bent driveshaft WTF???

[pejsa s-13]

so i was driving my truck the other night and i started to notice a wobble from my drive line under 20 mph........ starting and slowing down is pretty brutal and down shifting, even worse.

i thought it was just the driveshaft carrier bearing or maybe the trans or engine mount? i was wrong

so i took it to a shop to get an inspection and they tell me my drive shaft is bent

they also tell me they see it alot with lowered trucks??????

what the hell is going on?

[PEZi]

is this on the hardbody?

i've never heard of it before

i've heard of driveshafts becoming unbalanced... but not due to lowering... maybe its too low?

[pejsa s-13]

yes on the HB

iv never heard of this happening before either.

how does a steel tube fail????

nothing dramatic happened that would cause this.

i think a u-joint might be failing due to the incorrect angles from lowering.

i dont think its too low i just need those pinion angle shims.

oh well im puttin it up on a lift in auto shop in a min to see for myself

[PEZi]

well... let us know what ya see!

[RT22]

Get a second opinion unless while lowered you hit a speed bump with shaft how would it bend being 2 piece makes it unlikely unless hit

[Desert Rat]

Either you hit it, or you bottomed it out due to being lowered. When lowered, the distance from the carrier bearing to the rear axle is shortened.

[pejsa s-13]

no i put it up on the lift and had my buddy hop in and spin the wheels

pep boys is retarded

my driveshaft is not bent, the carrier bearing is just shot! woooo this is going to be fun lol

[rizzobc]

no i put it up on the lift and had my buddy hop in and spin the wheels

pep boys is retarded

my driveshaft is not bent, the carrier bearing is just shot! woooo this is going to be fun lol

Dude you hit the nail on the head. Those A-HOLES were just trying to get you to spend more cash on crap you didn't need. They tried that crap with me a few years back and all it was was a u-joint went bad. I say F pepboys

[pejsa s-13]

dude and this isnt the first time they pulled this crap on me too!!!!

i went to get my tires balanced a while back and they charged me $10 per wheel (not bad IMO) but i start driving the truck and it was still shakey so i looked at the weights and the only balanced 2 of my wheels but still charged me $40 and i requested tape weights but the put the clamp on weights on just on the back side of the wheel as if i wouldnt notice i went back and ripped them a new one to say the least

[Rev_D21]

As a former Pepboys employee, don't take your vehicle to Pepboys...EVER!

[pejsa s-13]

yea iv had it with them

i had taken a few previous vehicles to firestone with no problems though i might end up going there from now on

[Desert Rat]

Call the better business bureau on them.

[Dj Hentai]

You might want to look into having it shortened even if it's just the CB shot. How far is your truck dropped? When I went past 3" my driveshaft started hitting the tailshaft seal in the trans and damaged it, I had to have it shortened 3/4". I might have to get another one as my trans sits in a different spot now. If anyone is having this problem as well, maybe we could trade? lol seeing as I'm on air now I don't need the shorter one anymore.

[pejsa s-13]

dj- i dont quite understand what your saying?

but im goint to be putting in a pathy rearend for the lsd and disk breaks

and when i weld the purches onto the new axle im going to weld them at an angle so the imput on the differential will be pointing down slightly instead of using pinion algle shims

hopefully this will help in the long run

[Desert Rat]

What's important there is that the angle of the pinion equals the angle of the output on the carrier bearing so the driveshaft stays "in phase". You'll minimize vibration that way.

Also keep in mind the Pathy axle is a bit wider than your 2wd axle so you may need to compensate for this with your rim backspacing to keep tires in the fenders.

[pejsa s-13]

do you know exactly how much wider?

[Dj Hentai]

The further you lower the truck, the less angle your driveshaft has which in turn moves it closer and closer to the transmission, and if you used blocks to lower it, and they aren't angled blocks, the driveshaft will contact the seal inside the tail end of the trans and rip it allowing trans fluid to leak out.

Also, it's alot more work, but if you just take the guts out of the pathfinder axle and swap them and the brake hardware into your regular axle housing, you won't have to worry about spacing.

[pejsa s-13]

yea i understand that but what if i weld the purches on so the drive shaft is angled about 10 degrees down to line up the drive line?

and about how wide the axle is i wouldnt mind if it was about 2 or so inches wider,,,,just means better wheel fitment for me =]