VVViiibbbrraation!

[OldSportsCarNut]

Just joined today. Bought '91 300zx 2+2 NA this past May. Not perfect, but I love it! It has developed a vibration between 35 & 45 mph easily felt with elbow on consul arm rest. One mechanic says drive shaft. Another says left half shaft is loose in or at transfer case. ? Any thoughts or insights greatly appreciated. Also would love to talk to or meet with 300zx folks in southeastern Tennesse area. Thanks!

[NSR240sxe]

I will be of no help to you, sorry but let me be the first to welcome you to NICO!!! Congrats on the Z...lets see some pics. Good luck finding out whats wrong with your Z. I'm sure everyone else here will be very helpful

[OldSportsCarNut]

Thansk for the welcome. Am new at this and hope to learn some stuff and meet some folks. Have been in sports cars since late '50's, MG's, Healey's, a '73 240Z (be nice to have it now!) and a couple of Jag sedans, when they were cheap! The 300zx is awesome; performance and looks.

OldSportsCar Nut, aka Jim

[NSR240sxe]

^ nice Z32!! ^ any plans/mods for the car yet??

[nsrZ32]

Welcome to NICO, nice looking Z32 you've got there.

Chances are really good that your vibration is your driveshaft. Check to see if it is out of balance or shot. If it is look into a one piece aluminum driveshaft instead of the two piece steel one that is on there stock.

[Delox]

2wd transfercase...? what? transmission?

[evildky]

also worth checking the condition of the carrier bearing, any driveshaft shop can check and ballance the shaft , or upgrade to the one piece as suggested by NSR, it's a bit of a drive but Doug Stewart at Crawford Z Car Service in nashville is good experienced and reputable, there is a good ZCCA contingent in Chatanooga and I'm sure there is someone in your area well versed in Z's

[WidebodyZ]

I have the 1PC Z1..love it.

[OldSportsCarNut]

Oops! I call the differential housing a transfer case. Not so I guess, huh? Anyway, is manual transmission. Thanks for responding! OSCN

[OldSportsCarNut]

Am I correct when you say one piece, you mean driveshaft? One mechanic (whom I do not much care for) poo-poo'ed the aluminum one piece but appears may be way to go. Thanks! OSCN

[OldSportsCarNut]

Thanks for your response. This is great. Local mechanic (I don't much care for) bad mouthed the one piece aluminum shaft. Sounds like a good switch to me. Less moving parts and lighter. Will look into it. Oh, do all 300zx's have limited slip differentials? Seems I saw somewhere that they do. Thanks again. OSCN

[evildky]

the aluminum one piece is the way to go if yiou can afford it, if your looking for power gains per dollar it would be bottom of the list, if however you are looking at a replace ro repair on the current shaft it's not a bad idea to upgrade while your at it, and yes all Z32's have viscous LSD, the N/A has the short snout R200 and the TT has the R230

[OldSportsCarNut]

By me, not yet. Previous owner had put cold air intake, flow master exhaust and some nice rims on car. Rright now I am sorting out some mechanical quirks which seller conveniently failed to mention. See below.

[OldSportsCarNut]

Thanks for your response! I had the shaft "balanced" at local shop. Vibration then worse. Talked to shaft shop and they were not to sympathetic. By looks of shop, they seem to concentrate on those big bore 1/4 mile dirt track shell race cars, ie good ole boys. Friday, I ordered an aluminum one piece from Driveshaft Specialist, Inc in San Antonio, TX. Had dealt with them before and they seem to be good peeps. Should have it this week. Will let you know results. OSCN

[OldSportsCarNut]

Again, thanks for the input. Friday I ordered the one piece aluminum shaft from Driveshaft Specialist, Inc in San Antonio, TX. Can afford it but wish I could spend the $$$'s on other needs, like upholestry. Previous owner was kind of turning the car in to what I call a pimp-mobile (ie blue lights under nose and dash and other stuff which, to me, seemed silly and money could have been better spent mechanically.) He also put coil over springs on car and had it so low the first thing I did (after timing belt) was to raise the car back up a bit. It still scrapes the pavement when I pull out of my driveway. Thanks again. Very much enjoy this car but am still learning its quirks. I am sure more questions, postings are to come. OSCN

[evildky]

if the previous owner messed wtih the suspension you really need to take it to a GOOD alignment shop and have it aligned, when you drop or raise the car you change the alignment of many suspension components and could be the source of your vibration, I'd suggest finding your local chapter of the scca and find out who they use for alignments, a lot of the production shops just don't put the care into an alignment that they should, especially with all the adjustments available on the Z32

[OldSportsCarNut]

Gosh, thanks for THAT input. Rings true. I replaced front rotors due to excessive wobble. Seemed to cure problem but was still hint of wobble now and then, but not under braking. So, had wheels balanced and tech pointed out left frt tar (that's tire in the south ) was wearing as tho out of alignment. Will check it out asap! Great. Really appreciate all this help from all of you out there. Now if this were an MBA/MGB forum, I could return the favors. :-) OSCN

[OldSportsCarNut]

Well gang, just wanted to let you know. One piece aluminum shaft installed. What a difference! Like new car, well almost. Thanks to all of you on your comments and suggestions. Would like to recommend Driveshaft Specialist Inc in San Antonio, TX. 1 888-455-6622 or thrashdriveshaft.com/. Very nice people, good product. Watch for other postings from OSCN. Still have more quircks and questions. Thanks again, all. OSCN

[Outkast]

Where is Harrison at, I'm in Nashville.

Mines a white 91 TTZ