DJ_Sunrise

Hey guys... Installed a 1piece aluminum drive shaft today. It wouldn't fit with the dust collar on, so I removed that.. Still wouldn't go on, so I took off the tranny mount and let the trans drop in order to put the shaft on. Even then, I had to pop it in place.. It just barely cleared. Bolted everything back up. Shaft seemed to turn normal.

Heres the problem..
I drove the car around, heard a few funky noises I can't really put my hands on. Several times, but not all the time, when I was coming to a stop.. From about 10mph to a complete stop the car vibrated and shook like crazy. Not a little, a lot.. to the point where the car felt like a giant fucken vibrator.

Any ides what could be causing this?? Could the drive shaft be too long?

-Bart

ReLevent1

my guess is the shaft isn't balanced very well

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Turbogeek

you'll always get more vibration with a one piece, but shouldn't be extreme. Have it checked out at a driveline shop and contact the vendor you got it from

NemeGuero

or replace your tranny/engine mounts.

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mmdb

Did you get it from Driveshaft shop? I had to cut off my dust cover as well. You will get some clunking, similar sound if you're running a tranny with no oil. As far as vibration, I'm not get much, if any. Double check what these guys have said above.

!Zar!

First do as stated and check your engine/tranny mounts.

I'd suggest you rotate your driveshaft and see if that remedies your problem.

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DJ_Sunrise

Nothing should have to be rotated, its a 1 piece shaft... I found the problem. The shaft was made so fucking long that the shaft and transmission are rubbing on each other. Fucking assholes cut that shit way too long. Now I have to take the whole fucking thing off and try to sand the flange down. It rubs like a bitch where the trans and shaft connect. Tranny and engine mounts are new Nismos. Tranny brace is at 60ft. lbs. tq. FUCCCKK. Saturday I was supposed to go get my shit tuned.

-Bart

EDIT: Do you guys think I should take a grinder to the yoke and transmission and add a bit of clearance???

gotta240

i think you should return it.... A driveshaft breaks/comes apart is VERY dangerous. Sounds like it's too long, or you ordered it for the wrong diff(ie:vlsd or non)

aznpoopy

make sure you ordered / received the right one

there is a long one for 240sx's without ABS and a short one for 240sx's with ABS. the abs diff is longer than the non abs

Dream240

Yeah you shouldn't be grinding on the driveshaft or tranny. You'll alter the characteristics of the driveshaft by taking metal away from it.

You got the wrong one or the guys you got it from don't know how to use a measuring tape.

Take it back and get them to make you the correct size one. Hell I would if I paid that much for a part. Was the shop local? Where'd you get it from?

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NemeGuero

Yah, where DID you get it from, so we know not to get it.

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DJ_Sunrise

Whats the difference in the ABS and non ABS cars? Are the diff outputs longer or shorter??

-Bart

Sir

ABS diff is longer - driveshaft shorter

so if you put a non-abs (longer) driveshaft and used ABS diff, shit will be too long.

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Dream240

Actually it's the differential inputs that are different. Do you have ABS or not?

If your shaft is too long then you either got one for non-abs and you have abs, or you got one for auto and you have a manual tranny ~ IIRC.

Personally I love it when girls tell me my shaft is too long.....

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uwntsum

I kinda skipped through some of the other posts. But this sounds like a Driveshaft Shop (DSS) 1pc alum driveshaft. I had the same problem. Drive shaft was 1.5 inches too long. Which ended up destroying the rear section of the tranny along with the bearing. If you line it up with ur stock driveshaft you will notice the difference. In any case DSS didn't do anything about. I had to bring it to a local driveshaft shop where it was cut and shortened and re-balanced and i put in new U-joints since the owner was complaing how crappy the joints were. Not to mention DSS used some cheap rivets to apply weights to the driveshaft. Really bad expierence with DSS.

Another note, I told DSS that my car was a Base model S14 w/ no abs. The box and label on the box stated non-abs. My fault for not mocking up the stock one to the new one before installing. Lesson well learned. But DSS is claiming they sent the correct one.

aznpoopy

see the above five or six posts and next time don't skip

you bought the wrong length driveshaft
they make two different ones for s-chassis cars

Dream240

Well in DDS defense, I ordered a Steel one-piece and they sent me the right one, fit perfect, works perfect.

What I don't understand was the second you saw that it didn't fit what did you do? cram, beat, curse, and generally will that thing into place? I would have pulled it out, took some pictures, and then proceeded to contact the shop. I'm sure you could have gotten it resolved peacefully through them. I hear almost nothing bad about DDS driveshafts, and my own experience supports that.

Oh and so you know, the u-joints that they used on mine were OEM. I had to wait an extra month so that they could get them in stock. And from what they said they had quite a few orders on hold until they got them in. Sounds like the "shop owner" you went to ripped you off. I've heard stories like yours a million times. $120 bucks later you think you got a good deal and you're thankful to the owner for pointing out your "poor quality" part. Gimme a break. I hate assholes like that, they really make the auto repair industry suck hairy balls.

Sorry but you just got ripped off. Far as I can tell your story is an isolated DSS incident.

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!Zar!

Not quite topic related being as how you've pretty much found your problem, but rotating the shaft can remedy vibration. It's a little trick that I've seen work.

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DJ_Sunrise

My car does not have ABS.. But I do have a J30 LSD. Is this something that might have fucked it all up?? Ughh.. this fucking blows. I was supposed to go to DSG this saturday.. If I have to call this thing off again, it'll be the 3rd time I schedule an appointment.. The shaft spins by hand, so it isn't hitting the tranny that bad.. Just when I'm coming to a stop below 5mph occasionally.. Sometimes it doesn't "hit" the tranny I guess, and doesn't make the crazy vibration. I was thinking of grinding the tranny end down a bit just enough so I can get to DSG(5 hr drive) to get my car tuned and back.. Probably not a good idea. One word sum's everything up. FUCK.

-Bart

aznpoopy

yes... as stated earlier its the diff size affects how long the driveshaft should be . that's why dss specifies abs vs. non abs

i guess the j30 LSD is too long for the non-abs dss shaft.

NemeGuero

It is. As long as your J30 diff has the ABS sensor.. thats why it won't fit.

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DJ_Sunrise

Fuck. My fault there then, not the guys.. I got it from ujointmaster on ebay. I told him it is too long and why. He is going to cut it down a bit, and sent it back. Should be back in a week.. Until then, I'm replacing the center bearing on the old drive shaft. NOTHING is stopping me from going to DSG this weekend. ITS FUCKEN ON!!!!

Do you guys know if the center bearing presses out, or what?

-Bart