Help with vibration over 60 mph

Pinkston

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Mebane, NC
So I was in a wreck in my tow rig a little over a month ago. It is a 2001 dodge 3500 4x4 on 22.5s. The rear drivers side tire was hit which bent my dana 80 and broke the leaf spring u-bolts, etc. The insurance company totaled the truck and I bought it back.

I have it all put back together now minus the bed.
-New rear springs, u-bolts, factory blocks
-New axles housing with my old guts put back in it
-1 new wheel and 2 new tires(new tires were both put on the front)
-New u-joints in the drive shaft and balanced
-New bilstein 5100 shocks
-New Drivers side brake drum and new rear shoes on both sides
-New bearings in the rear drivers hub.
-New rear sway bar links


I think thats every thing I replaced. Started driving the truck and found it has a nice vibration above 60 mph. I got a couple buddies to follow me and was told the rear axle was jumping all over the place. We figured the tires needed to be balanced. I just got the truck back today after balancing all 6 tires, all new ball joints, and a alignment. The truck still has the same sake above 60 mph. It is pretty smooth below 60, except for not having a bed or weight on the rear axle. Above 60 it is like flipping a switch, it just starts shaking and gets worse with speed. Pretty sure it is not death wobble. I thought a little weight on the rear axle may help so I hooked up to a trailer and pulled the buggy around, but it still had the skake.

Would love some ideas.

Bad balance on the drive shaft?
Is the hub itself bent?
Wheel Adapter for the 22.5s?

After I get back from Fall Crawl we are going to put some stock tires and wheels on it and see what happens.
 
Bent mount or frame causing the rear axle to be out of alignment with the front?
 
The frame seems straight, but I am going to have it checked out by a body shop when I get a bed to put on it. The drivers rear leaf spring hanger was bent, but I cut the rivets off and replaced it.

I am thinking its possible there is still a issue with the drive shaft. I may need to take it to another shop and get another opinion.
 
Retorq the rear u bolts???
 
The u-bolts were retorqued after a day of driving.

I have the axle shafts from the parts axle in it, not from the bent axle.
 
I swapped parts into a new housing including differend axle shafts. I am not reusing the axle shafts from the bent axle.

The drive shaft is a 2 piece. it was rebuild with all new u-joints and balanced. The shop that balanced it did say it had a bend in it. It looks like they cut a couple of the welds to fix it.
 
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