The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Driveline Vibration Question

My 49 3100 has recently developed a fairly bad driveline vibration. It seems to be more speed related than rpm related. In other words, you can be driving along at a certain speed (40 for example) when the vibration gets fairly bad, push in the clutch and let the engine idle, but the vibration remains fairly constant.

It has a 235, 3-speed and still has the enclosed driveline. I at first thought that clutch or pressure plate could be the problem, but wondered if something else could possibly be causing the vibration.

I have worked on plenty of open drive line pickups, but the torque tube is all new to me.

I do have an open rear end out of a first series 55 that I plan on installing at some point, but it may be a while. So, I would just like to keep it driveable until then if the problem is not too involved (and costly) to fix.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Jeff

Sounds more like a tire/wheel problem.

After reading back through what I wrote, it does start to sound wheel/tire related. However, I did recently check all the wheels for straightness, put on new tires and had them balanced. The vibration has gotten incrementally worse over time after changing out the wheels and tires (but that is also when I started driving it on paved roads). I may be wrong, but it seems to be final drive related, but I do need to check the wheels/tires/wheel bearings again.

Thanks for the comment.

It could also be a u joint or an okie bushing going bad. By pushing the clutch in you ruled out the engine and transmission.

You my have lost a weight off one of the wheels
If you feel the vibration in the steering wheel,it's in the front
If you feel it in the seat,it's in the back.
Put the back wheels on the front,etc. see if the vibration moves.

u-joint

Uh oh, accidental double post...........

Put me down with the others for u-joint. I had that happen on my CJ and it vibrated the cigarettes butts out of the ashtray at certain speeds.

Thanks for all the replies. I crawled under it last night to verify that I didn't pitch a wheel weight since I had just had the tires mounted and balanced fairly recently. It appears that they are all there as best I can tell. I did not see any signs of areas where a weight was (powder coat scratched). I am leaning toward a u-joint and will check that as soon as I get a chance.

Thanks again,
Jeff

did you check the driveshaft support? I'm about to replace mine, the bearing is suspended in rubber that has suffered from serious dry-rot. 25 bucks at classsic parts, $11 at the local autoparts.