

Yep, not indexed properly. Two shafts, probably one Ford one Chevy, one stuck in the other and welded together and not anywhere close to be aligned. Like I said before, I've never had the shaft out of the car before now, but have always had a vibration starting at about 50 MPH and really severe around 65 MPH. I also realized they didn't even square the shaft up, thus it also wobbled. I noticed the wobble the other day when I ran it on the jack stands, I thought it was bent, it's not, just not welded square or aligned properly. Going to have to get a new shaft made with my ends, all the used shafts I have are too short. No idea what that will cost yet, have to call the only place close that can do it and see sometime next week.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

most likely will eat up $300 if you go to a drive-shaft place... I found one at the junk yard to bolt to my 97 F-150 .. I dont know what it came from but it was a Ford shaft .. I used my chevy yoke for the front to bolt to my chevy trans ..and bought a Ford/Chevy Joint and I did have to cut it about 2" off to shorten .. but I ground off the weld on the end piece and shorten the tube , then put the end back in the tube . so far its working great .. It may just be me but id never cut the front ... the rear end goes up and down anyway ..

 

[21willys]

I would just hit the pull a part yards with a tape measure. Find the correct tube length or longer that has the correct tube id. Make your own with proper index from the yokes that you have.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

if you do that you will have to find one that is chocked down on the front end .. good luck... the drive shaft tube is not that expensive to buy . just getting some one to weld it and get it balanced is what will cost you .. I think I give 40$ or 60 $ for an 8 foot tube .. but my yokes were the same size .. this was on my F-350 I didnt think that was to bad compared to a new shaft ..

 

[I-R-POPS]

Some one didn't know what they were doing. I'm with 21W... DIY and
spend that money on gas after the vibration is gone.

 

[Bamamav]

After studying on it, I might be able to just grind off the welds and re-clock it, then build me a wooden jig to hold it square and reweld it. It won't hurt it if I shorten it 1/2" or so, just enough to get everything square before I weld it back together. That would save me some $$$$
Think I might knock the weights off while I'm at it, could always use the two hose clamp method of balancing to get it close.

 

[I-R-POPS]

Perfect plan. I don't think you'll have any problems doing that. If you're like me, all you need now is to find the time to get to it.
Good luck.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

yes sir on the weights .. take them off , those were for the original shaft , you will be better off with none at this point . I have welded several in the past that worked out good , but here lately , i havnt done so good the last two ,, so I had a man wire weld them for me . he put them in a lathe and tacked them and made sure they were pretty strait before he welded them up .

 

[soltz]

DIY

Just a fluk[S. I've done a few with no problem. What your planning should work fine. Enjoy your driving [cl

 

[Bamamav]

Well, that went pretty good.....

Got up this morning and hit the shop. Cleaned the gasket surface on the chunk and the rear end housing, wiped it out, put some RTV on the flange, and we now have a set of 3:00 gears installed! [cl Went ahead and put the driveshaft back in, not exactly what I was hoping for. Still has a bit of lateral runout on the tranny end. After all my measuring, looking, measuring some more, it's still off a fudge. Nowhere near as bad as before, but still off a bit. At least it's in phase now, so I'm going to try it and see how it does. I didn't notice it vibrating that much when I ran it in gear a while ago, so It might be OK. Won't know for sure until I get the axles and tires back on and run it down the road.

I do know that I hate the smell of gear oil! Gosh, that mess stinks! Seems like you can smell it a mile away. Glad I'm though with that part! [cl

 

[smallfoot]

Before I'd give up on it being better, remove and rotate the shaft 180 degrees and check it again.