Deadbeats 1997 Centurion Conversion

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deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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I put another rear end in my truck after finding that I could move the pinion 1/4 inch up and down on the used one I just bought. After doing this and putting my 2 piece driveshaft back in with a 1 inch spacer under the carrier it has very little vibration again, maybe best I leave it alone and just drive it a for a while. I need to measure my pinion angle and my first drive shaft and make them the same but I am not going to right now. The frame dad put under his truck helped his vibration some although I believe his new driveshaft is not balanced correctly is why he still has some.
 

deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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Never really had to deal with drive train much, have quite a bit of knowledge about it now. I wonder if all the 4wd Centurions have a little vibration at certain speeds or just the two that my dad I have? What really sucks about these trucks is that you can't just go to the junk yard and get another drive shaft to try.
 

deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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I put my old driveshaft back in and removed the factory 2500 and the truck is smooth unless you let off the gas on the interstate(70 +). Hoping it is a u joint although they felt good when the shaft was out of the truck. The slip splines feel tight in the truck, had a slight bit of play in hand but none when you push up and down on them. It doesn't vibrate bad when you let off the gas, you hear it more than you feel it.
 

deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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Fixed my reverse lights today. Turns out someone had put a wiring end on one of the neutral safety switches that had two green wires almost the same color and they had crossed them. I switched them and it was fixed. This is what is wrong if your reverse lights come on in park.
 

deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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Took the plunge today and bought a mechless double din. I'll post some photos after it comes in and I install it. I think I am going to try to use the factory stereo tray and trim the top of the dash bezel out and fill the sides. I bought one of the wide trim rings to slip on the radio and I then think I'll glue it to the dash face and the bondo/jb weld it all up.
 

deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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Well, I have been putting some thought into building a driveshaft again and I think I have found something that is gonna work. DRAGGIN95 sent me some info a long time ago about how he built the 2wd ccsb shaft and after looking it over again I think I can build a 4wd in a similar fashion. My driveshaft have a weld to weld total of about 61 inches. It looks like if I take the front of a 2wd extended cab (23 inches weld to weld) and a 4 door 4wd Tahoe shaft (~ 37.25 weld to weld) that I can put these together to get a shaft around the correct length. I am going to try to find one in the wreckers this week and see if it works or not.
 

deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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I put in the 2 piece I built from the ecsb 2wd and the scsb 4wd last night, although I just vice gripped the cross member in to place. I didn't have time to shim anything or flip anything 180 degrees yet but I had a very slight 20 mph vibration and maybe a little around 40, high speeds were smooth as a new one. No let off vibration that I could tell. I think I can maybe shim the carrier a bit and get the take off vibration gone and hopefully have a perfectly smooth ride. If anyone needs any details on the shafts I can answer pms. Basically the front 2wd piece is a little of 23 inches weld to weld and the rear is around 37 weld to weld. This makes a nice fit in the the 1/2 4x4 crew cabs.
 

deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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Think i may have found the 20mph and take off vibration, can move the pinion a little bit on the rear end i put in. I think i am just going to buy a new one, anyone have luck with the rebuilt rear ends from Oriellys?
 

deadbeat

Centurion Crew Cab
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Well turns out it wasn't the pinion, but play on the pinion yoke and u joint. Installed a new Spicer u joint and still had the play, I guess I need to replace the pinion yoke. Am I correct that I need to find the lbs to turn it, disassemble, install the nut until I have the same torque lbs to turn it?
 
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