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driveshaft play and vibration

I 've recently noticed a vibration in my 91 v6 4x4 that seems to happen around 60 to 80 km/hr. My left front tire is clearly wearing more on the inside and I have about 1/4 turn of play when I grab my rear driveshaft while the truck is in gear. There's also a miniscule amount of play in the U joint/ Spider joint? where the rear drifeshaft attaches to the Trans. My wife took the truck to the mechanic too see what they thought about the vibration and the tire wear. Apparently they checked the whole driveline and the front suspension and all they came up with was offering me new tires and an alignment. They didn't even mention the play in the driveshaft or the ujoint. Now this mechanic has a great reputation but I'm concerned with the lack of comment on the driveshaft, how much play is standard, would this be caused by the Trans or the diff? or both?

Any ideas or info would be great.

Thanks,

-Andrew

Reply to
DruG
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Where does it feel like the vibration is coming from when you drive the truck ? If you can feel it in the steering wheel it is coming from the front tires. If you feel it in the seat it could be the rear tires or driveshaft. If you only feel it under load then it could be the driveshaft.

To check the driveshaft for play you need to put the parking brake on and have the truck in neutral. Some play in the driveshaft is normal. There should be no play in the u-joints.

Reply to
Mike

There should be no measurable play in Ujoints. If it is a bit loose it can cause vibration. It is loose from wear. ALso it is kinda rare for a 4x4 to wear tires evenly up front (this is why you rotate them) especaily as it wears with age. A alignment may be in order but you need to get ujoints replaced first I think.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

You should have no play between the drive shaft parts directly connected to the universal joint in question. If there is any play at all, replace the universal joint. Make sure the replacement one has a grease fitting so you can regrease it regularly. My 91 extra cab has the originals with 300,000 miles on it and they are still fine. I give them a shot of Mobile 1 synthetic grease every other oil change.

Reply to
Handyman

Thanks for the good advice. The vibration ended up being the rear brake drum (oddly enough though the brake pedal feel didn't hint at this at all). Apparently the parking brake bell crank pivot was quite rusted and seized up so it didn't let off all the way, somehow resulting in the vibration.

Is there a specific grease that has to be used or avoided for the driveshafts and ball joints, would grease used for excavator bearings be acceptable as that's what's in my grease gun that I lent to a friend.

Thanks,

-Andrew

Reply to
DruG

The best grease is a synthetic brake grease, it is designed to be water proof and accept all that nasty brake dust and keep on working. I've been using it for years on drum and disk brake wear surfaces and never had a problem. however, never put any lubricant on the auto adjusting threads in drum brakes this always causes the dust to accumulate in the threads and binds up the adjustment screw (It's ok to clean them any way you like, just don't leave any residue on the threads).

Christiaan

Reply to
Christiaan Brown

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