Well, the GF reached a milestone of sorts this week. It has accumlated 1000 miles since getting it back on the road.
I've changed the oil again, switching to a synthetic oil. The oil that came out looked good, no metal that could be seen or felt in the drain pan. So that's good.
A couple of weeks ago I got the new (used) pumkin put in with the 4.56 ratio. There is a marked improvement driving on the higway. Certainly you're not going to cruise along at 65 for extended runs, but it feels pretty good at 50. Thats fine, as I've been know to say "life is good in the slow lane."
I'm still having the vibration issue though. I had sent the drive shaft out for rebuilding, where they found the slip yoke was severly worn. So I had that replaced (at considerable expense)and new U-joints for good measure. I wanted to replace the carrier bearing assembly (sling bearing to some) too, because while the bearing seemed ok, the rubber was hard and the bearing seemed very loose in it. But panel is different and nobody is reproducing it. But that didn't fix it.
Then I thought that since the rear was so noisy perhaps a bad pinion bearing was to blame.. nope. Changed out the gears, still there...
So this week the plan it to pull the driveshaft back out, take it to the shop and have them spin it up. It may be the old carrier assy. If so I'm going to have them adapt an available type (might do that anyway in case I have trouble on the road).
Also it could be the damping material that is often used in drive shafts. Sometimes the material decomposes and will cause the shaft to be out of balance. Which could explain why it seems worse at times than at others. Who knows?
I have a laundry list of other things I want to do, but after the vibration gets fixed the next is the steering. It doesn't drive bad, maybe even ok. However It seems to be gettting a bit looser as i have driven it. Over the years I've grown accustomed, as with many, to fast tight power steering. So it could just be me. While everything appeard ok, but in need of a lube job, I'm wondering if the old hard grease was hiding any loose components. So I want to get it on a front end machine and get it all alinged (after all it has been over 30 yrs since it was even on the road)
