Adams 1310 Front Driveshaft Vibration

Hello all,

The other day I installed a new Adams 1310 front driveshaft on my JK unlimited. I replaced the transfer case yoke but kept the pinon flange yoke on the axle side. I now have a vibration at highway speeds that starts around 60 mph and then gets worse from there (it is really vibrating where I can hear the pulsations around 70 mph). I am concerned about it damaging my transfer case or something else and I need some help!

I accidentally separated the driveshaft in two, I didn't know that it would just slide apart like that. I originally thought that I may have put it back together in the wrong splines, so last night I took it apart and checked to see where Adams punched two little holes to line up the splines. The little punch holes line up but just by eyeballing the shaft, it looks like it may be out of phase? If I draw an imaginary line from the flange on the pinyon flange, it looks like the top rotates towards the driver's side. But at the transfer case yoke, it looks like the same top point on the shaft rotates towards the driver's side. :doh:

I don't want to go down the downward spiral of changing a bunch of things this week as I am headed to Moab next weekend for some wheeling. I am thinking about putting the stock driveshaft back on unless if I get this figured out in the next few days. Do you see any issues with changing the transfer case yoke back to stock and putting the stock shaft back on? I did put a bead of RTV on the 1-1/4" nut flange and some red locktite on the threads so I don't know if this will mess anything up.

I don't know if the pinyon angle is correct either, and with the Moab trip fast approaching I don't know if I will have time to get new lower control arms, adjust the pinyon angle and keep good caster and handling.


- caster is verified at 4.2 degrees from recent alignment
- JKS 2.5" coils front and rear, measured lift is 2.5"
- JKS control arm correction brackets





I would really appreciate any kind of guidance you guys can give me!

It's prob out of balance now since the splines separated and it's why your getting the vibrations. I would call Adams and see if they have any solutions for you as to how to get it back in balance or if they leave any markings to indicate the balance point.

Petzl88 said:

Hello all,

The other day I installed a new Adams 1310 front driveshaft on my JK unlimited. I replaced the transfer case yoke but kept the pinon flange yoke on the axle side. I now have a vibration at highway speeds that starts around 60 mph and then gets worse from there (it is really vibrating where I can hear the pulsations around 70 mph). I am concerned about it damaging my transfer case or something else and I need some help!

I accidentally separated the driveshaft in two, I didn't know that it would just slide apart like that. I originally thought that I may have put it back together in the wrong splines, so last night I took it apart and checked to see where Adams punched two little holes to line up the splines. The little punch holes line up but just by eyeballing the shaft, it looks like it may be out of phase? If I draw an imaginary line from the flange on the pinyon flange, it looks like the top rotates towards the driver's side. But at the transfer case yoke, it looks like the same top point on the shaft rotates towards the driver's side. :doh:

I don't want to go down the downward spiral of changing a bunch of things this week as I am headed to Moab next weekend for some wheeling. I am thinking about putting the stock driveshaft back on unless if I get this figured out in the next few days. Do you see any issues with changing the transfer case yoke back to stock and putting the stock shaft back on? I did put a bead of RTV on the 1-1/4" nut flange and some red locktite on the threads so I don't know if this will mess anything up.

I don't know if the pinyon angle is correct either, and with the Moab trip fast approaching I don't know if I will have time to get new lower control arms, adjust the pinyon angle and keep good caster and handling.


- caster is verified at 4.2 degrees from recent alignment
- JKS 2.5" coils front and rear, measured lift is 2.5"
- JKS control arm correction brackets



I would really appreciate any kind of guidance you guys can give me!

Click to expand...

Your caster should be fine which would give you a good pinion angle. Something I would try just because is disconnect the DS at the axle and rotate it 90/180 degrees. (Install it another way it can go on that yoke). Then retest. I've seen that fix vibrations before. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. New Tcase yoke has no play correct?

cozdude said:

It's prob out of balance now since the splines separated and it's why your getting the vibrations. I would call Adams and see if they have any solutions for you as to how to get it back in balance or if they leave any markings to indicate the balance point.

Click to expand...

I asked Adams and they said that it would not go out of balance since it separated, not unless a weight has been knocked off.

WJCO said:

Your caster should be fine which would give you a good pinion angle. Something I would try just because is disconnect the DS at the axle and rotate it 90/180 degrees. (Install it another way it can go on that yoke). Then retest. I've seen that fix vibrations before. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. New Tcase yoke has no play correct?

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So separate the two parts of the driveshaft and reinsert it 180 degrees from where the marks are?

I made sure the T-case yoke was tight at 150 ft-lbs because my torque wrench only goes to 150 ft-lbs. I put my breaker bar on it and made sure it was tight after that. Their directions say to tighten to 160 ft-lbs and you can go up to 200 ft-lbs but I'm not sure. Jeep says 130 ft-lbs for this bolt?

Petzl88 said:

So separate the two parts of the driveshaft and reinsert it 180 degrees from where the marks are?

Click to expand...

No. Leave shaft together. But unbolt the shaft from the pinion yoke and turn it 90 or 180 degrees, then re-fasten it. Your pinion yoke should at least allow it to re-fasten one other way. Worth a try, no guarantees, but I have see it fix vibrations.

EDIT: You could also rotate it 180 degrees by removing the small bolts at tcase yoke too, but axle end is easier to get to.

