I have a subtle vibration in the driveline of my car at about 35mph and it continues on up to about 50 MPH. Does anyone have any ideas about this?
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Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
lots of possibilities. would check tire balance, wheels not bent, driveshaft lost its balbnce wieght,and transmission wear. good luck on the detective work ahead. mike -
Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
Thanks for responding Mike, I just put wide whitewall radial tires on the car so the wheel balance shouldn't be the problem. May be a bent wheel however or the drive shaft. Will have that checked.Comment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
Bill,
If the vibration just started with the new tires you should start looking there. I have found a number of out of round radial tires over the years. I usually jack the tire off of the ground about 1 inch. Stick a screwdriver just under the tire until it almost touches the tire in the center. Now spin the tire and see if it gets closer and further from the screwdriver. I hope you can get the picture. If you set it up at the low spot on the tire then the high spot will actually drag on the screwdriver.
Next find one of the tread groves and stick the screwdriver just under the grove. Looking at the screwdriver and the grove spin the tire and see if the grove stays right over the screw driver or drifts from side to side. This can indicate a broken cord in the tire or a out of square condition with the tire. Either of these that is noticible will cause the vibration that you feel.Administrator
www.ncrs.orgComment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
I had a vibration in those exact speed ranges on a 61 that proved to be a bent driveshaft.Comment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
I agree with Ed. Generally, drive shaft related balance problems begin around 30 MPH (depending on diff ratio) and wheel/tire balance problems normally starts to show around 55-65 MPH, again depending on tire circ.
The drive shaft would be the first thing I would look at. If no problems are found, check drive shaft to transmission and diff angles which could be off because of improper or incorrect transmission mount height. Also quite common is a bent companion flange on the differential. If the flange had ever been removed with a large hammer instead of the proper puller, they will deform or bend slightly and that's all it takes to cause the entire rear half of the drive shaft to run untrue.
One more possibility is a twisted output shaft on a BW 4-speed transmission. Severe use over the years (hole shots) will actually twist and bend the shaft and cause the front half of the drive shaft to run untrue. Hope this helps,
MichaelComment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
Mike ; i had forgotten about the t-10 twisted output shaft as a possible cause. The Dipstick Of Lyle is an expert on this issue. perhaps he'll chime in. mikeComment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
Mike,
It is entirely possible that at least ONE of those twisted output shafts was the direct result of a slightly over aggressive start performed decades ago by.....me. Maybe two. We twisted these so badly that it was very difficult to remove the drive shaft yoke. The spline section would show a twist of at least a few degrees and the shaft(s) would show a bend/twist also. Ah, the good ol days of drag racing! Wish I had just a part of that money back.
Maybe three.Comment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
The twisted T-10 output shaft splines are also quite common where "Bubba" has replaced the front yoke with the shorter passenger car yoke; a few holeshots with that, and the correct yoke won't fit any more either.Comment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Vibration
Good point John. I hadn't considered that but I'll bet there are many out there with the exact problem you described.Comment
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