|
|
| Vote for The Forward Look Network on the Mopar Top 100 Sites |
From: DON THOMAS
Email: Dlthomas@southwest.tn.edu
Remote Name: 198.146.143.124
Date: August 12, 2003
I think the following will be VERY interesting to all those people who have had comments about the vibration problem. I have a '64 Dodge polara that started a very annoying vibrtation problem about 4 years ago. The vibration becomes detectable at 35 mph and is present to one degree or another at all speeds above that. The car shakes the worst at 45-55 mph. The vibration (at any speed) pulsates atr a fairly constant frequency. The frequency changes with load and acceleration. Lastly, this problem appeared gradually and appears to have plateaued a couple of years ago. This car is my daily driver- used continuosly since the problem arose. Here is the story of attempts to fix it: 1) My first thought was suspension/tires- I went a very reputable shop that declared all that stuff to be in order. They said it was likely the old front ball and trunion u joint. 2) Many other gear hear heads were consulted- most agreed with the front ujoint hypothesis. 3) As you all know, rebuilding a ball and trunion joint is an expensive hassel, so I swapped the entire driveshaft with one from my other driving and NOT VIBRATING 64 DODGE. NO CHANGE IN THE VIBRATION OCCURRED! 4) About this time I discovered that the car would exhibit the same vibration at the right rpm with the car STANDING STILL AND IN NEUTRAL! Same results with the driveshaft removed completely!! 5) Unfortunately, many gearhead friends convinced me that despite all of this it had to be the infamous ball and trunion. 6) To make this long story shorter: I replaced the Torque converter, rebuilt the 727transmission, had a new custom balaced slip-yoke driveshaft fabricated, replaced the motor mounts, whole rear axel assembly, swapped harmonic balancer and lower engine pulley (!!!!!!) 7) ALL OF THIS- AND THE VIBRATION HAS NEVER CHANGED! In a few minutes I will, as on so many days, be driven crazy with this vibration as I drive to work. Thank you for listening.
