Both front and rear drive shafts are now Spicer equipped. Finished
re-installing the rear tube this afternoon.
The front shaft was repaired last week, including the forward u-joint and
the rear double cardin joint.
The rear had to wait until today due to the availability of alternate
transportation. I probably could have driven a short distance at a low speed
with the big hole in the rear end of the transfer case but decided to borrow
my wife's car instead.
The symptoms began about a month ago. There was significant vibration while
accelerating, like driving on a corduroy surface, and enough to rattle the
pens and pencils in the bins and shake the steering wheel, noticeable
vibration at steady speed, and no vibration at all when coasting. Another
clue was the onset of squeaking while cornering under acceleration.
After seeing firsthand what can happen to a transfer case when the front
drive shaft starts to develop runout (a fellow DMLer from Maine) I tried
dropping the front shaft and test-driving. This produced a decrease in
vibration but did not eliminate it completely. The cardin joint in the front
shaft was still tight but there was a slight notchyness when the joint was
swung side to side.
The rear shaft, after I dropped it last night had a 1/16 inch play in the
cups on one cross shaft and was very notchy when swung back-and-forth.
The OEM, lubed and sealed for life joints had a life of about 47,600 miles.
Not good enough in my book. Thanks DC.
Now when these joints get wet or MUDDY, I can pump out the nasty stuff.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:47:28 EST