I went to a driveline repair shop here in Atlanta to get my U-Joints replaced (car only has about 110,000 miles on it) they also found that the transmission Yoke was worn, there's a groove you can feel (and hopefully see in the picture, it's towards the right side, near the ....dirt) They actually had a nice used one to put in, and did a great job balancing everything, but were of the opinion that I should get the bushing in the output shaft housing (IIRC) replaced probably in the next feel weeks. Thing is, I am a bit short on funds right now. I was going to ask at the transmission shop next to their business what they thought, and the cost, but they didn't come out of the next room (they could hear the bell as I came in) so My Dad called a transmission shop near where we live and the guy he talked to said it would cost a few hundred dollars, crossmember would have to come down, etc but that really I'd only have to deal with fluid leakage, that it wasn't that important ! I am confused at this point, is it really important? am I going to beat up the new u-joints, or harm the transmission? oh, I forgot, the vibration I have been dealing with off and on at highway speeds on the way to work, got VERY bad last friday as I was almost downtown...pulled over before it would really be hard to pull over, checked tires for tread separation, etc. didn't find any issue. decided to head back went to brake guy we have used for years he drove it, and didn't really feel the vibration. he did NOT think it was U-joints, but had told me awhile ago that I would need u-joints sometime soon. Haven't been back at highway speeds (then bumper to bumper traffic heating things up) thought it could be brake related, guy at brake shop said sometimes a bad master cylinder can cause brakes to grab, and to check temp of wheels, if one was hot enough to burn your hand, that could be the issue, but I had it replaced just a few months ago, so that seems unlikely...sorry for the length here, just wanted to mention this as to why I went to get u-joints in the first place. and that vibration got a lot worse after 20+ miles on the road... hmmm, perhaps photo is too big? will try to upload again after resizing. Thanks.
If you are unwilling or unable to work on your car, then you have to pay a shop to do the work. Dropping the driveshaft, unbolting the cross member, and unbolting the extension housing are not hard jobs. Take the extension housing off, bring it to a transmission shop and let them replace the bushing for you. Then bolt everything back together. It isn't a hard job, but you will loose some fluid. You can minimize that by getting the back of the car higher. While the driveshaft is off, take it to a driveshaft shop and have them replace the U joints.
Worn/ovalled yoke and shot bushing. Been there and done that. Can vibrate like hell. Do as Larry says.
thanks guys...If I wasn't clear above, they did replace the u-joints along with the ("new" Used Yoke) I was just concerned if I would do further damage by driving it a few hundred miles a week with this issue...I can do some things (carbs, plugs, alternators) but never done anything like this. We are down a car right now, I have to have a car to get to work....
Depending how bad the bushing is, you could damage the new yoke. Not sure why the bushing wasn't taken care of when you had the work done.
Your original was a little hard to follow. Have you driven it since the yoke & u-joint were replacement? Did it still vibrate? The groove is likely from the crud on / around the rear seal. I've seen that before. The bushing area doesn't look too bad but the image isn't that great. The rear bushing in the tail shaft of the transmission is a softer metal than the yoke. Get under the car and see if you have slack / clearance when you try to move the yoke / u-joint just replaced around. If it is solid, the bushing is likely not too bad and you could drive it a bit but I'd still want to eyeball it and make sure it isn't eaten up or embedded with slivers of the old yoke. You could even get a tail shaft housing from a junk yard or transmission shop. Just be sure to swap the driven gear for the speedometer. If the bushing and rear seal aren't bad in it, swap them in about an hour with nothing but jack stands, a jack and a few wrenches since you already know your way around the drive shaft. If the bushing is bad, get it replaced along with the rear seal and same thing, swap them in about an hour. Bushing is probably less than $20 new
My GN had .020 of radial plan in the rear trans bushing. 200R4 s do not have removable tail shaft housings so I did it in the car, took about an hour and a half. Now I have .003 radial play. I didn't have a vibration but I was concerned that it would damage the transmissions internal bushings.
They wont pull the crissmember. Drive it till you can practice at a junk yard. Then bring them a tailhousing. Ask for a bush, a seal , and a large o ring or gasget if its a 400. And bring it clean. Shouldnt be more than 50 bucks. 5 minutes tops.
From the looks of the yoke its a TH350 trans. Those had 2 style tail housings with a 1 inch or 2 inch plug for the speedometer gear mount. The cheapest is get the correct one from the yard, swap the speedo gear from your car (or use the opportunity to adjust your speedo), and put it on your trans, as described above. Probably the seal failed on yours because the yoke was moving around so much. Bruce Roe
A transmission shop probably won't even remove the extension housing. There is a tool that pulls the bushing out of the housing with it still on the trans. It takes less than 5 minutes with the driveshaft removed.
