Vibration

[Haggar]

Tom,

Sorry, I gave you the rear shaft removal procedure.  alas you are working on the front....(sorry) 

The bungies are for the long rear.  The front you won't need them.

Get all the bolts loose then, the mating flange can be separated, and the bolts removed successfully.  (the bolt with the most room is the one you can't feel very well.  the one closest to the floor board and closest to the TC.)

Your mating flanges will be rusted and harder to remove.  You "can" try to drive a wedge between, but you will need to file off any damage you do to the flanges.  (there is a pilot on one flange so you cannot "slide" them to the side etc, it has to come straight forward.

The front, remove the two straps (4 nuts)  take the straps out.

compress the front drive shaft. (push it toward the TC)  There are splines in the middle (supposedly under a rubber boot).  It could be very tight (there is usually a grease nipple to lubricate those splines, but no one ever does...) It should compress and get short enough to come out of the front yoke, and then you can pull the whole assembly out.

 

GL  HTH
 

Hag

[dodgedieselnewbie]

Update: Here it is... OUT

I don't really see an issue with the u-joints. The young man I bought it from said he replaced... with spicer. I do how ever feel there's a problem with the joint (is it a cv joint?) between the two u-joints. I think that's where the play is and it binds pretty badly. 

 

6 minutes ago, Haggar said:

Tom,

Sorry, I gave you the rear shaft removal procedure.  alas you are working on the front....(sorry) 

The bungies are for the long rear.  The front you won't need them.

Get all the bolts loose then, the mating flange can be separated, and the bolts removed successfully.  (the bolt with the most room is the one you can't feel very well.  the one closest to the floor board and closest to the TC.)

Your mating flanges will be rusted and harder to remove.  You "can" try to drive a wedge between, but you will need to file off any damage you do to the flanges.  (there is a pilot on one flange so you cannot "slide" them to the side etc, it has to come straight forward.

The front, remove the two straps (4 nuts)  take the straps out.

compress the front drive shaft. (push it toward the TC)  There are splines in the middle (supposedly under a rubber boot).  It could be very tight (there is usually a grease nipple to lubricate those splines, but no one ever does...) It should compress and get short enough to come out of the front yoke, and then you can pull the whole assembly out.

 

GL  HTH
 

Hag

That's okay Hag... I appreciate it and if I ever have to remove the rear.. I can look here :-)

Thanks a million!!!

PS.. Everything looks sealed at the transfer case and front diff... I can just get it and drive.. right?

Edited November 19, 2015 by dodgedieselnewbie

[Haggar]

Tom,

Here is a page from the FSM  right where the circle 2 arrow is, the shaft will get shorter under that boot allowing you the room to get it out.

HTH

2001 FSM Ram 3-2 half page.pdf

[Haggar]

Glad you got it!  (sorry I led you astray....)

There should be ZERO binding in a proper cardan joint.  Something is bad in there.  Also take apart the oetiker clamps.  (if you are careful you can reuse them, but sometimes you have to cut them apart) so you can clean and lubricate the splines.  As your axle articulates, the drive shaft has to be able to easily displace or the cardan joints will be damaged from longitudinal loading.  (or the bearings for the pinion or TC output.)

Have a good one!

Hag

[dodgedieselnewbie]

Well.. I took it as far as I felt comfy with. I took it to my local tranny guy. He said the cardan joint is definitely mess up and there is a possibility it could have damaged the inside of the flanges . He is going to take it apart early next week to inspect. Hope I don't need new flanges.. He said $150-170 apiece.  I am a little disappointed.. would like to have taken it further but it was out of my comfort  zone. Part of the sleeve inside was missing and there were cracks all the way around it. 

Also.. it is not the root of my vibration. It only accentuated it a little. Oh well... 

Thanks very much for your help!

Edited November 19, 2015 by dodgedieselnewbie

[Royal Squire]

You obviously don't have much for oil leaks judging from the amount of rust I see!

[Mopar1973Man]

Wow! Nature's Thread locker... RUST! You need to use the garden hose a bit more!

I would have that joint broke down so you can inspect the condition of the socket in the center. Looks like it could of been wobbling a bit more than it should.

