[whib]

Hi there,
I just replaced one of the uni joints in my rear driveshaft. the joint closet to the diff. i have never done one before. it was dark though, and my marks of where the lined up came off from hitting the shalf to get the caps out.
how important is it that the that diff end piece goes on the same as what it was? as i drove afterwards and it vibrated a bit under acceleration,

[BlueSuzy]

importantish.

Ends have to be a mirror image to each other.

Then there's only 2 ways to put it in.

[steak_knife]

The spline's are marked with lil dot's, you may need to clean em & pull the boot off to see em, but thay are there,.
Just line the dot's up.

[whib]

the splines at the transfer case end? this is a vitara rear driveshalf aswell btw.

[2stroker]

Hi whib, I think "importantish" is an understatement, the word is actually critical.

This pic is a one piece shaft but it shows how the unis need to be wether it is one or two piece the uni's need to line up like this, even if it is a couple of splines out it will vibrate.

[whib]

hey there thanks for that,
mine looks just like that, and both have been replaced now.
my inital question was just about that pic, on the left hand side, if that small peice got flipped 180 degrees would it matter much?

[whib]

i just pulled it back out again, the splined end that goes into the transfer had no marks to line up, only on the drive shalf it had 12 and 6 oclock marked with a gap of two splines, but these marks had nothing to line up on with the transfer case spline?
im pretty stumped now, and starting to wish i paid someone to do the unis instead of my mate helping and rush us along haha.
would getting it rebalacnced fix the problem?

[2stroker]

if that small peice got flipped 180 degrees would it matter much?

No mate that should not matter at all, the important thing is that on a two piece shaft if you drew a line along the length of the shaft, (kinda like the top edge of the writing on the pic) the uni's should be directly in line one end to the other like in the pic

[royce]

if its a vit shaft and its vibrating under acceleration but not cruising at speed its not likely to be a uni

[whib]

Ah, excellant.
thanks for that. I was getting pretty stumped after triple checking it.
would it be gearbox/transfer or engine mounts?
thanks guys

[royce]

I would think gearbox mounts but mine are soft as and it doesnt vibrate, check your rear arms perhaps

[BlueSuzy]

steknig wrote:

The spline's are marked with lil dot's, you may need to clean em & pull the boot off to see em, but thay are there,.
Just line the dot's up.

Thanks steknig. I used this technique today. Great success!

Rear uni poo'd itself. Got a new shaft, pulled apart to grease, then DOH! my uni's were all over the place, i thought i was on drugs! But then cleaned, found the dots, too easy!

[steak_knife]

No wory's

[whib]

hey guys thanks for the help, im only a pretend mechanic. i sit in an office most the time
the arms are calmini arms so i hope it wouldnt be them.
i rotated the d-shalf on the dif 90` today and it helped its better. the vibration now only occurs accelerating in 2nd gear from 2-3000 rpm only, wierd.

[steak_knife]

whib wrote:

hey guys thanks for the help, im only a pretend mechanic. i sit in an office most the time
the arms are calmini arms so i hope it wouldnt be them.
i rotated the d-shalf on the dif 90` today and it helped its better. the vibration now only occurs accelerating in 2nd gear from 2-3000 rpm only, wierd.

How tight is the uni?? Can you rotate it by hand??
Was the vibration there before you did the uni??
& did you only replace the rear?
Those pesky lil roller's in the uni's can drop out during fitment, causing it to partially seize, you probly wouldn't be able to rotate it by hand if this is the case.
Also try grease if it has a nipple.

[whib]

yea the unis are all nice and free, and they got checked. Im not sure now about the vibration before, probably was. Im probably just extra sensitive to it as i did the work myself haha. it will be fine its not too bad. ill look at new mounts anyway as the gearbox moves a fair bit when the motors turned off.
thanks guys!

[steak_knife]

whib wrote:

yea the unis are all nice and free, and they got checked. Im not sure now about the vibration before, probably was. Im probably just extra sensitive to it as i did the work myself haha. it will be fine its not too bad. ill look at new mounts anyway as the gearbox moves a fair bit when the motors turned off.
thanks guys!

No worry's !!!