When I picked up my new o7 250 it had a drivelinve vibration that starts at 50, and smooths out at about 60 mph. I turned around, and took it right back to the dealer. They put a new driveshft in it, but it still vibrated. I took it back again, and they put a hose clamp on the drive shaft right behind the transfer case, and the vibration was gone ! The truck runs smooth as glass. Since then, my little home town dealer has gone out of business, and I didnt like the idea of having a hose clamp fix, since I paid $37,000 for a new truck, so I took it to the big Ford dealer in Billings Montana, told them the story, and they put a new drive shaft in the truck, put it on their vibration meter tester thing, and told me it was fixed.Well it vibrated just as bad as the day I bought it so I just put the hose clamp back on and drove it home.Another wasted day sitting around at a dealership ! Now my 5 year powertrain warranty will expire in a few months, it has 29000 miles on it, and the hose clamp fix is still working , but Im wondering if Ford just cant balance a driveshaft, or is this a sympton of something wrong in the transmission or transfer case ? If anyone has any ideas I would sure be glad to hear from you Thanks

 

I installed a GV overdrive and have noticed a vibration between 45 and 50 mph, I took the rear shaft (I have a two piece shaft) to a driveline shop, they balanced it and the vibration almost went away but still manifests it's self as a humm, I'm going to try to grease the slip yoke but I'm interested in where they positioned the hose clamp.

 

hello woodhauler, The hose clamp is on the front of the drive shaft right after it comes out of the transfer case. About 6" back from the weld. After you put the clamp on, go around it with a marker, and make several reference marks every 2" or so,and number them. You have to take the truck out on some light traffic highway, and pull off on the shoulder , climb under the truck, and turn the clamp an inch and a half untill the vibration starts to go away. You can tell when youre getting close. Then start fine tuning with half inch turns. I got mine so smooth I forgot I had a problem, so Im gonna live with that, because Ford doesnt have any better ideas, on this. If I can figure out how to put a picture on this post, I will. Oh, and dont forget to use lock tite on the hose clamp when youre done, or it will come loose in about 15,000 miles.

 

Thanks, one of the problems with mine is the slip yoke casting, while the splines are true with the U joint and male end of the slip joint splines the casting was never machined round. it's like a cam lobe down there and that's what I think is setting up the resonence. Just because I think it needs it for future maintenance I'm going to pull the drive shaft and install a zerk fitting on the slip joint.

 

Take it to a real driveline shop. Of course hindsight is 20/20, but that's what I would have done immediately after buying the truck and the dealer giving you a quick fix.

 

I thought about taking it in to a driveline shop. I guess I can always do that, but its running smooth as glass with the hose clamp for now. I just find it hard to believe that Ford Motor co cant balance a drive shaft by now. They put 2 new ones in at 2 different dealerships. I finally just put the hose clamp back on, because I was tired of taking the whole day off and driving 175 miles to Billings and back.

 

Ford outsources a lot of their parts, mine looked like a magnet at a scrap yard with all the pieces of steel they welded on at the mfr. I took it to farm machinery shop that does drive shafts, $40.00 and it was done the next day. If I can't get rid of the resonant hum I'll have them build me a one piece.