driveshaft on '93 F-150

See if the u-joints are off center.

They probably didn't mark where the driveshaft was before they removed it, and didn't put it back in the same position during installation.

I don't know what the manual is talking about when it indicates the drive shaft cannot be out of phase or has a master spline. My '93 has no master spline and can definitely be slipped together out of phase. It is not hard to look at the joint alignment a see if they are properly aligned. It has been my experience that the driveline sections must be rebalanced when the joints are replaced. The requirement is greatly reduced by marking the tubes so they can be reassembled as they were originally. Rebalance is still a good idea. Another problem with them is pressing the joints together too tightly making the joint stiff which will have vibration similar to imbalance. It is also good to replace the midship bearing when the joints are replaced.

Lugnut

what he said

hey, I'm just reading the FSM. It clearly stated that it was impossible to phase it incorrectly and visual inspection did not reveal any issues. Unfortunately I just packed up all of my tools last weekend so I really can't mess with it myself. I do not believe that they replaced the carrier bearing; I probably would have were I doing this myself, but whaddayagonnado.

Right now I'm waiting for the shop to call me and tell me that my company car is ready (had them give it its regular service when I picked up truck, so I'm just going to trade them back) and have them address the ABS light, then it sounds like I need to find a good spring and driveshaft type place to address this farther.

nate

Update:

called the garage that did the work, asked them if they did driveshaft balancing. Answer was "no, but we have a place we send them out to." Told the guy what I was feeling and he said to bring it by, he was skeptical that it was the driveshaft, because he said they "very rarely had problems with driveshaft balance after a U-joint replacement, it was probably a position adjustment on the carrier bearing or something." Dropped it off today. Got a call four hours later "umm... we'd like to send your driveshaft off to the driveshaft shop, do you want us to do it today or next week?"

grr... all I want is a truck that drives right... at least they fixed the ABS light. Oh, and in between all this the alternator crapped out. This truck doesn't like me for some reason - I think these are the first unplanned repairs since I bought the thing, save for a fan clutch that I did myself. But it's lucky I don't have any firearms in the house, because I'm not feeling the love this week...

nate

dude

1. it's a frod
2. it's a 93

i know expectations adjustment is not the kind of thing some people want to hear about, but you should think about it.

I agree that Fords suck, but that's all there is available around here for a non-extortionate price. Really, Ford was on the bottom of my list when shopping for a truck, but just try finding a nice used Chevy, Dodge, GMC, etc. for sale. Plus, a '93 isn't an antique by any means, it's overall in good shape for what it is, and this isn't rocket surgery. I'm frankly a little annoyed at the shop; I used them because a) I figured they'd be nice to me because we have all our company vehicles serviced there (not my choice) and b) they're convenient to the office. However, having to take it back four times isn't convenient...

nate

called the garage that did the work, asked them if they did driveshaft balancing. Answer was "no, but we have a place we send them out to."

***** If the old one didnt need balancing, then just replacing U-joints wouldnt normally change that very much.. Unless some meathead muffed that job.

I had one that did that one time, but it was after a wreck, and the driveshaft was warped. Matter of fact, so was the flywheel.

Tell us what you find, Nate

The driveshaft on my 1978 Dodge van was out of balance.I tightened a hose clamp around it to get it back in balance. I once read somewhere driveshafts are packed full of cardboard to deaden the sound.I don't know if that is true, or not. cuhulin