Drive shaft balance,should I rotate 180 deg.?

[jims427400]

I've heard that if your dealing w/ vibration problems its worth a try rotating your driveshaft 180 degrees. Has anyone experienced this problem and did it work after you tried it Thanks Jim..

 

[BarryK]

I don't pretend to know a d*amn thing about driveshafts except that they go round, and round, and round, and round..........
but I can't possibly see what turning it 180* would do. If it's the driveshaft that is causing vibrations wouldn't that suggest that it's out of balance or warped or bent slightly somehow? if that's the case it still would be flawed no matter what way you turned it.
Are you sure that whoever told you this didn't mean to turn it such as on a milling machine to get it perfectly straight rather than just turn it around?

in either case I'm very interested in what others knowlegable about driveshafts have to say.

 

[Geek's 65]

Jim I heard the same story but I don't remember where. The story went that they actually marked the half shaft "heavy" side because if the "heavy" sides of the left and right were to be installed the same - they would cause a bad vibration. They were supposed to be installed "heavy" sides opposing. The "funny" part of the story was that the engineers knew about it but the guys on the floor didn't - so they got installed randomly. The morale of the story was that if you had a vibration in the rear that started around 75 or 80 the first thing to do was take one half shaft and re-mount it 180 degrees out from what it was. I did have a vibration at 80 so what did I have to lose? I did it and I swear it got better. Not great better but better. John Z can probably tell us if this is myth or true. Any odds makers out there?

Geek

 

[JohnZ]

Midyear prop shafts and diff companion flanges were marked with a daub of paint, which were to be aligned at final assembly (shown in the A.I.M.); don't recall if the markings were related to radial runout or balance.

 

[Ron Miller]

I don't pretend to know a d*amn thing about driveshafts except that they go round, and round, and round, and round..........
but I can't possibly see what turning it 180* would do. If it's the driveshaft that is causing vibrations wouldn't that suggest that it's out of balance or warped or bent slightly somehow? if that's the case it still would be flawed no matter what way you turned it.
Are you sure that whoever told you this didn't mean to turn it such as on a milling machine to get it perfectly straight rather than just turn it around?

in either case I'm very interested in what others knowlegable about driveshafts have to say.

Barry, you're right and that would be the case if the prop shaft weren't attached to something else. But it is . . . and, it's the balance of the assembly, not the shaft individually that must be considered. So, if the prop shaft has a heavy side and the differential connection has a heavy side, turning the prop shaft 180 could make a difference.

Costs little to give it a try . . . .

 

[Ken Anderson]

It may work, we've had a 50-50 chance doing this.

 

[BarryK]

Barry, you're right and that would be the case if the prop shaft weren't attached to something else. But it is . . . and, it's the balance of the assembly, not the shaft individually that must be considered. So, if the prop shaft has a heavy side and the differential connection has a heavy side, turning the prop shaft 180 could make a difference.

Costs little to give it a try . . . .

for reasons seperate from this thread I understand more now about driveshafts than I did when I opened my mouth earlier and now understand that turning it 180* is a definite possibility to fixing the problem.
I wouldn't have thought so but it was explained to me in an email in detail the how and why.

Well, I did admit earlier I knew nothing about driveshafts so i've recieved a bit of an education and learned from it.

 

[jims427400]

ME TOO Barry
JIm

 

[gmjunkie]

I've heard that if your dealing w/ vibration problems its worth a try rotating your drive shaft 180 degrees. Has anyone experienced this problem and did it work after you tried it Thanks Jim..

Yes I have dealt with this!! I have had to turn yolk 180 deg main shaft and end's on Half shaft's, Because a Dip Stick changed the U-joint's with out paying attn. I always mark shaft and yolk and end's!! If you get a yolk or end out 180 deg., It WILL vibrate!!junk!!

 

[Dakota kid]

Yes I have dealt with this!! I have had to turn yolk 180 deg main shaft and end's on Half shaft's, Because a Dip Stick changed the U-joint's with out paying attn. I always mark shaft and yolk and end's!! If you get a yolk or end out 180 deg., It WILL vibrate!!junk!!

Ok who are you? and what did you do with GmJunkie?

 

[gmjunkie]

Ok who are you? and what did you do with GmJunkie?

What's that supposed to mean?? otfl junk!!