A couple of days ago i was driving and I started hearing a noise like hitting bike spokes with a wrench. I climbed up under and i found a 4to5 in. loose ring that had a crack on one side. I droped the shaft and took it off. Can anyone tell me what this is and will it cause damage without it. Should I get a new yoke?

 

That would be a balancing ring and it's absolutely nesessary if you want to avoid driveshaft vibrations. That ring acts as a counterweight to cancel out vibrations.

You'll want to figure out how it was on there and either reinstall it or get a new one of equal size and weight.

You don't need a new slip yoke.

 

Take your drive shaft off and take it to a driveline specialty shop and have it high speed balanced for $50.00. They will weld new counter weights on your driveshaft. Dont try to put the ring back on. Before you drop your shaft, make a mark on the tranny and diff and shaft so that when you re-install it, it get installed in the exact same position as it was, otherwise you can get a vibration even if the shaft is properly balanced. This is called "indexing".

Tom

 

Here you can see my custom made 5" aluminum drive shaft, really smooths out the ride. You'll notice on the front of the shaft a counter weight that had been welded on after high speed balancing.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=28395&width=0

 

I thought it could be a counter weight but its pretty heavy about 3 to 5 pounds. I figured that it was probably to balance the yoke because it looked like it was pressed on to it. My drive shaft does have other weights like rivets and square counter weights. I talked to my dad and he said he i can try large hose calmps. Thanks for the replies guys.

Busa01
How much did it run you and is there a big weight difference?

 

The 5" shaft ran about 400.00 and notice no weight difference. I do get a very smooth ride at 100mph with the 4.10 gears and the locking diff, which I did not have before. Before I put the larger drive shaft on, my truck was vibrating like crazy. The drive shaft was the perfect cure.

Tom