| Had this lady with a Dodge Dakota pickup that had a | | | | on the rear u-joint--Ah ha! The joint had just a little bit |
| slight vibration. | | | | of slack in it. |
| She told me she thought it was the tires; she had them | | | | When I removed it from the drive shaft I removed the |
| put on a couple of months ago. | | | | cups. |
| She took the truck back and had the tires balanced | | | | Two of the cups were almost completely void of |
| again, but it didn't seem to help. | | | | grease and the shaft on the cross had 'ridges' where |
| I drove it down the road and noticed it did feel like | | | | the needle bearings had been riding on it...without |
| rough pavement, sorta like little 'ribs' across the road. | | | | grease, it had worn groves in the shaft, causing the |
| I noticed when I gave it more fuel or let off of the | | | | slackness...causing the vibration. |
| accelerator, it would quit vibrating...it smoothed out and | | | | When a universal joint gets a little slack, and you have |
| ran like a Dodge ortta. | | | | it balanced at, say 55mph, then it will vibrate. |
| I put it on the lift and raised it to where I could turn the | | | | If you let off the accelerator, or push the accelerator, |
| tires. No noise. I shook each one back and forth. No | | | | you put the drive line in a bind. When it gets in a bind, it |
| looseness in the bearings or tie rods. | | | | quits vibrating. |
| I thought it could possibly be a bearing in the differential. | | | | After installing a new universal joint and replacing the |
| I turned the rear wheels but didn't hear any bearing | | | | driveshaft, there was 'no' vibration when I test drove it. |
| noise, so I started checking the universal joints in the | | | | She was so proud of me...she cooked my favorite |
| drive shaft. | | | | meal, pork-chops, and invited our children over for |
| No slack that I could feel or see. | | | | supper. |
| I took a large screwdriver and pried against the cross | | | | |