Thanks guys. I'm going to pull it off tonight and take a look at it again and regroup. I crawled under there again and it looks like it is out of phase, maybe one spline off, but I won't know for sure until I get it out. I'm going to leave it off tomorrow to see if anyone else has any other ideas!

I'm starting to get nervous. I don't like the feeling of this not running smoothly. I was hoping for no issues with this driveshaft upgrade, granted its probably installer error!

Adams stamps tick marks on the two ends of the driveshaft. If you seperated the shaft, just make sure those are lined up and it will be back to when balanced. I run their 1350, no issues.

Also try to get a 160LB wrench and torque it right.

Petzl88 said:

Thanks guys. I'm going to pull it off tonight and take a look at it again and regroup. I crawled under there again and it looks like it is out of phase, maybe one spline off, but I won't know for sure until I get it out. I'm going to leave it off tomorrow to see if anyone else has any other ideas!

I'm starting to get nervous. I don't like the feeling of this not running smoothly. I was hoping for no issues with this driveshaft upgrade, granted its probably installer error!

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If it looks out of phase by eyeball then it probably is. Once you get it out and lay it on a flat surface it will be really easy to tell. Are you sure you got the punch marks lined up correctly on the two pieces? I suppose the balance also could have been screwed up initially but I haven't heard of that much on an Adams shaft as some of the other manufacturers.

I pulled the shaft off just now and set it on the ground. The splines are lined up and it is in phase. I hit it again with the 150 ft-lb torque wrench, but my torque wrench is a cheap one and what if it is off? Maybe the 1-1/4" transfer case nut isn't tight enough?

Should I take it to get balanced just in case and torque that transfer case nut again with a good torque wrench?

Is there anything I need to be looking at for pinon angle?

Does this yoke look properly seated?

Thank you all for your help.

Petzl88 said:

I pulled the shaft off just now and set it on the ground. The splines are lined up and it is in phase. I hit it again with the 150 ft-lb torque wrench, but my torque wrench is a cheap one and what if it is off? Maybe the 1-1/4" transfer case nut isn't tight enough?

Should I take it to get balanced just in case and torque that transfer case nut again with a good torque wrench?

Is there anything I need to be looking at for pinon angle?

Does this yoke look properly seated?

Thank you all for your help.

View attachment 196538 View attachment 196539 View attachment 196540

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Yoke looks good. While I would definitely have it torqued properly, I can't imagine that 10 extra foot pounds would cause a vibration. Also, 150-200 is a lot, so if you're laying on it pretty good, it should be fine. Improper torque would most likely cause it to loosen OVER TIME, not cause a vibration right off the bat. I would get it properly torqued, but I don't think that is your issue.

I had to get my Coast 1310 balanced at a local driveline shops when it was new.

Take it down to a local shop and get it checked out. Drive your jeep there without the shaft in just to make sure that's the culprit. If it checks out fine at the shop it could just be your pinion angle.

Is this something you hear or feel? Mine was more of a noise when I first lifted mine. Removal of shaft and it went away. But within 5000 miles or so it disappeared. I just assumed the new angle maybe had to create new wear pattern. :idontknow:

WJCO said:

Is this something you hear or feel? Mine was more of a noise when I first lifted mine. Removal of shaft and it went away. But within 5000 miles or so it disappeared. I just assumed the new angle maybe had to create new wear pattern. :idontknow:

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It is something I hear and feel. The feel starts around 30 mph and then seems to go away a little bit but it is hard to tell. The sound starts around 60 mph and then gets louder to 70 mph.

I pulled off the shaft last night and it is inside my Jeep. No noise, no wobble this morning. I'm going to drop it off at a driveline shop today and have them balance it just to rule that out. If it's balanced correctly then it is pinyon angle to look at next?

Petzl88 said:

It is something I hear and feel. The feel starts around 30 mph and then seems to go away a little bit but it is hard to tell. The sound starts around 60 mph and then gets louder to 70 mph.

I pulled off the shaft last night and it is inside my Jeep. No noise, no wobble this morning. I'm going to drop it off at a driveline shop today and have them balance it just to rule that out. If it's balanced correctly then it is pinyon angle to look at next?

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Maybe, But if your caster is at 4.2, pinion angle should be fine. That's right on the money actually. I would look to make sure that new transfer case yoke doesn't have something wrong with it. I don't really know how you can check that though. You could always run the vehicle on a lift or jack stands and put it in 4wd (with front drive shaft removed still) and eyeball the new yoke to make sure it's not vibrating, I guess.

WJCO said:

Maybe, But if your caster is at 4.2, pinion angle should be fine. That's right on the money actually. I would look to make sure that new transfer case yoke doesn't have something wrong with it. I don't really know how you can check that though. You could always run the vehicle on a lift or jack stands and put it in 4wd (with front drive shaft removed still) and eyeball the new yoke to make sure it's not vibrating, I guess.

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Could still be the pinion angle. 4.2 caster leaves the pinion to driveshaft angle less than ideal for a double cardan. I have the same shaft and had a slight vibe with caster set at 5. Adjusted to probably 3.5 and its noticeably better.

I checked my pinion angle and it is at 91 degrees. I checked my buddy's JK with 3" Enforcer and EVO control arms with a 1310 front driveshaft and his pinion angle is 92 degrees.

For what's it worth, my local shop said they had multiple adams shafts that were out of balance when new. They only use Toms driveshafts now and haven't had an issue. Second hand information, but I would either send back to adams or have a local shop check balance.