2007blackJk
Member
Has anybody here seen this transfer case brace/bracket. I believe it was introduced at EJS this year.
Chasing Front D/S Vibration Demons
- Thread starter JK_Dave
- Start date
Wizard
New member
I have Tom Woods drive shafts (1310 front and 1350 rear) on my Unlimited and had been struggling with driveline vibration since fitting them. I've recently had both shafts balance and unis inspected. There was a uni on each shaft needed replacing and the rear shaft was found to be badly out of balance. This recent work went a long way to reducing the vibration, however i can still feel it ever so slightly, which i now put down to pinion angle. Very disappointed to be balancing and replacing unis on brand new shafts (less than 6 months old).
JK_Dave
Caught the Bug
Yeah, I'd be pissed! Mine's about as old and I'd like to think it's not out of balance, but that could be it. Once I adjust my caster by a degree as suggested, if I still have any vibration, it's going straight to the driveline shop for balancing.
I am going thru the same thing with my tom woods shaft. 1350 front. I went and got it balanced and it still vibrates. It didn't help. He said he sees it often because the drive shafts are so large. The rotating mass gives vibration or something.
Also a side note. I thought that if you get a tom woods driveshaft with there gold seal joints that they would give you a lifetime warranty. This is not true according to the man at the front desk. I was just told its a 6 month warranty.
Maybe 6 months for gold seal is considered life time. I dunno.
Yeah, saw it and, while it should help prevent a t-case from breaking apart, so will a set of drive shafts that are well balanced and not vibrating. For me, I prefer addressing the problem at the source but, that's just me.
Honestly, I don't know why so many people think so highly of Tom Woods drive shafts especially when there are so many documented instances of poor balancing right out of the box and cheap Chinese u-joints that fail time and time again. Sorry to hear you guys having the problems that you have.
dannymalkin
New member
Which driveshafts have you used on your builds? Ive never bought an aftermarket driveshaft and thought I would be getting a tom woods if I needed one down the road.
I personally prefer JE Reel if only because they use made in the USA Neapco u-joints standard and I've never had an issue with the half a dozen shafts that I have gotten from them in the past for my various Jeeps and Jeep builds. I have also had good results with Coast and they use Spicer joints. I have also had custom shafts made by a then local socal shop and found them to be very good as well.
dannymalkin
New member
Ok thanks I'll have to look into those. Now that I think about it I have heard of JE Reel before too.
Wizard
New member
If I had my time over again, and knowing what I know now, then I wouldn't have fitted Tom Woods shafts. I was told by my local driveline specialist that the two Tom Woods unis which were replaced looked to have a poor quality seal setup, and he actually removed weights which weren't required, and shouldn't have be on there.
2007blackJk
Member
Adam's used to be the least expensive. With solid spicer joints and manufacturing cost pricing went up. I run a Adams front and wouldn't hesitate to run a rear. Great CS, quality. Awesome drive shaft.
Being that you're in Australia, I probably would have recommended that you just have a custom shaft made by a local shop and I'm glad to hear you found one near by help you out.
Wizard
New member
I did think of doing that at the time, but wasnt sure what was involved with changing the flanges over from the OEM style to ones that would take actual universals. I know now that this is easy for a driveline specialist, and nothing to worry about.
I'm having same Prob. ORE installed 5.13s and JE Reel 1350 rear. Already had a 1310 coast front. Soon as I drive home from ORE I noticed the vibe.
This happened after they installed my bolt on coil over kit a while back too. They set it up with really low ride height for me. Prob was that through off the caster ( had been aligned for 4" lift and went to 2.5).
Post lift I had alignment shop check it. Was around 7 degrees so adj down to the 5's and the vibe pretty much went away. Dropped off this evening at the shop again for alignment check. We'll see if the caster is part of the prob. That's assuming it's the front vibrating. Hopefully it's isn't the new rear shaft.
Will let you know what they find and if it goes away.
This happened after they installed my bolt on coil over kit a while back too. They set it up with really low ride height for me. Prob was that through off the caster ( had been aligned for 4" lift and went to 2.5).
Post lift I had alignment shop check it. Was around 7 degrees so adj down to the 5's and the vibe pretty much went away. Dropped off this evening at the shop again for alignment check. We'll see if the caster is part of the prob. That's assuming it's the front vibrating. Hopefully it's isn't the new rear shaft.
Will let you know what they find and if it goes away.
2007blackJk
Member
Pull the front shaft and drive it.
I don't know how high your JK is lift. But 5 degrees is still on the high side. You should try for 4 degrees.
Tdkrawler
New member
Thats what I am doing.
mine would have to be customised regardless.
Due to the crd auto combo, with coil overs etc etc.
So no point ordering a shaft thats to short from the states
Agreed. 5° is too high especially being that you're running 5.13's. I would make sure to set it to 4°.
Oh yeah, definitely better to get one made from a local shop.
Pulling the shaft is what I did first time around. Just don't have time to do it right now so took to a shop that could do that and align it. I'm trying to balance family time, work, and going off road. Sometimes you just have to pay to get the work done.
I'll tell the shop to go closer to 4 degrees. Will the steering feel be different vs mid 5's?
I'll tell the shop to go closer to 4 degrees. Will the steering feel be different vs mid 5's?
More caster will always feel better on the highway BUT, being that we drive Jeeps with a front drive shaft and without locking hubs to keep it from spinning, you do what you can to find a balance between vibrations and handling. If it were me, I would tell them 4° on the money. That's what comes factory and what should do the trick assuming the shaft is balanced.
Wizard
New member
Mine were a custom order from Tom Woods, supposedly made to suit the measurements I gave, and then sent over.