The odds of my driveshaft still being good?

[whoisEion]

So, I got this vibration coming from my trans tunnel and I'm pretty sure my center support bearing is shot since previous owner didn't do any type of major maintenance to the car since he got it. It's only vibrating at low rpms literally from idle to 1500 rpm if I'm giving more than half throttle. It's been like this since August, I barely drive the my ETA anyways.

I'm going to be replacing my guibo, center support bearing and my diff bushing all together at the same time. My questions are, what's the odds of my driveshaft still being in good condition in terms of not needing to be balanced and the u-joint is still good? Should I just go head and try to source another driveshaft?

[MrBurgundy]

It sounds like it's out of balance.

When I replaced my CSB and put the DS back together, it was off one tooth and I had the exact problem you are having. I had to take it out again and line it up correctly. BUT before I disassembled it, I marked the DS, that's how I knew it was off. In your case, we don't know if a mark has been made, so you might have to get it balanced.

[whoisEion]

It sounds like it's out of balance.

When I replaced my CSB and put the DS back together, it was off one tooth and I had the exact problem you are having. I had to take it out again and line it up correctly. BUT before I disassembled it, I marked the DS, that's how I knew it was off. In your case, we don't know if a mark has been made, so you might have to get it balanced.

I didn't even try to take a look at it yet but, I'm going to try to get it on a lift to check it out. If it was off balance it would quickly wear out whatever bushings that are going to be installed? I'm trying to figure out if its worth it still trying to replace the bushings for the time being.

[MR E30 325is]

I didn't even try to take a look at it yet but, I'm going to try to get it on a lift to check it out. If it was off balance it would quickly wear out whatever bushings that are going to be installed? I'm trying to figure out if its worth it still trying to replace the bushings for the time being.

Yes, the ds being out of balance will cause the parts you are installing to wear faster. Probably won't do anything serious in the short term, but a balance would be good piece of mind if you can spare the cash to get it balanced.

[jeffnhiscars]

Im pretty sure the Ds only goes together one of 2 ways so the 2 halves are either in sync or are out 180 degrees. Having said that, unless you threw a weight chances are your ujoints are worn and you should look for a rebuild.

A balance alone may be a waste of money since a) it has to be balanced as a unit and b) seee above

[glnr13]

Im pretty sure the Ds only goes together one of 2 ways so the 2 halves are either in sync or are out 180 degrees. Having said that, unless you threw a weight chances are your ujoints are worn and you should look for a rebuild.

A balance alone may be a waste of money since a) it has to be balanced as a unit and b) seee above

nah man, our driveshafts can be assembled at any angle incorrectly.

[e30davie]

If it were me and I had any indication that the driveshaft was put together out of balance and no way of knowing which way it went, I would remove it and take it to a drive shaft mob to get the balance checked.

then once you know its in balance replace all the other bits

[bmwman91]

Unless something weird was done to the driveshaft, there will be 2 white paint dots that indicate the proper alignment of the halves. One dot on each half on the yokes. Sometimes these are covered up in dirt and crud, so some wiping with a wet rag or sponge might be needed.

[TobyB]

There's balance, and there's phase. Phasing aligns the u- joints to help
cancel the non- constant velocity problem.
There are 2 proper phase points, 180 apart.

Balance is just what it sounds like, same as a tire...

At such low revs, it's probably not balance. Take it apart and see.

t