new guy needs some help

[Dusten]

Hey all, i met some of you at barona this weekend. I had the black bike.
Anyways, i know a few guys at dmp, and i called them looking for a little help and was referred here.

I have an 89 lx vert 5 speed car. im getting a vibration above 75(its been there the whole time i've had the car, its just getting worse). Anyways, im curious if anyone has a spare d-line laying around that i can swap into my car, to see if thats my cause.
Appreciate any help.

 

[beejay31000]

d-line??

 

[0ne_sik_notch]

he means driveshaft

 

[orange395w]

It could be a bad throw out bearing or it could be the driveshaft. Try rotating the driveshaft 180* and bolt it back down. The driveshaft is balanced and if it was ever taken out and put back a different way it can cause vibration. I would also check your u-joints.

It could also be a bad motor mount or a transmission bushing. Start checking all of the mounts and bushings in the driveline.

 

[02gt]

May as well upgrade to an aluminum ds

 

[beejay31000]

d-line= driveshaft. never heard that before....cool, learn something new every day.

what about allignment...could that be an issue?

 

[orange395w]

d-line= driveshaft. never heard that before....cool, learn something new every day.

what about allignment...could that be an issue?

Yes it could be. If a bad alignment caused tires to wear unevenly it could cause an issue like that. It could be many things. Maybe you can give us more details?

 

[02gt]

Yes it could be. If a bad alignment caused tires to wear unevenly it could cause an issue like that. It could be many things. Maybe you can give us more details?

yep i had that on my first car and ripped of the main part of the tread on the driverside tire....

 

[yosemiddysam]

I would switch the drive shaft like mentioned before and drive it and see if anything changes. There are other holes that it could have been on before.

 

[Dusten]

It could be a bad throw out bearing or it could be the driveshaft. Try rotating the driveshaft 180* and bolt it back down. The driveshaft is balanced and if it was ever taken out and put back a different way it can cause vibration. I would also check your u-joints.

It could also be a bad motor mount or a transmission bushing. Start checking all of the mounts and bushings in the driveline.

ujoints are new, replaced to see if they helped. driveline has also been replaced. Bushing on tailshaft of T-5 was replaced, and clutch is new. The vibration was there when i got the car. it starts about 75, and increasingly gets worse, its definitly driveline, rear end or trans related as the shifter gets pretty violent. motor mounts and trans mount are newer.

May as well upgrade to an aluminum ds

no need to just upgrade. car is rarely driven. Just want to fix it. So, if the driveline is bad, i'll replace it, if not, it'll go back in.

Yes it could be. If a bad alignment caused tires to wear unevenly it could cause an issue like that. It could be many things. Maybe you can give us more details?

its not the tires, that is a completely different vibration. Im pretty familiar with mustangs, and rigs in general. Father is a master mechanic, and i've been wrenching on my own rigs for 14 years.
Appreciate all the help though guys. i have a willing donor of a spare driveline to test my theory. if the driveline doesnt fix it, the car is getting parked till i take it back to oregon, and it will get trailered back behind my truck.

I would switch the drive shaft like mentioned before and drive it and see if anything changes. There are other holes that it could have been on before.

that is my theory, plus its a simple task to eliminate a possible cause prior to spending money.


Little history behind the car.
Traded a 1 ton'd 4runner on 40's for it.
Car was raced pretty hard, previous owner had an auto and a 347 with a blower. when the motor popped he swapped in a stocker out of a 93 SSP car.
I had an Ecam on the shelf and some GT40 heads i was going to swap out, but decided to build a new motor for the car with an extra block and crank i had. bought a kit, rods, had the block machined, torque plate honed, and aligned bored. dropped in the new motor, new clutch, and some other minor things. However, the vibration had always been there, its present when at a set speed above 70 if you come on and off the throttle lightly, and will get pretty bad around 85-90.
But, im not sweating it terribly, the car is a toy and nothing more. I have had it here in san diego for 3.5 months and dont have 800 miles on it.

 

[Dusten]

i can't edit my posts for some reason. ignore the comment about the Driveline being replaced, its been in and out of the car, but never replaced.

 

[orange395w]

With all of that said did you try clocking the driveshaft? That will take about 10 minutes. I would do that before swapping it.

 

[yosemiddysam]

I am willing to bet that with that much power and torque he might have twisted the drive shaft just a touch and it is causeing your vibration. If I was you I would try another one if you have one and see what it does.

 

[Dusten]

im doing shocks and an oil change thursday, i'll swap the shaft 180, but im betting it doesnt fix it.
im have a feeling that with my car as low as it sits, and the way i drive, it was bent a little when i got it, and i've made it worse

 

[yosemiddysam]

yeah that is what I am thinking too and with it only being at high speeds it wouldnt take much. You could also lift the car and have some one inside it take it up to speed and see what is jumping around.

 

[yosemiddysam]

I had to do that to seat the beads on one set of my tires once. Made a big pop but it worked.

 

[Tommy]

Driveshaft, more than likely. I had the same issue on the 79 truck


. I rotated the d.s. and it cured it.



.

 

[atlblue98gt]

Good luck with the fix. These guys are the bomb when it comes to trouble shooting.