Interesting (Manual) Method of Driveshaft Balancing

[eec564]

While browsing around the net, I came across this method of balancing a drive shaft. It was on a Mercedes site, and I know many of them use two-piece shafts, but I'm wondering just how well it would work for Zs.

 

Put the car up on the lift with the wheels free. Clamp two hose clamps on the driveshaft with the bodies 180 degrees away from each other.

Start the car and run it up to 30-40 mph. Touch the spinning driveshaft with a piece of chalk taped to the end of a broomstick handle.

Stop the engine and examine chalk mark.

The chalk mark would indicate the "heaviest" side of the driveshaft. Rotate the two hose clamps bodies towards each other to counter balance the "heavy side" of the driveshaft.

Repeat the chalk test/hose clamps rotation until the chalk makes a circle on the driveshaft.

Apply weights or just leave on the hose clamps.

 

 

 

 

So I'm guessing the shaft would wobble enough to touch the chalk right at the heavy point. When you get a nice even line all the way around the shaft it's balanced. Does anyone like the idea of leaving hose clamps on a part spinning that fast?

 

 

 

-Eric

[Evan Purple240zt]

Or you could have the driveshaft shop do it for 30 bucks... lol

[HowlerMonkey]

We used to balance plane props with nothing more than a fast strobe and a video camera on a tripod but the new digital cameras might work even better since they net a much clearer picture of each frame.

 

I used to use a strobe type spin balancer (just the strobe and trigger) and mount the strobe trigger to the tailshaft of the tranny and then to the diff.

 

Then all you had to do was have somebody up in the car run it at a certain mph and read which number you saw illuminated by the strobe to find the heavy side.

 

Got the idea from watching Danny Arredondo using the tire spin balancer at Z shop of miami.

 

The problem was finding the speed that worked with the balancer and the fact that a driveshaft shop can balance one infinitely better.