Sooo my vibration is getting worse. Now (while under normal acceleration) it starts at 40, fades away around 43, then comes back and stays around 48-50. While driving at normal speeds (50+) it is now present, which is why I'm worried now (before it only showed up for a second but driving was fine).

We looked under the vehicle and checked the driveshaft visually for any rings that might have popped off the u joints, but they looked fine. We did detect vertical play in the front output flange on the transfer case however.. like if I grab the double cardan and shove up/pull down the entire thing moves a bit. I've read some other threads about this, but I'm not sure what I should do now? I'm seriously selling this thing in a week or two and I can't believe this just came up.

Do you think this is the source of my vibration? And if the bearing were to fail, would it deteriorate this quickly? I'm used to bearing failing allowing some play/vibration but just staying that way... this is probably twice as bad as last week.

I'm mechanically inclined, but without a real lift, I'm pretty much screwed on a tcase bearing replacement huh?

 

First, stop driving it before you cost your self a lot of money.
Have you ever rebuilt/replaced your front drive shaft, are there 3 grease fittings on all 3 u-joints?

 

Well that's what sucks - I had 2 cars forever (see sig) and just sold the mustang last week. Now that the DII is my only car, I can't drive it! I only work 8 miles away.. but I know what you mean, if the bearing allows the tolerances on the internal gears to deviate, I'm screwing up other stuff inside there by driving it.

I haven't had it replaced, but it had 146k miles when I got it so it's probably been replaced at some point. Grease fittings on the front only, none that I could see on the double cardan. Put M1 syn grease in the lower u joint and slip joint the other day. There's no detectible play in the u joints - the tcase has me worried though. Like I said, it's getting worse surprisingly fast.

I pulled the workshop manual and looked at the seal - can I weld something to the front face of the bearing and use a slide hammer to take out the bearing?

 

You can remove the front drive shaft and engage your CDL to drive on the rear shaft while you get the front rebuilt. How mechanical are you?

 

Yeah that would seem to be a good option, which would also eliminate the stress on the front output assembly, right? I'm seriously getting an LR3 in a couple days and once I do that, I can take my time fixing the DII.

I build custom motorcycles from scratch, but automotive-wise I'm usually more into the electrical systems than anything else. I just changed my brakes/rear caliper and have done the basics - fine with new vehicles, but we know how old cars throw a wrench into even the most basic tasks.

We've got a MIG/TIG here which is why I asked about attaching something to that bearing and pulling it out. I'm guessing it's usually pressed out from the other side. In RAVE they show the "Front output housing" as its' own unit. Can I just take that part off and work the bearing from there? There's no procedure for the bearing in the manual and I'd imagine most would rather just swap tcases.

PS: I've also seen some mention that the flange nut can come loose? That would cause play too correct? Can I see it at all with the driveshaft attached?

 

So obviously I can't help but think this might be the driveshaft too, but this isn't a typical failure mode for them (weeks of advance warning) right?


Yessssss, did some searching while waiting for an hour at the DMV and found a reference to a bearing replacement DIY on discoweb.org - http://www.discoweb.org/tcasebearing/index.htm

Looks like I was on the right track with the slide hammer. Now I'm going to try and find a used front driveshaft..

 

Nope, may happen when you head to work this morning. On a small percentage of the time you will hear a little chirp sound when speeding up but usually not.
Pull it today and save loosing your tranny also.

 

Ah okay thanks. So do you think the majority of this noise is due to the bearing then? I don't see too many people mentioning this problem on the forums, then again I do have a 1st year DII, most probably aren't up to 165k mi yet - the other info I found was for the older RRs and such.

My shops' parts company had the bearing in stock, already in my hand.. $35! Beats $120 at rover, jeeze. Now I just have to buy the seal and a new flange nut from them.

 

I have the same problem.....vibration between and above certain speeds.. between 35-45 it vibrates and at 65 +, it vibrates for me.......its not your driveshaft but with your mileage and uncertainty, i would replace it as well. Do you hear an audible clunk when moving off from a stop. The front flange on my tcase has more movement than i would imagine is actually healthy.......I honestly think this is an issue that should be brought to the forefront.

Bearing health would affect u-joint life if there is excessive play on the transfer case flange. lemme know if this cures your vibration.