Driveline vibrations?

caminton · Jul 24, 2016

So the past couple of weeks I've been having vibrations from somewhere up front. It only happens when I've been driving for a while, stop at a red light/stop sign, and then accelerate again. It vibrates for a second or two, and then goes away completely. It hasn't been a big deal so I wasn't worried about it.

Last night, it happened several times after I slowed down to turn. Could this be my front driveshaft? I'm not sure what I'm looking for/listening for here.

wayoflife · Jul 24, 2016

Based on what you're saying, I doubt it's your front drive shaft. If it were, you would feel and hear it oscillate continuously at a specific speed range. What you're describing sounds totally different.

Can you hear this as well as feel it? Where you do feel it, in the steering wheel? The seat of your pants? Is it slight or significant?

caminton · Jul 24, 2016

wayoflife said:
Based on what you're saying, I doubt it's your front drive shaft. If it were, you would feel and hear it oscillate continuously at a specific speed range. What you're describing sounds totally different.

Can you hear this as well as feel it? Where you do feel it, in the steering wheel? The seat of your pants? Is it slight or significant?

I can hear it and feel it. I feel it through the floorboards. It's nothing crazy, but it's definitely noticeable.

WJCO · Jul 24, 2016

Check front axle ujoint but seems like it would be more constant. Torque converter maybe? Hard to say.

highoctane · Jul 24, 2016

Pull the front driveshaft and keep driving it. If it still vibrates it would rule out anything in the front axle.

caminton · Jul 24, 2016

WJCO said:
Check front axle ujoint but seems like it would be more constant. Torque converter maybe? Hard to say.

Not really sure what I'm checking for. Anything specific?

caminton · Jul 24, 2016

highoctane said:
Pull the front driveshaft and keep driving it. If it still vibrates it would rule out anything in the front axle.

Good idea, thanks. Only issue is, it's unpredictable as to when it happens. I could pull the shaft, but it might take another 2 hours before it actually happens again. Or it might take 5 minutes. It's not happening every time I stop and go. Only sometimes. Usually it's when I've been driving for awhile. Sometimes it's the first stop when I'm leaving my apartment complex.

DKjeep · Jul 24, 2016

I agree, but first I would just get under it before I pull the shaft and push and pull on it as hard as you can to see if you can spot any movement. Stock driveshaft? If you don't detect anything pull it anyways and that will eliminate that one possibility. Lat time I felt vibrations in the floorboard and pedals, it was the front driveshaft.

caminton · Jul 24, 2016

DKjeep said:
I agree, but first I would just get under it before I pull the shaft and push and pull on it as hard as you can to see if you can spot any movement. Stock driveshaft? If you don't detect anything pull it anyways and that will eliminate that one possibility. Lat time I felt vibrations in the floorboard and pedals, it was the front driveshaft.

Yeah. Stock shaft. I'm about to do what you said and I'll see what happens.

caminton · Jul 24, 2016

DKjeep said:
I agree, but first I would just get under it before I pull the shaft and push and pull on it as hard as you can to see if you can spot any movement. Stock driveshaft? If you don't detect anything pull it anyways and that will eliminate that one possibility. Lat time I felt vibrations in the floorboard and pedals, it was the front driveshaft.

No go on the driveshaft. Which is good, but that means the problem is elsewhere. Could it maybe be the gears in my d30 going out?

WJCO · Jul 24, 2016

caminton said:
No go on the driveshaft. Which is good, but that means the problem is elsewhere. Could it maybe be the gears in my d30 going out?

Usually if you have a front diff problem, it will be more noticeable with the front shaft still installed. So I'm thinking it's elsewhere.

caminton · Jul 25, 2016

WJCO said:
Usually if you have a front diff problem, it will be more noticeable with the front shaft still installed. So I'm thinking it's elsewhere.

Well....shit. I wish I knew more so I could do a better job of diagnosing this. I'd really rather not take it in to a shop to have it checked over because it isn't anything serious yet. But at the same time, I'm worried it'll become something serious in the future. I might have to bite the bullet and pay.

Dirtysocks · Jul 25, 2016

Broken motor mount? That might explain why you only feel the vibration on hard acceleration.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

caminton · Jul 25, 2016

Dirtysocks said:
Broken motor mount? That might explain why you only feel the vibration on hard acceleration.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's not even on hard accelerations. Just regular ones.

chitown35 · Jul 25, 2016

Is it if you get just the right amount if torque or something? I had a similar experience with a skid plate that was coming loose, just the right conditions and I could feel the vibration.

caminton · Jul 25, 2016

chitown35 said:
Is it if you get just the right amount if torque or something? I had a similar experience with a skid plate that was coming loose, just the right conditions and I could feel the vibration.

Possibly. I need to go through and re-torque the suspension anyway, so I can check this when I'm doing that.

DKjeep · Jul 25, 2016

So you inspected the shaft and didnt notice any problems, AND then you pulled it out and the issue remains when you drive it? I just want to be clear.

caminton · Jul 25, 2016

DKjeep said:
So you inspected the shaft and didnt notice any problems, AND then you pulled it out and the issue remains when you drive it? I just want to be clear.

Sorry, no. I didn't pull the shaft because I didn't have time yesterday. I'm planning on pulling it today after I get off work.

JEEPnGEO · Jul 25, 2016

I had the same problem but found out it was the baring cap on the ujoint. The thing came off. So when I got under there and looked at everything it all seemed good. Everything was tight and solid. I took it to my Jeep to the driveshaft shop and placed it on the lift and rotated the shaft and the guy almost missed it. The cap was missing but with the hoop in place it is hard to tell. I only had vibrations on Acceleration and very minor vibrations on deceleration. When I was nice on the skinny peddle I couldn't really feel it.

Hope you find it soon. The u-joint wore a nice little gouge in the cardin joint. Mine happened on the rear not the front.

caminton · Jul 25, 2016

JEEPnGEO said:
I had the same problem but found out it was the baring cap on the ujoint. The thing came off. So when I got under there and looked at everything it all seemed good. Everything was tight and solid. I took it to my Jeep to the driveshaft shop and placed it on the lift and rotated the shaft and the guy almost missed it. The cap was missing but with the hoop in place it is hard to tell. I only had vibrations on Acceleration and very minor vibrations on deceleration. When I was nice on the skinny peddle I couldn't really feel it.

Hope you find it soon. The u-joint wore a nice little gouge in the cardin joint. Mine happened on the rear not the front.

So basically, I need to take it into a shop and have it looked at. I understood most of what you said but I have no Idea how to fix it or even actually diagnose it.

Driveline vibrations?

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