My friend,
You need to get this right and spot on.
The drive shaft can come off and spear head the transmission and ruin it -
puts a hole in it.

I am playing with fire and Russian roulette on my truck too.
My drive shaft is greasable and I greased it.
but, I have a bad bad vibration at 67 to 73MPH. I just stay below 65 MPH.

I have been soaking up driveshaft info to figure out what to do.

If you are going to pay $550 or so, I would get a warranty and
I would get a certification that it will not vibrate.
And, if it does, they take it off and balance it and balance it again and again
until it does not vibrate.

 

Alright, on your advice I called Tom Woods for a front shaft. He wants $400 for a new one so I pulled off the old one for measurements. Then, I forgot to lock the diff and put it in gear for a few seconds before remembering that the drive shaft was out. It made a bit of a grinding noise briefly, then I locked the diff and all seems okay. Does this mean that I'm going to have a problem lining up the bolts for the new shaft, or can I just move on from here? thanks again for your help.

 

I ordered the Tom Woods shaft from Will Tillery on Friday (saved $65); I hope I get the correct length. With the shaft removed it rides smooth as silk and quiet as a mouse again.

 

Now I'm going to burst your bubble, the Tom Woods drive shaft is a heavy duty one and not meant to be driven at speeds greater than 65-70.
It will vibrate at high speed because it is a heavy duty drive shaft, heavier parts and it is meant to be used off road only.

 

I sincerelly hope you are wrong, because when I told to Tom Woods that the only reason for changing my shaft was to eliminate any vibrations and I had no need for any type of heavy-duty shaft since I never take this truck off pavement. He said that his conventional double-cardon shaft would do the trick, so when I run it up to 100 on Friday it better stay smooth and quiet or I'm going to shove the shaft right back...

 

I dont know how many different drive shafts he offers or what types other than heavy duty.
Almost every person who went with the Tom Woods has reported a vibration at high speed.
Personally I dont drive faster than 65 and I see no reason to drive faster than 65 but you're the one buying the gas not me.
Please let us know what happens once the new shaft is in.

 

So here are the facts so far...
Drivetrain vibration
After removal of front drive shaft, no vibration
Affix new conventional double-cardan drive shaft from Tom Woods, made to order
Vibration present again, but slightly different sound/feel
Checked yokes at both ends of both drive shafts
Yoke on transmission side of front drive shaft has very small amount of play, all other yokes tight as a drum

I know that Tom Woods shafts have had balancing problems in the past, but shouldn't this yoke be as tight as the others? If so, I think it's safe to say that this is the root of my problem. If my logic is correct, then I need to have the yoke replaced. The Shop already said that my T-Box needs to be resealed for $575. Is resealing the transfer case and replacement of the yoke interrelated? That is, will I save money by doing both at the same time, and is this something I can do myself? I have never done any type of tranny work. Thanks again in advance for your advice and expertise.

 

Yeah, you probably could do it yourself.
I think they are north of $300 to $400 for a good rebuilt one.
The guys can guide you on to the best ones.

I hear the nuts can be hard to get off and they are soft nuts.

I need to do this eventually too.
I have been keeping under 65 MPH to just avoid dealing with it.

Also - the rubber fittings from the drive shaft to the diffs may be bad too.
Mine looked dried out.

Not sure why the D2 has rubber rotating couplings and the D1 has none of this.

You never hear about D1 drive shaft issues.

Are those an engineering improvement or a cost savings on the D2?
I am not qualified to make that judgement.

 

I took my truck to LR today and they said that the minor amount of play at the T-Case is normal. I called Tom Woods and they first tried explaining that it was a heavy-duty shaft and not made for high speeds. When I reminded them of our conversation about replacing the stock shaft (still in perfect condition) for the sole reason of eliminating the minor vibe, they offered to do the right thing. They sent me a pre-paid UPS return shipping label so that they can "triple check" the balance of their shaft. I think we're all on the same page now. I'll post the final results when I get the re-balanced shaft back in so that future BBB users can benefit from this thread.

 

Good job.
I am following your conversation and experience closely.
Glad you could return that HD front drive shaft to Tom Woods.

Wondering why Tom Woods can't balance their shaft to 100MPH?

On another note - not sure where you live but --
Maybe a drive line shop - who rebuilds all sorts of drive shafts can rebuild your driveshaft.

I took an MG Midget drive shaft from a 1979 MG into San Jose Driveline - San Jose, CA and they rebuilt it just fine.

Noted - the D2 seems a lot more complex.

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