Vibrations are known for being good at times, but it’s never a good thing when your car starts to shake as you roll down the road, especially as it could be a sign of a problem with your drive shafts. Vibrations in your vehicle always mean that something is wrong, so don’t just ignore them: figure out where they’re coming from.
The first step is to look at the conditions under which your car or truck is vibrating. Does it only happen at certain speeds? In certain gears? Is it a noise, or a tangible sensation, or both? Where does it seem to be coming from? Can you feel it in the seat? How about the steering wheel?
90% of vibrations can be used by rebalancing the wheels. If balancing your tires doesn’t cure the shakes, check the tires and wheels. A bent rim, and out-of-round rim or tire, or an off-center wheel can all cause nasty quaking in your vehicle. Similarly, worn shocks or a bad suspension can make normal ‘road noise’ into a very violent vibration.
Failing all of those, the problem is likely to be the driveshaft. This problem happens only rarely in a front-wheel drive vehicle, because the driveshaft spins at the same speed that the tires do. That means that at 60 miles per hour, your driveshaft is turning at barely over eight hundred revolutions per minute — the shaft would have to be greatly out of whack for that low of an RPM to produce meaningful vibrations.
On rear-wheel and all-wheel- drive driveshafts, however, because the difference in front and rear suspensions require the driveshaft to be able to operate at a slight angle, the shafts utilize a series of joints that have the final result of causing the driveshaft to spin at a much higher rate. Driveshafts on these vehicles can cause horrendous shaking at high speeds with even a relatively minor ding.
A worn or merely incorrectly installed u-joint
can cause vibrations at any speed. Such joint will often clunk when the car is put into gear or changes gears abruptly. Somtimes, a regular chirping sound will happen when just getting the car into gear. All of these symptoms mean you should take your vehicle to a driveshaft mechanic immediately, or you risk serious damage.
Tags: Aluminum Drive Shaft, Aluminum Drive Shafts, Aluminum Driveshaft, Aluminum Driveshafts, Carbon Fiber Driveshaft, Custom Drive Shaft, Custom Drive Shafts, Custom Driveshaft, Custom Driveshafts, Drive Shaft, Drive Shafts, Driveshaft, Driveshafts, Dynotech, Four Wheel Driveshaft, Hot Rod Dive Shaft, Hot Rod Drive Shaft, Hot Rod Drive Shafts, Hot Rod Driveshaft, Hot Rod Driveshafts, Hotrod Drive Shafts, Hotrod Driveshaft, Hotrod Driveshafts, Off Road Drive Shaft, Off Road Drive Shafts, Off Road Driveshaft, Off Road Driveshafts, Propshaft, Racing Drive Shaft, Racing Drive Shafts, Racing Driveshaft, Racing Driveshafts, Steel Drive Shaft, Steel Drive Shafts, Steel Driveshaft, Steel Driveshafts, Street Rod Drive Shaft, Street Rod Drive Shafts, Street Rod Driveshaft, Street Rod Driveshafts, Transmission Slip Yoke, Transmission Slip Yokes, Two Piece Drive Shaft, Two Piece Drive Shafts, Two Piece Driveshaft, Two Piece Driveshafts, U – Joint, U – Joints, Universal Joint, Universal Joints
 Driveshaft, Universal Joint | custom_driveshaft November 14, 2010 |  Comments (0)
The rubber covering, or ‘boot’ around a constant-velocity u-joint (or CV joint) of your driveshaft has a critical place in your car’s performance. It keeps in the grease used to lubricate the joint and keep it moving easily, and it keeps out moisture, road grime, salt, and other foreign substances that could lock the u-joint up solid.
The essence of a CV joint is movement — a properly-maintained joint can perform a myriad of contortions and movements, all without losing the ability to transfer rotational force from one end of the driveshaft to the other. Without the boot, such a joint would be jammed up in moments — and over time, as years of flexing and bending and a continuous abuse of salt, pebbles, and temperature changes take their toll, the boot can become brittle or wear thin and break.
As soon as that happens, the lubricant starts to escape, and water and grime get in. Eventually, the joint is completely ungreased, even if enough of the boot remains to keep larger contaminants out. Running dry, it wears out, and it’s just a contest of which will happen first — will a rock get into the joint and lock it up solid, or will the metal wear through and snap?
The first scenario leads to a car that simply stops rolling — if it happens at highway speeds, it will ruin your tires and wheels, or possibly even catapult your car end-over-end on the freeway! In the second scenario, the car simply loses power to it’s tires — but the driveshaft, snapped loose, can plunge inches into the surface of the road or can fly upward and pierce the machinery and floorboards above it, even jutting violently several inches into the passenger space.
So what can you do about a boot that’s worn through? Simple — get it replaced. If you catch it in time, that’s all you need to do. If not, well, you might have to replace the entire driveshaft. If you’ve got a custom car with a custom driveshaft, that can be quite a hassle unless you’ve got a great custom driveshaft shop like DynoTech.
If you’re concerned about your CV joint boots — and you should be if your car has been on the road for more than five or six years — here’s how to check them: look under your car. Jack it up, and look for the driveshafts — they’re the long rods that run from just below your engine to the four wheels. On each end of each driveshaft, there should be something that looks like a short black cone with accordion-like folds around it. Rotate the driveshaft and the tires to look at all sides of each boot, and make sure that they’re all intact.
If you find one that isn’t, take it straight to your local mechanic or custom driveshaft crew and get them repaired ASAP!
Tags: Aluminum Drive Shaft, Aluminum Drive Shafts, Aluminum Driveshaft, Aluminum Driveshafts, Carbon Fiber Driveshaft, Custom Drive Shaft, Custom Drive Shafts, Custom Driveshaft, Custom Driveshafts, Drive Shaft, Drive Shafts, Driveshaft, Driveshafts, Dynotech, Four Wheel Driveshaft, Hot Rod Dive Shaft, Hot Rod Drive Shaft, Hot Rod Drive Shafts, Hot Rod Driveshaft, Hot Rod Driveshafts, Hotrod Drive Shafts, Hotrod Driveshaft, Hotrod Driveshafts, Off Road Drive Shaft, Off Road Drive Shafts, Off Road Driveshaft, Off Road Driveshafts, Propshaft, Racing Drive Shaft, Racing Drive Shafts, Racing Driveshaft, Racing Driveshafts, Steel Drive Shaft, Steel Drive Shafts, Steel Driveshaft, Steel Driveshafts, Street Rod Drive Shaft, Street Rod Drive Shafts, Street Rod Driveshaft, Street Rod Driveshafts, Transmission Slip Yoke, Transmission Slip Yokes, Two Piece Drive Shaft, Two Piece Drive Shafts, Two Piece Driveshaft, Two Piece Driveshafts, U – Joint, U – Joints, Universal Joint, Universal Joints
Driveshaft, Universal Joint | custom_driveshaft November 7, 2010 | Comments (0)
|
