Nolan wrote:
>
> I'm quite impressed! I've never been able to pull that off myself. I
> understand the theory, but I fail always on the execution (as all my
wobbling
> ceiling fans attest).
Probably beginner's luck!! ;-)
> If you find yourself really bored on weekend, and like pressing u-joints,
you
> might want to rotate the flanges at each end of the drive shaft.
Driveshafts
> don't normally just go out of balance. They either get hit, or they are
put
> back together 180 degrees out when a u-joint is replaced. Though your
> hoseclamp balancing job is perfectly valid. After all, the factory just
spot welds
> some weights onto the tube.
Maybe my problem was that the driveshaft was 180 degrees out but I wasn't
sure of how to correct/verify this. I didn't know if I had to take only one
side of and rotate the diff or trans flange 180 degrees or both sides.
Since I didn't want to spend to much time (read too many hours for nothing),
I decided to go the other route.
John wrote:
[SNIP]
> And, as far as that goes...is there some hints on how to do the hose clamp
> balancing trick?
Here it is.
What told me that the driveshaft was the problem was that I could see the
rear part of it vibrate I high speed (35mph+). The front looked OK. After
stopping the shaft from spinning, I noticed some weights (flat pieces of
metal) welded (probably from factory - I don't know for sure) on one side of
the shaft. That when I thought of adding my own weights.
Now, where to put the weights. Since the shaft was vibrating, that meant
that it wasn't centered. So what I did is asked my wife to start the engine,
put it in fourth gear and spin the wheel to reach around 50mph (the car was
securely jacked up of course!!!). Lying on my back under the shaft with a
screwdriver (or anything pointy) I used the frame as a solid pivot point for
the screwdriver and slowly got the tip closer to the spinning shaft (make
sure you are pointing the screwdriver on the right side of the spinning
shaft or you'll risk having the screwdriver flying fast!!!). When I got
close enough, the tip off the screwdriver touched the shaft slightly only
part of the way around the shaft.
I then asked my wife to stop the engine and there it was, a nice little
mark, about 1 inch long on the shaft, telling me which side was "too heavy".
I put my hose clamps on the shaft with the screw part 180 degrees away from
the mark.
That was my starting point. Started the engine, put in fourth gear and
revved up. Already better. Added two clamps. Tried again - better. Tried
to move the weights a few degrees left and right to see if it was better or
not. Once I got the best results, I just added more clamps, along side the
first ones until I got an ALMOST vibrating free shaft all the way up to
90mph.
BTW, the axle shafts are definitely bent but their rotational speed and
weight is far less than the driveshaft so the impact is far less significant
and is probably the source of the faint vibration left in the car at high
speed. But it is not enough to be annoying, yet! ;-) One day (read this
winter or next year!) I will have the driveshaft and the axle shafts
balanced and straitened and replace the u-joints. For now, I just want to
enjoy the car!
HTH
Steph
Ottawa, Canada
'69 Spit - Hers (Gave us a nice grin on our faces yesterday after a drive,
without vibration, in the Gatineau Park!!!)
'71 TR6 - Mine (In pieces!)
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