K2500 Suburban Rear Axle Replacement

[LikeABoat]

Oh man, sorry to hear it didn't fix your problem. Can you jack the rear and let it spin? Maybe you can spot/feel/hear some anomaly. What about wheels or tires? Not uncommon to get a tire or rim damaged and cause vibration.

As for the spline end getting warm, I would guess that's completely normal. After all, you still have a lot of metal to metal spinning at high rates. Just about any part of the drivetrain gets hot when you drive.

we've jacked it up and spun the wheels, things look ok but still vibration. Tires are new, wheels seems straight and we've moved them around to all positions with no change. Also drive the wheels in the air without the tires and wheels, still vibration.

 

[stutaeng]

I see. What kind of accident was it? Like where was the impact? Do you have any pictures?


Not sure how one could check a axle housing for straightness? How about removing both axles and spinning it?

What about driveshaft? Don't know if those are 2 piece design? 2 piece are balanced as a set. Also check for straightness.

 

[Steve Addy]

I see. What kind of accident was it? Like where was the impact? Do you have any pictures?


Not sure how one could check a axle housing for straightness? How about removing both axles and spinning it?

What about driveshaft? Don't know if those are 2 piece design? 2 piece are balanced as a set. Also check for straightness.

Are you sure about that? The shop I use specifically said they balance the two independently when I took in Dakota driveshaft.

Maybe this is just an anomaly where I live but I was under the impression that this was industry standard practice.

Steve

 

[454cid]

Are you sure about that? The shop I use specifically said they balance the two independently when I took in Dakota driveshaft.

Maybe this is just an anomaly where I live but I was under the impression that this was industry standard practice.

Steve

Balancing independently at a drive shaft shop is likely a limitation of their equipment. I suppose it could be a shortcut for setup time, if their equipment is capable of doing them assembled.

All the two-pieces I've seen, by AAM/GM, were balanced together originally. If sourced from Dana, I don't know.

 

[Gibson]

If the driveshaft has been removed or disconnected, when it's re-installed/connected you gotta make sure that its "phased" properly.
If not you will get vibration(s).
Just something to check, and it's an easy one to forget about.

 

[Steve Addy]

If the driveshaft has been removed or disconnected, when it's re-installed/connected you gotta make sure that its "phased" properly.
If not you will get vibration(s).
Just something to check, and it's an easy one to forget about.

Every two piece I've seen can only be joined one way and one way only. The union is keyed to only insert one way.

The shop I've used can do multi piece drive shafts but they said they get better results by doing each section individually and then running the two together for a check. They're a full service drivetrain shop so I doubt that they're limited in any way.

Will be interested to hear how this gets resolved.

Steve

 

[Gibson]

Every two piece I've seen can only be joined one way and one way only. The union is keyed to only insert one way.

True enough,, But the phasing of the U-joints CAN be incorrectly
done.

 

[LikeABoat]

Update: I finally had time to get back to the Burb. Pulled the driveshaft to have it balanced before Christmas, all the shops at 2 weeks waits so I just decided to put the driveshaft back in. As I was installing it I noticed that the yoke was wore enough I could feel a slight hour glass shape. Decided to replace the NP246 extension housing bushing and get a new yoke. Part stores didn't have the bushing listed, ended up searching online and bought one from Amazon, GM PN 15665313. Had to make a tool to remove the bushing while in the car. Got the bushing out and new one installed. Replaced to the yoke. Decided since I'm under the truck to check the tcase fluid level. Fill plug was damaged and couldn't remove, drain plug required a 1/2" impact to remove. Not much came out, and it was red. I filled it from the bottom with the correct blue AutotrakII fluid from GM. Then went for a drive. Vibration/howling at 65mph seems to be solved. Hopefully it was due to the bushing and yoke and not the very low tcase fluild.