2006 E350 2wd driveline vibration

ibike

Senior Member
Joined
May 28, 2014
Posts
236
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
I recently had my stock Dana 60 semi float regeared from 373 to 410 gears. After the regear, an oscillating vibration started occurring around 70 mph. I told the shop that did the gegear and they told me this was likely due to driveshaft imbalance, and the vibration wasn’t noticed before because the driveshaft was not spinning as quickly as it is now with the new gears.

I took the van into a drive shaft shop to have the shaft balanced and u-joints replaced, and they told me that the shaft is an inch to an inch and a half too short. They were convinced that this is the issue, and didn’t re-balance the shaft. They offered to extend the driveshaft at the cost of $950. I declined to have it extended, and just picked the van up and took it home to do some more research

This is what I assume to be the factory drive shaft that came in the van when I bought it, I’ve had this vehicle for going on six years and I’ve never had an issue with a vibration at any speed like this before. I’ve looked at a few other vans with similar drivetrain and all of the driveshaft lengths/insertion distances seem to be about the same (2.5” from flange to tail housing).

I’m taking the van back to them next Monday to have the shaft balanced, and u-joints replaced. I spent some time on the phone with them while I was scheduling the appointment going through my research and discoveries in regards to other vans with similar drive lines, they claim that they see driveshaft that are too short from the factory often enough that they don’t suspect anything odd about it.

Curious to see if anyone on here has had similar experiences or had any thoughts about the issue. Here’s a picture of the driveshaft where it enters the transmission as it sits right now. This is with the van on the ground. I should also add that I had the transmission rebuilt about two summers ago, and it looks like they may have used a shorter dust boot on the tail housing than what was originally there from the factory.

Thanks
 

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Along with any information you receive here I'd post this same issue on FTE's Transmission & Drive Line sub-forum: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum69/

Their input and information might be helpful or insightful.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, cross-posted there as well. I did get a second opinion from another driveline shop, they don't see anything abnormal about the amount of exposed slip yoke. I'm taking the van to them a week from today for new u-joints and a balance.
 
Is your rear suspension still stock? I had this issue after swapping springs, and ended up redoing the springs later to prevent excess output shaft bearing wear.
 
Is your rear suspension still stock? I had this issue after swapping springs, and ended up redoing the springs later to prevent excess output shaft bearing wear.

Factory leaf packs, but I did add 1.5" blocks from WeldTech earlier this year (I've got Moog 880 coils up front ant the rear was squatted). Even though the vibration didn't start till after the re-gear, I loaded up the back of the van to get the suspension to squat to the factory ride height, and the slip yoke insertion into the transmission only changed by maybe an 1/8".

I also checked the u-joint angles at both ends of the shaft and they are within a 10th of a degree of each other.
 
Wow, $950 for a retube? Used to be cheaper than that for an entire new driveshaft.




Have you had the tires re-balanced lately? Has any shop actually removed the shaft and balanced it?


Is there any chance the driveshaft is out of phase?


Hopefully your upcoming driveshaft work settles it.
 
Wow, $950 for a retube? Used to be cheaper than that for an entire new driveshaft.




Have you had the tires re-balanced lately? Has any shop actually removed the shaft and balanced it?


Is there any chance the driveshaft is out of phase?


Hopefully your upcoming driveshaft work settles it.

Yeah, the shop I got the second opinion from said that was steep, and unnecessary... First shop didn't even check the balance since they were convinced it was the length. I suppose they would have balanced it after they extended it, but then it'd be tough to say what actually fixed the issue.

Tires are new/balanced as of a few months ago, replacing them actually fixed a front end vibration/shimmy issue I was having.

Everything was silky smooth till the re-gear. I could be wrong, but I only thought 2-piece shafts could get out of phase, if they're pulled apart and the yokes aren't aligned when reconnected. Fingers crossed the balance cure it.
 
I could be wrong, but I only thought 2-piece shafts could get out of phase, if they're pulled apart and the yokes aren't aligned when reconnected. Fingers crossed the balance cure it.




Yup, your right. Unless it's twisted, which will be obvious when they balance it.
 
I have had drive shaft vibration in the past and it was U-Joints (At the transmission).




2003 Ford E350 4X4, 7.3, Sportsmobile 320,000
 

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