240zdan Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) Well after four years of owning a S30 plagued with drive line vibrations I think Its finally sorted. If you are having vibration issues Read on. Started the ownership by swapping in a rb26 with a z32 trans. Got a custom driveshaft made using Z32 slip yoke and original nissan pinion flange. Both ends had irreplacable peened U joints. I asked the shop if the U joints could be replaced, they said yes. They offered to machine the yokes and install a domestic spicer aftermarket greasable joint. I liked this idea and went with it. I trusted the drive line shop with my drive shaft and paid good money to have them do my work. When I picked up the shaft, I barely bothered to inspect their work because they sounded confident. After getting the swap done the vehicle had vibrations. I started with the driveline angles. Got the motor and diff within .5 degrees and driveshaft operating angle to 2 degrees. Checked side to side angle. Replaced wheel bearings. Replaced wheels and tires. Replaced diff. Replaced halfshafts with R200 GTR CVS. Replaced transmission mount. Installed a r200 gtr diff. Made a sturdy diff mount. Verified all driveline angles about 20 times with various digital angle finders. Converted the drums to disc. The result: Vibrations, vibrations, vibrations starting at 60 mph, getting progressively worse with speed. U joints failing after a few thousand miles. So I turned my attention to the drive shaft and this is what I found. First I put a dial indicator on the shaft to check run out: .025". Not good Next I pulled the shaft out and took a long hard look at the U joint and this is what I found: Picture 1: Retaining ring crushed, bent and no gap. Picture #2 (other side of the u joint): Gap between retaining ring and shoulder approximatley .020. Looking over the other end resulted in the same scenario. Take a long hard look at the retaining ring. For starters, the OEM nissan yokes have a large 45 degree chamfer on them. When the drive shaft shop built my shaft they installed the retaining rings in an acceptable position, but as you can see they rotated and nearly none of the retaining ring is now contacting the shoulder as it should. These yokes CANNOT be used with after market joints safely. The U joint has shifted and the center line of the shafts is off. The only way to use after market U joints is to use after market yokes/slip joints. Do not let any shop tell you otherwise. The U joint must also fit snugly between the tabs with the retaining rings in place, there shoudl be no gaps between the ring and shoulder that would allow the u joint to shift around. Hope this helped. Edited January 16, 2014 by 240zdan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast-datsun Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 NEVER_NEVER reuse the Datsun drive shaft flanges and yokes.......There are undersized and we never made to be reused (that is why Datsun staked them in place).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zdan Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Im sorry I dont quite understand what you're saying. What is undersized? And what do you mean you guys never made them to be reused. I havent bought any products or services from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raven12 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I think he meant they WERE never meant to be reused. Not WE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zdan Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 So he sums up my post in one sentence and includes spelling and grammar errors. Fair enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Well after four years of owning a S30 plagued with drive line vibrations I think Its finally sorted. If you are having vibration issues Read on. Started the ownership by swapping in a rb26 with a z32 trans. Got a custom driveshaft made using Z32 slip yoke and original nissan pinion flange. Both ends had irreplacable peened U joints. I asked the shop if the U joints could be replaced, they said yes. They offered to machine the yokes and install a domestic spicer aftermarket greasable joint. I liked this idea and went with it. I trusted the drive line shop with my drive shaft and paid good money to have them do my work. When I picked up the shaft, I barely bothered to inspect their work because they sounded confident. After getting the swap done the vehicle had vibrations. I started with the driveline angles. Got the motor and diff within .5 degrees and driveshaft operating angle to 2 degrees. Checked side to side angle. Replaced wheel bearings. Replaced wheels and tires. Replaced diff. Replaced halfshafts with R200 GTR CVS. Replaced transmission mount. Installed a r200 gtr diff. Made a sturdy diff mount. Verified all driveline angles about 20 times with various digital angle finders. Converted the drums to disc. The result: Vibrations, vibrations, vibrations starting at 60 mph, getting progressively worse with speed. U joints failing after a few thousand miles. So I turned my attention to the drive shaft and this is what I found. First I put a dial indicator on the shaft to check run out: .025". Not good Next I pulled the shaft out and took a long hard look at the U joint and this is what I found: Picture 1: Retaining ring crushed, bent and no gap. Picture #2 (other side of the u joint): Gap between retaining ring and shoulder approximatley .020. Looking over the other end resulted in the same scenario. Take a long hard look at the retaining ring. For starters, the OEM nissan yokes have a large 45 degree chamfer on them. When the drive shaft shop built my shaft they installed the retaining rings in an acceptable position, but as you can see they rotated and nearly none of the retaining ring is now contacting the shoulder as it should. These yokes CANNOT be used with after market joints safely. The U joint has shifted and the center line of the shafts is off. The only way to use after market U joints is to use after market yokes/slip joints. Do not let any shop tell you otherwise. The U joint must also fit snugly between the tabs with the retaining rings in place, there shoudl be no gaps between the ring and shoulder that would allow the u joint to shift around. Hope this helped. Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logr Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 NEVER_NEVER reuse the Datsun drive shaft flanges and yokes.......There are undersized and we never made to be reused (that is why Datsun staked them in place).... So don't shorten a driveshaft and reuse it?? I have done it many times with no issue, as I believe have many others. Why not? Since the diff doesn't go up and down......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 So don't shorten a driveshaft and reuse it?? I have done it many times with no issue, as I believe have many others. Why not? Since the diff doesn't go up and down......... I don't believe that is the point being made here. Certain year DS have NON-replacable U joints. i know the T-5 combo from a ZXT had staked u-joints and they can't be replaced. The OP said they remachined the yokes and installed U-joints-not about shortening the shaft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skerry Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I just bought a car with a 350 conversion that has this exact issue. Can you tell me what you did to fix it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zdan Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 new shaft with new yokes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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