On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 20:53:44 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:03:36 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 07:01:18 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 20:37:37 +0800, Glenn B
wrote:

On 9/10/2013 4:39 PM, wrote:
On Monday, October 7, 2013 8:08:54 PM UTC-6, Ignoramus3720 wrote:
I have a problem that I noticed with my pick-up truck. The problem is that at certain speeds, such as 40-45 MPH, I feel vibration if I step on the gas pedal and try to accelerate. If I let go of the gas pedal, vibration stops even as the truck continues to drive forward. It has gotten worse lately. I have thought a lot on what could cause it. It does not seem to be related to the engine RPM. I watch the RPM vary and the vibration does not vary with it. What could it be? i

Worn suspension arm bushings caused that in my case, the upper suspension arm bonded bushings had deteriorated to the point where there was only shreds of rubber left. The lowers still had the rubber but the bonding to the inner sleeve was gone. I had another vehicle that still had the original factory tie rod ends, these were also bonded rubber and had gone away. Only rattled at certain speeds and really didn't affect steering, somehow.

Amazing. It should have been wandering all over the road after you
hit even a slight bump.


The parts for these replacements were pretty cheap, had to have a heavy press to replace the bushings. Have had to do this now on several vehicles since I tend to run them until they go to the junkyard. Upper bushings are hard to see on a lot of vehicles, hard to get to, too. Bum ball joints will do this, also, but you usually get a vague drifting feel with the steering when that happens. So check your suspension. Only real way I know of is to detach the upper ball joint, get the spring out and see if there's play on arms or ball joints.
Now that I know how, I can usually do both ball joints and bushings on a Sat. Don't go for super-cheap suspension parts or you'll get to do it again quite soon.

Amen to that.


I've had regular Hooke's u-joints go bad with the needles rusted out and gone, never really had any vibration at speed but had a loud clunk when shifting into reverse, this was on an old IH Scout with a three-speed manual and 4WD. Never really caught on until I downshifted on the highway and the stubs broke off on the cross on the front joint. Very noisy. Was my dad's truck when I was a teen and he plowed all winter with it. Didn't get much maintenance in sub-zero. You should be able to check for u-joint play by jacking up a rear wheel and twisting the drive shaft back and forth by hand.

I heard a Mexi-mobile (some funky old chebby) take off from a parking
lot once. EEK-OOK-EEK-OOK-EEK-OOK from zero to 15mph or so. Must have
driven the driver crazy. It was a pole-vaulting event waiting to
happen. When front u-joints let go, it can make for spectacular
crashes on the freeway.

A highschool classmate had a big-block '67 Chevy that he used to drive
pretty hard - Tearing down the street behind the school and
speedshifting, he took out the front U-joint and poked the driveshaft
right through the diff into the gas-tank - lifting the rear bumper a
few feet in the process and tearing a furrow in the asphault.

My buddy with the '67 Goat went through driveshafts, trannies, diff
nuts, and axles like -popcorn-, but he never went pole vaulting. I
used to kid him about all the money he threw away by being so
aggressive behind the wheel.

When I stood on my Javelin, the whole rear end dropped 7 inches as it
wrapped the springs around the axle, but it then shot like an arrow.
The close ratio Borg tranny was hard to keep up with behind the
slightly built 390. (circa 400hp and 450ft#) I'm really surprised I
never lost a u-joint.


I had a truck's rear u-joint go while I was following it once. The
center flew out and hit my windshield right between my eyes. Luckily,
it was spinning beneficially to the slant of the windshield, so my
F-150 glass only got a shearing scratch there, no puncture. Most of
it polished out. I was -really- lucky that day. A truck cross through
the forehead would have kinda hurt. I avoided the drive shaft which
the truck jumped over because I was in the next lane over by that
time. Talk about adrenaline shakes...


