Propshaft time lol
 

So I just noticed a moderate road noise or vibration while riding on the highway at speeds of excess 60 mph. Cant tell if what I'm hearing is the proshaft or just my 18 inch wheels in conjunction with the frozen highways as of late (Grounds frozen over and the roads/highway are abit rougher). I'm already aware of the notorious front proshaft failure and I know first hand what its like driving down the highway with a damaged shaft. My former 98 D1 shaft failed on a roadtrip, but stayed together long enough for me to get home, but the vibration was INTeNSE and very loud. Upon inspection "chunks" of the yolk and the u-joint were missing and plenty of wiggle room...

I recently did a brief inspection of the front shaft on my D2 and did not notice anything wrong and no wiggleroom, but I'll have to get down and inspect once more. Aside from chunks missing and wiggleroom is there any other signs I can look for while inspecting the front shaft? Any way to tell the difference between loud 18 inch wheels and a bad shaft?

I will try to record a short video tomorrow while on the highway and see if I can capture the sound on camera so you guys and see what I mean.

Check for a redish dust around the ujoint caps on each universal.

Thanks, I'll keep my eyes open for any redish dust. Thanks for the tip!

Others with more experience will be along shortly I'm sure. For me, the first thing I did when I bought my DII was replace the front propshaft with an aftermarket upgrade from Tom Woods. I didn't know about the GBR propshafts then or I might have bought that one. Either way I knew I needed one that was serviceable. I made sure mine was greased at every oil change. Still the heat from the cat converter cooked the grease in the front u-joint of the double cardan. I discovered the problem when I couldn't get any grease to flow through the zerk, it all just leaked out around the zerk. I rebuilt my original equipment shaft and swapped it back in. I've got the parts to repair the Tom Woods shaft now and am just waiting for a warmer day to rebuild it. I started to have the chirp noise under power, but even if I hadn't, the grease zerk would have been a major clue. The worn u-joint felt firm when I tried to move it when it was still installed, but was really loose when I removed the propshaft so feeling the propshaft isn't a good indication. I've decided that I will grease the u-joints every three months regardless of the oil change schedule. And don't trust someone else to do it right for you. I was having my oil changed at an indy LR repair shop and asked them to grease the u-joints with the oil change. You really need to pump the new grease through until fresh grease comes out of all four grease seals. The guy at the shop is just going to give it a couple of squirts and be done with it.

You could always lock the CDL and pull the shaft to see if the noise goes away

My CDL shifter is stuck at the moment... Tried moving it to the high lock position but it will not budge. And I did not think it would be possible to travel at speeds of excessive 65 mph on the highway with the CDL locked and the front shaft removed...

Thanks Colorado for the tip. Eventually (within a month or two) I was planning on replacing the shaft regardless of its condition, but money is tight at the moment and Im hoping that the noise im hearing is just the wheels.

with the CDL locked and the front drive shaft removed you have a 2 wheel drive truck

If your shaft has not been rebuilt or replaced, I am not sure what you are waiting for. You have been around long enough to know, looking or shaking the shaft won't tell you much of anything. If you don't have 1 grease fitting on each joint get rid of it before it costs you a tranny.

I concur with DiscoMike, i waited way too long to change mine due to the time and money issue and it almost cost me big time. Had the vibes and then started to hear the chirp. I pulled the front shaft and locked the cdl. All went away and drives great. Checked the shaft and had metal showing, pretty much was on the way out. Pull it, inspect it, change it.