vibration at highway speeds also... still
03-02-2009, 10:33 PM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
vibration at highway speeds also... still
I have read threads for hours and still have no solution. I have done everything that everyone has suggested... I have a 79 l82 4 speed, and everything has been changed, ether because I blew it up or chasing this darn vibration. It is the same as the person that had a similar post.
History, have had the car since about 1981, I was 21. When I got it it ran as smooth as silk, at 100+ it just squatted down and hugged the road, it was wonderful, that was then this is now...
somewhere along the line, and I don't know exactly where it went south, started handling like a boat on the water and vibration started coming through the shifter, and steering wheel, around 70 mph, Seems to be worse under load, ether acceleration or deceleration, but smoothes out somewhere in the middle..When I was young I was not so rich and only made repairs when needed and when I had to. so recently I went to work on my Baby
The following have less than 2,00 miles on it: 383 stroker balanced, Richmond super T-10, Richmond rear-end, balanced half shafts and drive shaft new ujounts, rotes, calipers, front springs-550, trw rear, Bilsten sports, All new interior, Shifter linkage, tires & balanced 3 times on different machines, Centerforce clutch, duel exhaust, borla mufflers. Trailing arms were replaced 30K miles ago, front A-arm bushings 10K with poly. I have got almost $20K in this car in the last 7 months in just mods and repairs. And the vibration continues.... Faster than hell, but feels like a 70 dodge truck on a bad road at around 70. Rev engine, no vib, coast at 70, 80, 90... no vib, BUT drive at 70 and the tank returns. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! The only thing I can think of that is left is this drive train alignment... which nobody in town seems to understand. I do most all the work myself because I like to and have been working on cars all my life out of the love for them, also it seems that no matter what I pay they do it half ***... help.... please???
History, have had the car since about 1981, I was 21. When I got it it ran as smooth as silk, at 100+ it just squatted down and hugged the road, it was wonderful, that was then this is now...
somewhere along the line, and I don't know exactly where it went south, started handling like a boat on the water and vibration started coming through the shifter, and steering wheel, around 70 mph, Seems to be worse under load, ether acceleration or deceleration, but smoothes out somewhere in the middle..When I was young I was not so rich and only made repairs when needed and when I had to. so recently I went to work on my Baby
The following have less than 2,00 miles on it: 383 stroker balanced, Richmond super T-10, Richmond rear-end, balanced half shafts and drive shaft new ujounts, rotes, calipers, front springs-550, trw rear, Bilsten sports, All new interior, Shifter linkage, tires & balanced 3 times on different machines, Centerforce clutch, duel exhaust, borla mufflers. Trailing arms were replaced 30K miles ago, front A-arm bushings 10K with poly. I have got almost $20K in this car in the last 7 months in just mods and repairs. And the vibration continues.... Faster than hell, but feels like a 70 dodge truck on a bad road at around 70. Rev engine, no vib, coast at 70, 80, 90... no vib, BUT drive at 70 and the tank returns. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! The only thing I can think of that is left is this drive train alignment... which nobody in town seems to understand. I do most all the work myself because I like to and have been working on cars all my life out of the love for them, also it seems that no matter what I pay they do it half ***... help.... please???
03-02-2009, 10:42 PM
#2
Le Mans Master
I have read threads for hours and still have no solution. I have done everything that everyone has suggested... I have a 79 l82 4 speed, and everything has been changed, ether because I blew it up or chasing this darn vibration. It is the same as the person that had a similar post.
History, have had the car since about 1981, I was 21. When I got it it ran as smooth as silk, at 100+ it just squatted down and hugged the road, it was wonderful, that was then this is now...
somewhere along the line, and I don't know exactly where it went south, started handling like a boat on the water and vibration started coming through the shifter, and steering wheel, around 70 mph, Seems to be worse under load, ether acceleration or deceleration, but smoothes out somewhere in the middle..When I was young I was not so rich and only made repairs when needed and when I had to. so recently I went to work on my Baby
The following have less than 2,00 miles on it: 383 stroker balanced, Richmond super T-10, Richmond rear-end, balanced half shafts and drive shaft new ujounts, rotes, calipers, front springs-550, trw rear, Bilsten sports, All new interior, Shifter linkage, tires & balanced 3 times on different machines, Centerforce clutch, duel exhaust, borla mufflers. Trailing arms were replaced 30K miles ago, front A-arm bushings 10K with poly. I have got almost $20K in this car in the last 7 months in just mods and repairs. And the vibration continues.... Faster than hell, but feels like a 70 dodge truck on a bad road at around 70. Rev engine, no vib, coast at 70, 80, 90... no vib, BUT drive at 70 and the tank returns. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! The only thing I can think of that is left is this drive train alignment... which nobody in town seems to understand. I do most all the work myself because I like to and have been working on cars all my life out of the love for them, also it seems that no matter what I pay they do it half ***... help.... please???
