What's needed for a rearend?

[hardtailjohn]

A pothole in Montana???? Surely you jest!!!
Seriously, another thing to check out is the pinion angle. The angle of the yoke on the pinion should to be the same as the next yoke forward.. ie: parallel.... or at least close, or if not parallel, equal degrees apart. We run into this on big trucks alot, and it can drive ya nuts trying to get it to settle down back there, and get everyone lined up, as you're dealing with an extra driveline between the rearends. I've attached a scan from Kenworth's manual for single rearends..it explains it better than I can... But I'd be betting that Keith's hit the nail on the head when he suggested out of phase u-joints.
John H.

[mont974x4]

Well, I crawled under the truck and it looks like my u-joints are all ligned up. I also stopped by the shop that I bought the tires from and had them check the balance etc. All good there and the carrier bearing is actually pretty good. The middle and rear u-joints are bad again. I made an appointment for Thursday to have the U-joints replaced and the driveshaft balanced. Parts and Labor are gonna run about $100....a new driveshaft will be about $500.


On a side note the shop that I go to for tires said they will install the body lift on my 97 for $400 and give me a tire wheel package for about $1300 If I do it this month and get Pro-Comps on sale buy 3 get 1 free

[Faithful Old Road Dog]

As for the shimmy, I once had a low speed shimmy/wobble coming from the rear. Turned out the tread was separating from the steel belts. These tires were not retreads either.

Ever grease those u-joints?

[mont974x4]

The tires were checked Tuesday as well.


I greased the joints right after I installed them last October.

[DuckRyder]

I called DriveLine service of Atlanta. (There is also one in Portland) and they said 240.00 to rebuild and balance my 2 pc long bed driveshaft.

I'll drop it off Friday.

[mont974x4]

I have heard great things about the guy here (He handles the trucking companies here)

[mont974x4]

I had the driveline guy check the truck. I need a pinion yolk and there is a bit more slop than I realized in the rear end.

[mont974x4]

Well, it cost $208. I got 3 u-joints 1 carrier bearing the driveshaft refurbished and balanced and the pinion yolk assy. I should have the beast back together tomorrow night or Saturday.

[FORDification]

That doesn't sound too bad....so where in the rearend is the slop you were referring to? Between the ring and pinion, or side-to-side axle slop?

[mont974x4]

I'd guess it would be axle slop. He said something about the crush something or other? thoughts? DO I need to dig deeper than just the yolk?

[FORDification]

No, he would have been referring to the crush sleeve, which is a sub-component of the rearend's yoke. If the yoke was removed and reinstalled, a new crush sleeve would have been used, so you should be OK.

[mont974x4]

sweet, that's the best news I've had all morning. I should have it it together by the end of tomrrow.

[mont974x4]

back on the road as a rear wheel drive truck. Who would have thought the Big Brown Bear could run so smooth? Only took me 1/2 an hour to swap yolks and re-install the refabbed driveshaft.