Had the rear U-Joint let go on the AeroScare on the way from Kitchener
to Winnipeg, via Michigan. I had the u-joint replaced by a shop while
I was out of the country in Burkina Faso for a month, knowing I had
the winnipeg trip coming up as soon as I got home, taking my daughter
to University. The mechanic who installed it didn't get the retainer
clip in right and it threw a cup just east of Flint, friday of the
Labour Day weekend. No tools in the truck - no shop able to do the
job - changed it laying on my back under the truck with a combination
of borrowed tools and a vice and hammer I bought at the parts store
where I bought the U-Joint.

I hope you asked for and got a full refund from the jerk who did that
to you. "Refund or lawsuit, what'll it be, sir?" big grin
The "jerk" was my kid brother - and yes, I got a full refund!!!

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:31:25 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 20:53:44 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:03:36 -0400, wrote:
Had the rear U-Joint let go on the AeroScare on the way from Kitchener
to Winnipeg, via Michigan. I had the u-joint replaced by a shop while
I was out of the country in Burkina Faso for a month, knowing I had
the winnipeg trip coming up as soon as I got home, taking my daughter
to University. The mechanic who installed it didn't get the retainer
clip in right and it threw a cup just east of Flint, friday of the
Labour Day weekend. No tools in the truck - no shop able to do the
job - changed it laying on my back under the truck with a combination
of borrowed tools and a vice and hammer I bought at the parts store
where I bought the U-Joint.

I hope you asked for and got a full refund from the jerk who did that
to you. "Refund or lawsuit, what'll it be, sir?" big grin

The "jerk" was my kid brother - and yes, I got a full refund!!!

Good, but here's some advice:

Never [I repeat: -NEVER-] hire family or friends to do work for you.
You'll lose your ass or lose your friend, and neither is worth it.
I hope he understands the possible ramifications of screwing up
something so important. Someone could have been killed, including
you.

P.S: What's "burkina faso"? Is it contagious?

--
Win first, Fight later.

--martial principle of the Samurai

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 17:38:03 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:31:25 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 20:53:44 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:03:36 -0400, wrote:
Had the rear U-Joint let go on the AeroScare on the way from Kitchener
to Winnipeg, via Michigan. I had the u-joint replaced by a shop while
I was out of the country in Burkina Faso for a month, knowing I had
the winnipeg trip coming up as soon as I got home, taking my daughter
to University. The mechanic who installed it didn't get the retainer
clip in right and it threw a cup just east of Flint, friday of the
Labour Day weekend. No tools in the truck - no shop able to do the
job - changed it laying on my back under the truck with a combination
of borrowed tools and a vice and hammer I bought at the parts store
where I bought the U-Joint.

I hope you asked for and got a full refund from the jerk who did that
to you. "Refund or lawsuit, what'll it be, sir?" big grin

The "jerk" was my kid brother - and yes, I got a full refund!!!

Good, but here's some advice:

Never [I repeat: -NEVER-] hire family or friends to do work for you.
You'll lose your ass or lose your friend, and neither is worth it.
I hope he understands the possible ramifications of screwing up
something so important. Someone could have been killed, including
you.

P.S: What's "burkina faso"? Is it contagious?
Like myself, my brother is a professional mechanic. He just sold
his shop last year. He knows. It was his mechanic that actually
installed it I think.

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, formerly known as
"Upper Volta", and Africa DOES seem to be contageous - either that or
inherited, as my daughter (yes, the one we were taking to Wininpeg)
has worked in and with Africa a lot since graduation.

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:03:36 -0400, wrote:
Had the rear U-Joint let go on the AeroScare on the way from Kitchener
to Winnipeg, via Michigan. I had the u-joint replaced by a shop while
I was out of the country in Burkina Faso for a month, knowing I had
the winnipeg trip coming up as soon as I got home, taking my daughter
to University. The mechanic who installed it didn't get the retainer
clip in right and it threw a cup just east of Flint, friday of the
Labour Day weekend. No tools in the truck - no shop able to do the
job - changed it laying on my back under the truck with a combination
of borrowed tools and a vice and hammer I bought at the parts store
where I bought the U-Joint.

