Thread: 53 Is back from the Body Shop

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Originally Posted by rspears

I'm probably being dense, but I don't understand what you mean by the yoke on the rear end being "...way crooked". Are you saying that the yokes welded to the driveshaft that hold the universal joints are not aligned in the same plane?

I was trying to say that the front yoke angle was fairly straight and the rear had a pretty sharp angle.

I never have done anything to the rear end on the camaro aside from change the fluid, put axle seals in it, and tried to put a drop in posi in it. It is a weird first year 8.2/8.5 so the lunch box posi wouldn't fit. I've always planned to rebuild the rear end and see if it was the vibration. I'm guessing no. I should have the drive shaft balance checked too but ya know, that's hard to do when it's your daily.

Roger what I meant by "way crooked" is usually seen when the car has had a major engine swap involving building new mounts and etc to get the engine in (Like the Caddy Motor in the El Camino or the HEMI in the 37.....or the V8 in a 53 Chevy). If the swap is poorly done the engine can end up being cocked in the engine compartment where the center-line of the transmission output shaft is not parallel to the to the center-line of the rear end pinion.

The other time it can happen is if the (RWD) vehicle has been hit hard in the side and then repaired. The body looks when done
but the frame/uni-body is out of kilter resulting the the center-lines not being parallel.

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Originally Posted by Mike P

Roger what I meant by "way crooked" is usually seen when the car has had a major engine swap involving building new mounts and etc to get the engine in (Like the Caddy Motor in the El Camino or the HEMI in the 37.....or the V8 in a 53 Chevy). If the swap is poorly done the engine can end up being cocked in the engine compartment where the center-line of the transmission output shaft is not parallel to the to the center-line of the rear end pinion.

The other time it can happen is if the (RWD) vehicle has been hit hard in the side and then repaired. The body looks when done
but the frame/uni-body is out of kilter resulting the the center-lines not being parallel.

Yeah Mike P, I understood what you were saying. My question was Seth saying his front yoke was straight, but the rear was "...way crooked" which still doesn't make sense to me even after his explanation. With the vehicle on level ground if the engine/tranny slope is 3.5 degrees down, and the pinion angle is 3.5 degrees up then the yoke on the tranny shaft will be straight with the tranny, the yoke on the pinion will be straight with the pinion gear shaft, and the u-joint angles (angle of fixed yokes to driveshaft) will be equal front and back. I'm just not understanding his wording.

I think I got it the best it can possibly get. The 3° down on the trans and a 3° up on the rear end was throwing me for a little bit cuz it was not making sense according to my gauge. Then I quit overthinking it and realized 3 down on the cover side of the rear end means the yoke is up 3° so now my trans is down 3.9, rear end us up 3.9 and my drive shaft is running a 2 degree angle. It seems better than it ever has been, although I still feel a little something but I could be getting overly anal with the 1950s era cab bushings to frame noise/feel transfer. I do think my yoke on the trans is too loose so I'm going to order a new bushing kit and a new yoke for the drive shaft to tighten up the splines. Hopefully it's going to be better if not I don't care, I won't go above 75 mph lol.

Good deal, Seth. Angles can be confusing, like you say they're relative to the point you measure. Glad you got it sorted!!

Have you ever seen the big counter balance weight that bolts to the tail shaft on some cars? I think it was the factory's way of dealing with a vibration they couldn't fix. Maybe you could get one from a wrecking yard and bolt on there.

Originally Posted by v8nutz

Have you ever seen the big counter balance weight that bolts to the tail shaft on some cars? I think it was the factory's way of dealing with a vibration they couldn't fix. Maybe you could get one from a wrecking yard and bolt on there.

Is that what that's for? That's always been a mystery. I might try something like that, thanks

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Is that what that's for? That's always been a mystery. I might try something like that, thanks

Yes, to modify a harmonic issue.I've seen a couple snapped off right next to the bolts. Most hot rodders toss'em away.

Originally Posted by v8nutz

Have you ever seen the big counter balance weight that bolts to the tail shaft on some cars? I think it was the factory's way of dealing with a vibration they couldn't fix. Maybe you could get one from a wrecking yard and bolt on there.

Originally Posted by 34_40

Yes, to modify a harmonic issue.I've seen a couple snapped off right next to the bolts. Most hot rodders toss'em away.

Yep, that's what they're for. A lot of the ford diesels had them stock. I've seen so many riding on the tube making noise because they've been flung off. The drive line shop I use never puts them back on and I've never heard any complaints. Maybe the factories tolerances were off and they was their fix to get those vehicles through the warranty period?

I'm back with more drive shaft adventure stories. I thought I had the drive shaft vibration pretty good but last summer we took Rita to Yellowstone and it was the same issue again. At 72-73 mpg it still had the annoying vibration. On the way home I got sick of it and stopped at a Ace hardware and picked up a hose clamp and some washers and Randomly clamped the washers on the drive shaft To see if it would help. The vibration Changed to a different speed. So I knew I was not fighting a angle problem anymore. In May we are taking Rita to Florida again and I did not want to put up with this vibration during the whole trip . Even Though my drive shaft has been 2 or three different shops , I decided to give another shop a try. I brought it there and told them Exactly what was going on and no one can it seem to fix it. They called me back about a week later and said the drive shaft was slightly bent and and the yoke was .045 out of round, and they Like to see it under .010. Yesterday I put the drive shaft back on and I was going between 70 and 80 mph for about 10 miles and I think it's actually good now. I called them this morning and told them that they deserve donuts with sprinkles!! It only took 25k miles but hopefully I can put this problem behind me. On a side note they only charged me $45, I think the last two shops it was at was close to $200.

If my hot rod was doin' 72 - 73 MPG.... I wouldn't change a thing! LOL.. but really glad you found a shop that actually helped!

That's pretty bad the other guys didn't notice that. Way to stick with it and get it solved.

Yep, I KNOW how much you chased that shake! Glad you got it figured out, and got a good driveline shop, too!

V8, It seemed to get a little better every time but never right.

Roger, I remember asking you about it when I stopped at your place. The last time I went to florida. You did give me good advice!