98_Pathfinder Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Hello all, I had the Trani rebuilt with success. After driving the 98 Pathy for a few days, I had the U-Joints replaced on the front drive shaft. The first test drive resulted in problems. It seemed like the u-joint was binding and vibrating starting around 35 + mph. I brought it back to the shop and they test drove with the front drive shaft removed, No Problems! They replaced the front u-Joint again on the shaft and said this should fix the problem, It did Not. Yesterday they spun the drive shaft 180 deg and said the problem was fixed, Not so. The vibration went to the back of the Pathy. Reading on-line this AM, I read some info on the front drive shaft was out of PHASE. These are after market precision u-joints not OEM. If the drive shaft is out of PHASE, how do I place the front drive shaft back in PHASE. Any info to solve this problem would help. Thanks TJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleurys Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I guess out of phase means unbalanced... I suppose your shop did not mark the position of the driveshaft before removing it...(that's pretty amateur)... I guess you're stuck with a balance job at a driveshaft specialised place ? good luck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Keep bringing it back. It is their fault so they should have to pay to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krmiller07 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Mark the driveshaft in it's current position, test drive and then rotate it 1/4 turn as necassary (4 possible positions in relationship to the trunion).Do this until it balances out or the vibration stops. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87pathy Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 out of phase means, that the yokes aren't aligned. make sure that the U's are in the same parallel with each other. its really hard to get these aprt, so i'm not sure how they would screw it up. the yokes should be like this >< not even 1 deg out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 If either the front diff or transmission was rotate while the front shaft was out then there would be more than 4 positions to try. I think there are a total of 64 possible combinations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krmiller07 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Thats assuming the axles or differential(s) were rotated while the driveshaft(s) were off the vehicle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 The position on the axle isn't as important as what 87pathy stated. If the slip yoke splines on the shaft itself doesn't have a blind spline and they took it apart for some reason and then slide them back together one spline off it will cause a vibration. The two crosses of the ujoints must be lined up and the yokes in the same position. Here is a pic I found to try to show what I mean. Sorry the pic is large, I just copied their code. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Phasing as stated above has nothing to do with axle or tcase and are pretty ambiguous as far as removal and installation alignments as they were mass prododyced and not 1 offs... Visually inspect the shaft for dents missing weight's etc...most slip shafts/yokes are keyed to eliminate errors in phasing if u pulled the shafts apart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98_Pathfinder Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thanks for all of the input. I'm installing new OEM u-joints today. In the Nissan parts box, I have many colored locking clips. How do I know witch color is correct for 1998 SE 4/W auto trani? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 compare the size and thickness to the ones you pull out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schro Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 (edited) Thanks for all of the input. I'm installing new OEM u-joints today. In the Nissan parts box, I have many colored locking clips. How do I know witch color is correct for 1998 SE 4/W auto trani? The colors coorespond to different thicknesses. The factory sevice manual has the information that you need. The bearings (cups with needle rollers inside) press onto the journal (+ shaped piece in the centre of the joint) The tolerances for journal to bearing freeplay are adjusted with the appropriately sized snap rings. it is important that matching pairs are used on opposite sides of the journal so that the journal is centred in the joint. I have a '95 and did mine today. the freeplay for the front propeller shaft, journal to bearing on a '95 are 0.02mm (0.0008") or less. The freeplay tolerances for your model year should be in the appropriate factory service manual which you can find in the pinned topic at the beginning of the Garage forum listings. EDIT: I checked the FSM for your vehicles freeplay spec. and it is the same as the '95 The subsection that you are looking for is 'PD Propeller Shaft and Differential Carrier' Make sure that you seat the bearing in the yoke so that there is no play on either side of the c-clip (FSM makes this clear) If this does not fix your vibration problem, go pick up an inexpensive dial guage and chech the shaft for runout (once again instructions in FSM) Edited April 17, 2011 by schro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schro Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 compare the size and thickness to the ones you pull out This will not guarantee the appropriate size. Do not do this. The correct sized clip can ONLY be determined when you are assembling the joint due to some variability in the machining of the yokes. The bearings need to be pressed into the yoke until the correct tolerances for freeplay are obtained, and only then can you find the correct c-clip size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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