I remember changing wheel studs for a friend, one dark
Sunday evening. Due tot he situation, I didn't have my
box of "fix the car" tools with me, and needed a tip
for the ratchet wrench. Went to the next town, and
found a Walmart open. Spent about $100 that moment on
tools. Still have them in the back.


..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 10/10/2013 8:38 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:

Good, but here's some advice:

Never [I repeat: -NEVER-] hire family or friends to do work for you.
You'll lose your ass or lose your friend, and neither is worth it.
I hope he understands the possible ramifications of screwing up
something so important. Someone could have been killed, including
you.


I've met people at church who totally refuse to
do business with people in their congregation.
Same principle.


..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 20:52:48 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 17:38:03 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:31:25 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 20:53:44 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:03:36 -0400, wrote:
Had the rear U-Joint let go on the AeroScare on the way from Kitchener
to Winnipeg, via Michigan. I had the u-joint replaced by a shop while
I was out of the country in Burkina Faso for a month, knowing I had
the winnipeg trip coming up as soon as I got home, taking my daughter
to University. The mechanic who installed it didn't get the retainer
clip in right and it threw a cup just east of Flint, friday of the
Labour Day weekend. No tools in the truck - no shop able to do the
job - changed it laying on my back under the truck with a combination
of borrowed tools and a vice and hammer I bought at the parts store
where I bought the U-Joint.

I hope you asked for and got a full refund from the jerk who did that
to you. "Refund or lawsuit, what'll it be, sir?" big grin

The "jerk" was my kid brother - and yes, I got a full refund!!!

Good, but here's some advice:

Never [I repeat: -NEVER-] hire family or friends to do work for you.
You'll lose your ass or lose your friend, and neither is worth it.
I hope he understands the possible ramifications of screwing up
something so important. Someone could have been killed, including
you.

P.S: What's "burkina faso"? Is it contagious?
Like myself, my brother is a professional mechanic. He just sold
his shop last year. He knows. It was his mechanic that actually
installed it I think.

Passing the buck, eh? Still, working with family and friends is
dangerous. Just Say NO!


Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, formerly known as
"Upper Volta", and Africa DOES seem to be contageous - either that or
inherited, as my daughter (yes, the one we were taking to Wininpeg)
has worked in and with Africa a lot since graduation.

g

--
In the depth of winter, I finally learned
that within me there lay an invincible summer.
-- Albert Camus

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 21:13:03 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 20:52:48 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 17:38:03 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:31:25 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 20:53:44 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:03:36 -0400, wrote:
Had the rear U-Joint let go on the AeroScare on the way from Kitchener
to Winnipeg, via Michigan. I had the u-joint replaced by a shop while
I was out of the country in Burkina Faso for a month, knowing I had
the winnipeg trip coming up as soon as I got home, taking my daughter
to University. The mechanic who installed it didn't get the retainer
clip in right and it threw a cup just east of Flint, friday of the
Labour Day weekend. No tools in the truck - no shop able to do the
job - changed it laying on my back under the truck with a combination
of borrowed tools and a vice and hammer I bought at the parts store
where I bought the U-Joint.

I hope you asked for and got a full refund from the jerk who did that
to you. "Refund or lawsuit, what'll it be, sir?" big grin

The "jerk" was my kid brother - and yes, I got a full refund!!!

Good, but here's some advice:

Never [I repeat: -NEVER-] hire family or friends to do work for you.
You'll lose your ass or lose your friend, and neither is worth it.
I hope he understands the possible ramifications of screwing up
something so important. Someone could have been killed, including
you.

P.S: What's "burkina faso"? Is it contagious?
Like myself, my brother is a professional mechanic. He just sold
his shop last year. He knows. It was his mechanic that actually
installed it I think.

Passing the buck, eh? Still, working with family and friends is
dangerous. Just Say NO!

