Transfer Case Vibration

lwalper · Jan 27, 2015

I'm driving a '99 Ram 1500 4x4, 5.9ci, 206k miles. Everything is stock. A few months ago the rear u-joint (rear drive shaft) came apart and the drive shaft fell out on the road. To say "fell out" may be a bit tame since it beat around under the truck until the front yoke slipped out -- a few seconds at 55mph.

Installed new joints and reinstalled the shaft, but had a terrible vibration so, thinking the shaft may have been bent in the process, I measured the runout (about .040") and counterbalanced with a couple of pipe straps. That helped quite a bit, so I elected to drive it. Now the vibration has returned (gotten worse) so thought I'd replace the driveshaft. Done -- with no improvement. I have rotated the shaft on the spline several times in small increments holing to hit a sweet spot for shaft balance with no joy. Still vibrates.

The vibration is definitely driveline related. Begins at about 45mph and the 4x4 shifter begins to vibrate. Not tires I don't think because there's no other vibration in the truck other than at the transfer case. The odd thing is that when traveling straight at 45 (with the vibration quite noticeable) I can engage the transfer case into 4H and the vibration essentially stops. Did I damage something in the transfer case when the driveshaft came out?

RangerWeaver · Jan 27, 2015

possibly but you should message merc to see what he says.

Merc225hp · Jan 28, 2015

Check the tranny mount, check the yoke on the rear diff for runout. What slip yoke are you using new or the same one?

This is also the typical symptoms of a miss in the motor, comp test, spark test are in order.

She flipping any CEL's?

themoparkid · Jan 28, 2015

I would check the output shaft and bearing from the transfer case. Check to see if there's significant play on output shaft. Could be bent. Based by your description, sounds like the transfer case took the brunt of the force when the driveshaft let loose.

lwalper · Jan 28, 2015

Merc225hp said:
Check the tranny mount, check the yoke on the rear diff for runout. What slip yoke are you using new or the same one?

This is also the typical symptoms of a miss in the motor, comp test, spark test are in order.

She flipping any CEL's?

Tranny mount was a consideration. The replacement driveshaft was not the OEM (4 inch) size. It was replaced with a 3 inch shaft, new yokes on both ends to match. The front slip yoke was re-used.

Don't think it's misfire. It's too consistent at 45 to about 60 mph. Engine seems to be running fine. There is pre-ignition on #8, but that's old news.

CEL's??? What's that? (Check engine light?) No, nothing's lit. I do have a problem with the ABS system. It some times lights, some times not. Doesn't seem to make any difference in drivability one way or the other. It's been like that for the past 80k miles.

lwalper · Jan 28, 2015

themoparkid said:
I would check the output shaft and bearing from the transfer case. Check to see if there's significant play on output shaft. Could be bent. Based by your description, sounds like the transfer case took the brunt of the force when the driveshaft let loose.

So, pull the rear parts off up to the rear case? Check shaft runout and bearings? That sounds like a driveway job. I suppose the output shaft bearing is pressed into the bearing retainer housing. I've got the exploded parts diagram. One snap ring and looks like it should all slip right off the shaft.

themoparkid · Jan 29, 2015

lwalper said:
So, pull the rear parts off up to the rear case? Check shaft runout and bearings? That sounds like a driveway job. I suppose the output shaft bearing is pressed into the bearing retainer housing. I've got the exploded parts diagram. One snap ring and looks like it should all slip right off the shaft.

I meant the output shaft on the transfer case. Pull the driveshaft out and take a look.

lwalper · Feb 2, 2015

Gotcha

lwalper · Feb 8, 2015

OK, so here we are. A broken output shaft case. I checked the runout on the shaft and really don't see any at all. For this sort of torque to have been applied to the case, could there be damage further inside? The bearing looks good, the next portion of case does not appear to be damaged. I still don't understand where the vibration is coming from. I see this break, but it doesn't seem that it would allow things to shake like they do???

rowdyram · Feb 8, 2015

I think that would be a product of the vibration not the cause. My first thought is the rear end. Pinion bearings are tight? No binding?

lwalper · Feb 8, 2015

Yeah, that's what it looked like to me -- product, not source. OK, it's off to the rear end ...

lwalper · Feb 10, 2015

So, I've pushed on the pinion yoke as hard as I'm able by hand and don't see any abnormal motion at all. The yoke turns freely (as far as the gear backlash will allow) without binding. Backlash distance for the gear seems to be appropriate. There's never been any noise (grinding, whining, ...) from that area that I've ever noticed. I did change the fluid about 40-50k ago. When I had the covers off I really didn't notice any unusual wear patterns on the gears -- of course that was a few miles ago.

Merc225hp · Feb 10, 2015

I would jack up the rear end, put it on jack stands. Run it up, put it in gear release the brakes. Then very carefully get under the truck and see what's going on under there. Btw you are not the first person to go through this but you are more lucky than the others I have helped out, most have no xcase left and the rear of the tranny is ripped off as well.

lwalper · Feb 11, 2015

OK, thanks, I'll give that a try. After checking for pinion movement I did start the truck, put it in 'D' and ran it up to about 2500RPM. Didn't notice any vibration or unusual noise at all. The rear housing is still off -- have a new one on the way. So, get my part, put it back together and try running it as you suggest (block the front wheels, jack stands, keep my head and hands out of the way of moving parts, ... )

This is a driveway project and it's supposed to be 9 degrees here in a day or so. It may be a few days before I get back here. I'm impatient, but this will wait a day or two.

Transfer Case Vibration

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