History, have had the car since about 1981, I was 21. When I got it it ran as smooth as silk, at 100+ it just squatted down and hugged the road, it was wonderful, that was then this is now...
somewhere along the line, and I don't know exactly where it went south, started handling like a boat on the water and vibration started coming through the shifter, and steering wheel, around 70 mph, Seems to be worse under load, ether acceleration or deceleration, but smoothes out somewhere in the middle..When I was young I was not so rich and only made repairs when needed and when I had to. so recently I went to work on my Baby
The following have less than 2,00 miles on it: 383 stroker balanced, Richmond super T-10, Richmond rear-end, balanced half shafts and drive shaft new ujounts, rotes, calipers, front springs-550, trw rear, Bilsten sports, All new interior, Shifter linkage, tires & balanced 3 times on different machines, Centerforce clutch, duel exhaust, borla mufflers. Trailing arms were replaced 30K miles ago, front A-arm bushings 10K with poly. I have got almost $20K in this car in the last 7 months in just mods and repairs. And the vibration continues.... Faster than hell, but feels like a 70 dodge truck on a bad road at around 70. Rev engine, no vib, coast at 70, 80, 90... no vib, BUT drive at 70 and the tank returns. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! The only thing I can think of that is left is this drive train alignment... which nobody in town seems to understand. I do most all the work myself because I like to and have been working on cars all my life out of the love for them, also it seems that no matter what I pay they do it half ***... help.... please???
Last edited by wombvette; 03-02-2009 at 10:45 PM.
03-02-2009, 11:01 PM
#3
Race Director
Thread Starter
New rear end all (less than 2K like everything else))... Eaton carrier, Richmond R&P.... O and the 3rd one:-)... I have a tendency to be brutal to them... all have done the same as I remember, I rebuilt the first 2, this on was built by a guy back east, Had it checked by th local rear end guy also while he was balancing all the shafts and he said it was a great job... just right,,, tight, but not to tight...
03-02-2009, 11:12 PM
#4
Race Director
Thread Starter
Look at the rear axle shafts. Is the rear low, is the camber to much negative, are the axles at the very least straight out. They should be slightly higher at the rear end. Misalignment here will cause vibration when the engine is pulling. Also check for half shaft yoke wear. It is very common on this particular model.
03-03-2009, 12:27 AM
#5
Le Mans Master
03-03-2009, 07:22 AM
#6
Race Director
Thread Starter
well... that is what i have, a buzzing vibration, and it is as irritating as heck. so you are stating to just have the rear aligned? and you think it will go away?.... that would be the cheapest fix so far... im in DC right now, but when I get home this weekend I will have the rear alignment done... anything you believe I should look out for? thx...
03-03-2009, 09:14 AM
#7
Melting Slicks
If you want to check the drivetrain aligment, I will try an outline the way I do it here in house.....
With the car sitting at ride height, get a reading from the bottom of the tail housing near the end of the case itself (call this reading " A "). Next, get a reading from the middle of the driveshaft tube ( call this " B " ) and finally, with the pinion yoke turned vertically and the c-clip removed, place a socket that has the same diameter or slightly smaller, than the u-joint cup, on the cup and get a reading from the pinion yoke (call this " C ").
Now, take A - B = front working u-joint angle. Next, take C - B = rear working anlge. It is these 2 working angles we are concerned about. They should be equal but opposite (i.e. +2* -2* or +3* and -3* etc...) they cannot vary by more than 1/2* and none of the readings can exceed 5*.
Ideallly we shoot for readings in the +2*, -2* or +3*, -3* range when we set them up here and we have never had any vibration issues when we followed these steps.
I am not saying this is what's wrong with your car, only responding to your statement in your 1st post. Good luck and if I can be if any help, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will help you out as much as I can.
Richard
Tech Support
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03-03-2009, 02:17 PM
#8
Racer
You said it had a 383 stroker balanced. How? Internally or externally, I have seen this many times where the owner has had an externally balanced engine and had it rebuilt or purchased a crate engine, then refitted the external balanced flywheel and balancer. Shake City!
I have also seen the reverse of this as well, and particularly the one pc seal cranks need a specially balanced flywheel to be in balance.
One way to eliminate the drive train, is to get the car to the speed where it's vibrating and slip it into neutral. If the shaking instantly changes, its related to the engine. This will not eliminate the driveshaft, however.
I have also seen the reverse of this as well, and particularly the one pc seal cranks need a specially balanced flywheel to be in balance.
One way to eliminate the drive train, is to get the car to the speed where it's vibrating and slip it into neutral. If the shaking instantly changes, its related to the engine. This will not eliminate the driveshaft, however.
03-03-2009, 03:01 PM
#9
Melting Slicks
You said it had a 383 stroker balanced. How? Internally or externally, I have seen this many times where the owner has had an externally balanced engine and had it rebuilt or purchased a crate engine, then refitted the external balanced flywheel and balancer. Shake City!
I have also seen the reverse of this as well, and particularly the one pc seal cranks need a specially balanced flywheel to be in balance.