I would have done it myself, but I had about 36 hours between hitting
the ground in Toronto and leaving Waterloo for Winnipeg. Would have
been 54 or so, but the flight from Ouagadougou tp Paris was late so we
missed our connection and had to spend the night in Paris.

My dad worked for his older brother for quite a number of years. THAT
doesn't usually work out very well (and didn't in this case). A lot of
my customers became friends, and a lot of friends became customers,
and I never lost a friend due to work. Did a lot of work for family
too - and still do. They all realize I need to make a living too.

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, formerly known as
"Upper Volta", and Africa DOES seem to be contageous - either that or
inherited, as my daughter (yes, the one we were taking to Wininpeg)
has worked in and with Africa a lot since graduation.

g

On Fri, 11 Oct 2013 13:09:48 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 21:13:03 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 20:52:48 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 17:38:03 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:31:25 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 20:53:44 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:03:36 -0400, wrote:
Had the rear U-Joint let go on the AeroScare on the way from Kitchener
to Winnipeg, via Michigan. I had the u-joint replaced by a shop while
I was out of the country in Burkina Faso for a month, knowing I had
the winnipeg trip coming up as soon as I got home, taking my daughter
to University. The mechanic who installed it didn't get the retainer
clip in right and it threw a cup just east of Flint, friday of the
Labour Day weekend. No tools in the truck - no shop able to do the
job - changed it laying on my back under the truck with a combination
of borrowed tools and a vice and hammer I bought at the parts store
where I bought the U-Joint.

I hope you asked for and got a full refund from the jerk who did that
to you. "Refund or lawsuit, what'll it be, sir?" big grin

The "jerk" was my kid brother - and yes, I got a full refund!!!

Good, but here's some advice:

Never [I repeat: -NEVER-] hire family or friends to do work for you.
You'll lose your ass or lose your friend, and neither is worth it.
I hope he understands the possible ramifications of screwing up
something so important. Someone could have been killed, including
you.

P.S: What's "burkina faso"? Is it contagious?
Like myself, my brother is a professional mechanic. He just sold
his shop last year. He knows. It was his mechanic that actually
installed it I think.

Passing the buck, eh? Still, working with family and friends is
dangerous. Just Say NO!

I would have done it myself, but I had about 36 hours between hitting
the ground in Toronto and leaving Waterloo for Winnipeg. Would have
been 54 or so, but the flight from Ouagadougou tp Paris was late so we
missed our connection and had to spend the night in Paris.

My dad worked for his older brother for quite a number of years. THAT
doesn't usually work out very well (and didn't in this case). A lot of
my customers became friends, and a lot of friends became customers,
and I never lost a friend due to work. Did a lot of work for family
too - and still do. They all realize I need to make a living too.

I've know far too many people who did work for their family and got
screwed. My family and I are close and I was a damned good mechanic,
so that never happened with us. Friends who become clients give you
trouble, but clients who become friends usually don't. Luckily, most
of my advice here is gained from observation rather than personal
experience. I try to limit my exposure to things like that when I
can.

--
In the depth of winter, I finally learned
that within me there lay an invincible summer.
-- Albert Camus

Here's a follow-up. I had my favorite "mobile truck mechanic" check it
out. He concluded that it was indeed a u-joint problem. He replaced
both U-joints and no more vibration.

i

On 10/15/2013 7:41 PM, Ignoramus22049 wrote:
Here's a follow-up. I had my favorite "mobile truck mechanic" check it
out. He concluded that it was indeed a u-joint problem. He replaced
both U-joints and no more vibration.

i

Nice of you to let us know what the real
problem was. Thank you.


..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Ignoramus22049" wrote in
message ...
Here's a follow-up. I had my favorite "mobile truck mechanic" check
it
out. He concluded that it was indeed a u-joint problem. He replaced
both U-joints and no more vibration.

i

Did he tell you how to diagnose a bad one?
jsw