After researching many very helpful posts on the forum I completed rebuilding the front driveshaft on my '03 with greasable U joints and a new center ball a couple weeks ago. Now there seems to be a *slight* increase in vibration at 75-85 mph and I'm thinking the driveshaft is a little off-balance after the rebuild.

1] Does this vibration cause accelerated wear on other driveline components? I'm judging how quickly I should get it resolved ... or IF I should get it resolved at all.

2] I called Driveline Services in Ventura and they quoted me $45 just for the balancing. I remember reading about another forum member being able to get the driveshaft rebuilt, balanced, and painted for about that much. Am I getting robbed?

Thanks.
Alan

 

The vibration means the shaft is wearing at an excessive rate, it will fail and it can take out your tranny when you are out on the old 101 at 70 miles and hours.
No body will build a shaft for $40 .
I have used the Venture shop and you should too, they are great at what they do.

 

Mike, thanks again for your input. I'll get it balanced asap. I don't need to solve the old problem just to create a new one.

You're right - probably not for $40 but since both Martin (Luv2Disco) and humroot got theirs rebuilt and balanced for $50 labor I figure I'd check with the collective wisdom here. On the other hand it's not a lot of money compared to the $100+ I just spent on 6 qts of gear oil .... I just don't want to feel stupid that's all.

 

$45 to rebalance it is a fair price. It's $50 here in Atlanta.
Now that you have zerk fittings on the u-joints, don't forget to grease them every oil change, or at least every 5,000 miles. 5k is the specified service interval, but I do mine with my 3k oil change because I'm under there anyway. Make sure you get new grease coming out from around all 4 seals on each u-joint.

 

Update: Got my rebuilt front drive shaft rebalance at Drive Line Service in Oxnard. When I did the rebuilt I used new c-clips except for the caps where the zerk fittings stick out as the new clip won't fit. They noticed that and mentioned that the ends of the c clips can be snipped off before installation. Their concern was that different thickness clip can create an imbalance. All it takes is 0.007" offset for it to be a problem. So for $45 they put in snipped new c clips on the 3 caps with zerk fittings, balanced the shaft, and painted it. Nice people to work with. Now vibration is gone!

 

So you rebuilt the drive shaft your self and the only issue that threw off the balance was the one odd c-clip that u used on each U-joints to accommodate the zerk fittings? Cool

Did you stagger the fittings or were they all on the same side?

 

My thinking is that with all the new u joints, centering ball, additional zerk fittings, and how the u joints fit inside the carriers there are too many variables to deal with to ensure a balanced rebuilt shaft without rebalancing. Those original c clips were definitely a red flag to the driveline people. But I also saw that they had to add some new weight to the shaft so I guess there is more to it.
I thought about staggering the zerk fittings to help keep it balanced but decided it's too much of a pain when it comes to time to lube them so I have them all on one side. I don't have a garage and my parking space has a slight slope to it so I can't really leave the truck in neutral and turn the shaft by hand. The truck started rolling as I disconnected the shaft from the front diff - not my finest moment but I came out in one piece =>

 

Thanks for the insight!