Recommendations for driveshaft balancing in ABQ?

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mopardude505

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I'm working on a '68 barracuda. Got it idling well but shakes pretty violently in drive. My best guess is it needs some driveshaft balancing.

Does anyone know a decent shop in or around Albuquerque?
 
I presume in drive means going down the road when the drive shaft is actually spinning.
 
rklein383 said:
I presume in drive means going down the road when the drive shaft is actually spinning.
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Haha haven't quite gotten that far yet...so drive means up on jack stands with the transmission (904) in "D". For context, in Neutral and Park, I get the normal amount of vibrations when I give it some gas. A little engine vibration seems normal for the old V8. But when it's in "D" the shakes become much more pronounced. That leads me to think it might be an unbalanced driveshaft. But if you have other thoughts, I'd love to know! All potential diagnoses welcome :)
 
But short answer: Yes, the driveshaft is spinning during the vibration. And vibration increases as speed/RPM increases.
 
Are your u-joints in good condition? Have you looked under the car when the driveshaft is spinning and is there any obvious signs of the driveshaft being bent?
 
rklein383 said:
Are your u-joints in good condition? Have you looked under the car when the driveshaft is spinning and is there any obvious signs of the driveshaft being bent?
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Hmm good question! How would I recognize a bad U-joint? When I replaced the transmission, the U-joint seemed fine...as in bearing were smooth, nothing too pitted.

As for obvious bending of the driveshaft...I didn't notice any, but I'll take a closer look next time I fire it up. That's a great idea..and I don't know why I didn't think of looking at it while it was spinning!
 
Additionally: How much extra space should there be on the end of the driveshaft that goes into the splines on the transmission (slip yoke)? We put a whole new 904 in this car, and I noticed that the driveshaft doesn't seem to go into the transmission as far as it did in the original transmission. The way I've judged this is looking at the exposed, shiny (non greasy) part of the slip yoke. In the new transmission, there's more of the slip yoke exposed outside the rear end of the transmission. But that may just be because the new transmission has a shorter rubber boot!! I wouldn't expect this 904 to be any shorter than the original one! (To my knowledge newer 904s weren't shorter than the earlier 904s.

But it's my understanding that the slip yoke shouldn't bottom out in the transmission anyways. Correct me if I'm wrong and need a longer driveshaft!
 
Took about 30 seconds to search on line for you.

Best 3 Driveshaft Repair in Albuquerque, NM with Reviews - YP.com
Alaso the jackstands need to be under the axle housing to keep the driveline in normal alignment with the trans and differential. And vibration is not normal on any Mopar V-8 that has not had any internal changes (Cam etc...) and is tuned properly.
 
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Try taking the shaft out & turning 180* on the pinion yoke.
 
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