Vibration

[DerekP]

I took the old girl out (the car not the wife) for a cruise on the weekend and noticed that I'm getting a vibration in the back of the seat under acceleration (the harder the acceleration the worse it becomes) and also at around 70/80 k's. I thinking centre bearing but thought I'd get a few experts opinion on the matter.

Cheers

[commy vk]

I'm putting my money on the center bearing (personal experience).
Even if it isn't that given the age of the car it would'nt hurt to replace it anyway.
Not too much of a drama to do and you might as well do the uni joints.
Have you lowered the car at all because there are spacers there at the bearing housing.

[SL/ENUT]

The rubber on the centre bearing has gone. My sle had that once.

[DerekP]

It's standard hight.

Is it something that will let go without warning or just get slowly worse over time? I mean, is it something that I need to get on to right away or can I just live with it for a while?

Cheers

[commy vk]

It's up to you and depends on how long U want to put up with it but if the bearing is dry it will just be a matter of time before it'll seize up.You can get under the car and push the tailshaft up and down and keep an eye on the centre bearing as you are doing it.If there is any play then i'd say it was cactus.Better to be safe than sorry.There is no fun in breaking down on the highway.

[VK SL 3800]

Could also be the unis if they are worn but usually they make lot of noise as well, check you engine mounts also.

[DerekP]

Fortunately there is no noise with it, just an annoying vibration where it used to be a very smooth ride..

I will check the mounts also, thanks.

[ari666]

sabbath's VT center bearing went while dirbatua and myself were in the car. not fun. drove back to dirbys place with the most HORRIBLE noise you could imagine. luckily he hadnt stuffed his diff yolk, but the uni was mashed, one of the outer races had come off, all the needles were on the road somewhere near hallam. we dodgie fixed it by changing an old VK center bearing and replacing the uni "to get him home".........

the center bearing gave out again about a month later, but this time it took out part of his exhaust, diff pinion, bearing hanger, floor pan etc.

just something to ponder.

[jcvhsle]

from my experience i would say the centre bearing too. do it soon, as they get worse they can slap pretty badly under there. not nice

[SL/ENUT]

Also get tailshaft rebalanced too.

[DerekP]

sabbath's VT center bearing went while dirbatua and myself were in the car. not fun. drove back to dirbys place with the most HORRIBLE noise you could imagine. luckily he hadnt stuffed his diff yolk, but the uni was mashed, one of the outer races had come off, all the needles were on the road somewhere near hallam. we dodgie fixed it by changing an old VK center bearing and replacing the uni "to get him home".........

the center bearing gave out again about a month later, but this time it took out part of his exhaust, diff pinion, bearing hanger, floor pan etc.

just something to ponder.

Jesus, you really know how to put the fear of god into a guy!!

I better get on to it..............

Cheers

[Darren_L]

you can tell if it's the centre bearing rubber/hanger by getting under the car and checking it. Grab the tailshaft and push it up and down. If the rubber is stuffed you'll see a big crack in it and the tailshaft will have a lot of up & down movement.

if the rubber is ok, I'd go with uni-joints. Drop the back end of the tailshaft off the diff and check if the uni's are tight/binding. They should move freely. If not replace them. I had the very same problem in my VH and it turned out to be a stuffed rear uni-joint.

[DerekP]

Yeah maybe I'll just replace centre bearing, uni's and get a prop shaft balance while I'm at it - cover all bases. I don't have the tools for this sort of job - any idea on cost?

[VK SL 3800]

Unis you can do with basic tools, center bearing you really should use a press but you can belt them on with a hammer but i wouldn't recommend it, balancing prices varies from place to place, in wagga it costs like $400 but im sure you can find a cheaper place.

[DerekP]

400 bucks, wow! must be quite involved.... Are uni's hard to do, anything to watch for? I might have a crack at them myself..

[VK SL 3800]

400 bucks, wow! must be quite involved.... Are uni's hard to do, anything to watch for? I might have a crack at them myself..

You will be able to find a cheaper place, i ended up not bothering because of that price and im not having any problems. Unis are usually pretty good, take out the little clips in behind then just bash away on something round like a piece of pipe, all you do is belt one side down which pops the other side out, take the cap off flip over and belt it back through so then the other side just pops out, can be a pain if theyve been in a while, WD-40 helps. But if they feel fine then there not the problem.

[ari666]

all you do is belt one side down which pops the other side out,

soz. i have to disagree with this. belting one side down will just damage the tailshaft. it should be all that hard to do, you need to get a crowbar inbetween one of the free arms of the uni and lever it downwards. the caps actually come off backwards and there is a stop in the tailshaft so you cant push them inwards too far when you are reassembling. soz if i am not being too clear. its early. so instead i have drawn a terrible picture.

[Tim89]

the vh is a old car mate id just change the centre bearing an the uni's at the same time. it wouldnt hurt to get the drive shaft ballanced while you have it out the car. i got a price to balance my drive shaft of $150 3 days ago from VEEM im perth. shouldnt be much of the mark els were.

[ari666]

400 bucks sounds about right to get the whole lot done. center CV, center bearing and blance.

[monkeys437]

400 bucks, wow! must be quite involved.... Are uni's hard to do, anything to watch for? I might have a crack at them myself..

It might be a bit cheaper to take the tailshaft out and take it to a driveshaft shop. If you take the car to a mechanic to get it done they usually send it to a driveshaft shop anyways to get balanced and unis fitted and charge a bit extra on top of that.

[commy vk]

I agree with the comments re the CB so far and i'd just like to point out that even if someone takes their shaft off and takes it to be done and balanced.
Is it as simple to just hook it all back up and end of problems?
I suppose I am one of the lucky ones that could get away with doing just a changeover bearing and unis for well under $100.
Someone has already posted about the spacers.I have lowered my car and it is fine without them,but it may not work for everyone.
Is it a case of trial and error?

[VK SL 3800]

400 bucks sounds about right to get the whole lot done. center CV, center bearing and blance.

The 400 bucks was just for a balance, not fitting anything!

[ari666]

oh rly??? im sure i got a quote for 150 to do mine that was years ago and i have drunk a lot of beer since then, so could be wrong.

[hiy_po]

I have my receipt dated 29/09/2010. Its from ADS (Advanced Driveshaft Services) its in Kewdale WA

Supply and fit new 6cyl uni (U/J -17R HI-PERFORMANCE) to suit my VK borg 5 speed $27.27
Rear uni was replaced (U/J KIT - 2R HI-PERFORMANCE) $31.82
new CV joint fitted (UCV-855A) $136.37
New Centre Bearing (CCB-952)
Labour (MODIFY AND BALANCE 2 PIECE COMMODORE SHAFT AS REQUIRED) $181.82

They list 2x OPP Supplies (Not sure what that is) @ $18.18
plus GST $42.73
total $470.00

[NPreston]

I have a receipt 22/4/2010 from Hardy Spicer for $377.30 including GST.
I supplied a VN and a VL tailshaft and had them use the front of the VN shaft and the rear of the VL shaft, replace both unis, centre bearing, check and repack the CV joint, fit a new slip yoke and balance.