One way to eliminate the drive train, is to get the car to the speed where it's vibrating and slip it into neutral. If the shaking instantly changes, its related to the engine. This will not eliminate the driveshaft, however.
I have also seen the reverse of this as well, and particularly the one pc seal cranks need a specially balanced flywheel to be in balance.
One way to eliminate the drive train, is to get the car to the speed where it's vibrating and slip it into neutral. If the shaking instantly changes, its related to the engine. This will not eliminate the driveshaft, however.
Richard
Tech Support
03-03-2009, 04:06 PM
#10
Race Director
Thread Starter
ok... let me redefine, this vibration is only at speed, say 60, 70, 80 mph, it is a buzzing vibration, and it is present on load only, ie acceleration or de-acceleration, if you look for that sweet spot in the middle with the transmission still engaged (T-10) buzz or vibration goes away... this is why i believe it to be a alignment problem. if the rear/ transmission was out of up or down alignment it would only buzz in either acceleration or de-acceleration one or the other, but if alignment was out left right, ie pinion facing front passenger and transmission yoke facing rear passenger it would make sense to me to be doing this. Has anyone else had this problem? I do believe I have read this in other post and there was an alignment check and someway to realign it... how?
03-03-2009, 06:14 PM
#12
Team Owner
I didn't see anything about the age or condition of your tires. Even if they are new, a bad belt in one can give you similar problems. If tires are not the problem, I'd suggest that the flywheel got mis-indexed somewhere along the line...
03-03-2009, 06:44 PM
#13
Intermediate
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Maybe a bad motor mount?
I just changed mine out, and it was smooth running before to 100, but lately at 80 my rear view mirror was vibrating to a point where I could not see anything out of it.
I just changed mine out, and it was smooth running before to 100, but lately at 80 my rear view mirror was vibrating to a point where I could not see anything out of it.
03-05-2009, 02:00 PM
#14
Race Director
Thread Starter
I'm going to bring it by the alignment place in 2 weeks and get a 4 wheel alignment and have them check everything they can and maybe I'll find something there. The tires are new but as with most 15" rim tires they are junk... no more HR, ZR or?? for us... I will be going to a 17" in about 3 months..,We replaced the motor mounts with the new 383 2K miles ago... Rubber ones,... So I would think they would still be good... p:-)
03-05-2009, 02:07 PM
#15
Race Director
Thread Starter
Fly wheel myth/topic?? Went to the machine shop that did the motor work and ask them about all that I have red about out of balance flywheels, here is what they said: A fly wheel that is out of balance was most likely turned on a brake rotor machine, and a lot of people do that, since it does not bolt up correctly this is what causes it. They turn there flywheels on a machine made for that purpose only, so there is little to none, and more likely none that a flywheel turned this way would be out of balance. This was Adams metelizing and they have been in business doing this for over 50 years. So I am going for that my flywheel is ok. p:-)
03-05-2009, 03:01 PM
#16
Melting Slicks
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Fly wheel myth/topic?? Went to the machine shop that did the motor work and ask them about all that I have red about out of balance flywheels, here is what they said: A fly wheel that is out of balance was most likely turned on a brake rotor machine, and a lot of people do that, since it does not bolt up correctly this is what causes it. They turn there flywheels on a machine made for that purpose only, so there is little to none, and more likely none that a flywheel turned this way would be out of balance. This was Adams metelizing and they have been in business doing this for over 50 years. So I am going for that my flywheel is ok. p:-)
Also check all the bolts on the bell housing & transmission to make sure they're tight. I remember someone here found some loose bolts solving a difficult to diagnose vibration
Jim
Last edited by 70BBvert; 03-05-2009 at 04:21 PM.
05-01-2009, 12:29 PM
#17
Race Director
Thread Starter
Well... this is an old problem, but here is what I have done since the last post. Replaced all pulleys with March aluminum, redone the complete front end with all new polly, 4 wheel alignment,,,, still got VVVVVIIBBBBB... AAAAHH!!!
So, I am still on the thought of a misalignment between the engine/transmission and the rear-end.
I took a laser level and set it up to align with the transmission/engine and the laser ends up pointing the the right rear. Then I took the laser and set it up on the rear-end and it pointed to the right front... so instead of a Z alignment or a straight alignment I have a U.... Which I believe would give the vibration under load ether gas on or gas off.... but no vibration in the sweet spot in the middle..
here are some pics of the laser alignment.
So, I am still on the thought of a misalignment between the engine/transmission and the rear-end.
I took a laser level and set it up to align with the transmission/engine and the laser ends up pointing the the right rear. Then I took the laser and set it up on the rear-end and it pointed to the right front... so instead of a Z alignment or a straight alignment I have a U.... Which I believe would give the vibration under load ether gas on or gas off.... but no vibration in the sweet spot in the middle..
here are some pics of the laser alignment.
05-01-2009, 12:52 PM
#19
Le Mans Master