[dodgedieselnewbie]

13 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Wow! Nature's Thread locker... RUST! You need to use the garden hose a bit more!

LOL... It wasn't me that let it get that way.

I would have that joint broke down so you can inspect the condition of the socket in the center. Looks like it could of been wobbling a bit more than it should. 

Like I said.. that's where my comfort level fell off. Would not have really known what to look for. 

 

[dodgedieselnewbie]

Well.. The shop called me regarding the drive shaft. The the needle bearings in the ball joint were shot and the flanges were boogered up where it sits. He wanted $310 for the 2 new ends and 2 u joints. 

I figured I'd search for a replacement with mine being a little rusty. 

I found this $260:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/251409240822?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT 

Does this seem fair? Seems to be quality and seems to have a good reputation...

 

Edited November 20, 2015 by dodgedieselnewbie

[Haggar]

Tom,

That does not look bad. If it is really new parts.  That seems to be in the right neighborhood for remans from everyone else.  If you want to do some comparisons, I like DTS (drive train specialists) and Drivetrain.com  you could see how they compare.  But that does not seem to be an outrageous price at all.

Looking at his feedback, I would trust him.  It looks like the only trouble is some shipping/delivery issues on his higher volume items.  And it looks like phone is better than email to him.  He is showing more than 10 in stock, so looks like it should ship right out. 

HTH

Hag

[burnt_servo]

On ‎16‎/‎11‎/‎2015‎ ‎6‎:‎27‎:‎41‎, Haggar said:

There is a bushing in the tail shaft of the transfer case.  This is pretty important, and is often overlooked.  It allows the yoke to "rattle" (for lack of a better term) on the output shaft.  I have recently replaced it on my truck and one of the suburbasauruses.  

Good luck!

Hag

do you replace  the whole tail shaft or just the bushing ?

is this a dealer only item ?

[Haggar]

Burnt,

You can do either.  Depends on if you have a press, and feel like making a tool to put it in (also removal can be a pain  long thin drifts or make a long tool to just catch it...)  On my dodge, I was able to get a "rebuilt" tail shaft housing, but it was more because mine was cracked and leaking.  After thinking about welding the aluminum (and the success rate there with oil soaked metal) ,  I just  bought one.   I was able to press one out and in in my Suburban, but I had to make drift to put the new one in.   

No it is not dealer only.  You can try drivetrain.com, or quad 4x4 or randy's ring and pinion maybe.  (I can't tell if you have a 2wd or 4x4, but the parts are similar, but not the same.)  here is the bushing on quad 4x4 for the nv241dld transfer case.  http://www.quad4x4.com/qu10130.html

The only trick to getting it in is:  make a pusher that will support the id and only have a small shoulder to push the bushing in place.   A good transmission shop should be able to do it for you reasonably also. (if you take them the tail shaft.)  they should have all the drifts and such needed. 

GL!

Hag

[dodgedieselnewbie]

On 11/16/2015 at 9:27 AM, Haggar said:

There is a bushing in the tail shaft of the transfer case.  This is pretty important, and is often overlooked.  It allows the yoke to "rattle" (for lack of a better term) on the output shaft.  I have recently replaced it on my truck and one of the suburbasauruses.  

Good luck!

Hag

Well.. I'm pretty sure I found my vibration. I think it may be related to the Haggar's post above.. about the bushing in the tail shaft of my rear transfer case. At least I hope it's only a bushing! I found it by accident. I was getting something out of the passenger side of the truck and I closed the door rather hard and I heard a rattle. Got the creeper and started banging on everything with the palm of my hand.. the nerf bars, exhaust, cross members.. nothing. I hit the tail piece of the transfer case and bam.. there it was rattling inside of it and it was carrying all the way through to the shift linkage. Do you think if it's rattling all the way to the shift linkage that it's more serious? I hope not. :-(

Also... it doesn't take much force with the palm of my hand to make it rattle. 

Edited December 17, 2015 by dodgedieselnewbie

[Haggar]

diesel,

I would not worry that there is any serious problem yet.  The output shaft is only supported by one real bearing and one bushing.  If the bushing has clearance, you can move the whole output shaft a lot.  This would allow all kinds of things to move inside the transfer case.  

Good luck!

Hag