Vibration and steering issues

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smythge

65 with a BIG BLOCK
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I just got the 440 put in my 65 Dart and above 40 mph it has a vibration. When I first drove the car the tranmssion dampner was not attaced and I realized the drive shaft was not in phase. So we recut the drive shaft made sure it was lined up correctly and put the dampner on and the vibration got better but still there. The car does have solid motor mounts and a stock suspension. I can really feel it in the steering wheel. Any ideas on what it might be?

Second: I converted from Powersteering to manual. The steering has a lot of play in it and when the wheels are turned from the straight position either right or left I get a clunk noise and can feel it in the steering wheel. I have retightend everything, I am just looking for ideas on on both of these issues
 
Manual steering, If a little sloppy/loose you can adjust the box worm gear. :book:
 
I replaced my shocks all 4 were shot, I brought my wheels in to be balanced and found that 2 of the 4 could not be balanced because someone had done some welding and drilling on them, so I figured that was the problem. Got the other two balanced put them on the back threw the car on some jackstands and got it going 40mph and the car began to vibrate again. So I figured it was the drive shaft not being balanced so I pulled the drive shaft out and ran it up to 40mph and the vibration was not as bad but I could still feel it. Obviously the vibration is coming from somewhere further up and and is just transfering through to the drive shaft. I have obviously ruled out the suspension at this point I do have motor plate type motor mount but the vibration only happens above 40MPH not at a certain RPM. Could the motor vibration be shaking the car above 40MPH? Lastly I am thinking the torque converter. Any suggestions or other things to look for?
 
A few years ago..I had a shimmer that was driving me :tard: After I semed to do everything and spent mega $$ fixing by replacement to get rid of it I kinda just lived with it. Later I was upgrading my torque convertor. The shop told me the convertor had a weight on the converter that should not be there for my engine..or the wrong convertor period. Something to do with the crank..balance /steel not steel issue?? Anyways I went to a new 2500 from stock and the shake was gone. PS. I was informed this happens often when guys mix/match and it's not healthy for the engine. Maybe you want to check it out some more :book:
 
To my knowledge the motor and transmission have never been seperated, but it is from 1976 so who knows.
 
smythge said:
To my knowledge the motor and transmission have never been seperated, but it is from 1976 so who knows.
Click to expand...

It's a shot in the dark...but unless you know for sure? maybe you would want to compare and decode your engine to trains if ever split.(different years). Sounds like you did everything else...however, smythge...

Agian for your info..I contacted the trains shop today and tried to confirm some info on your subject. I was informed that many blocks Big or small had some degree of off balance. Now depending on the crank..being true steel like the 340 or not for say, some engines used the "true" standard vibration damper and some off set, most will, and over time can slip the internal seal or run out of shape although it looks solid. This putting the engine out of balance, or at times the wrong one is ordered because the persons is unsure of their engine/train specs. Although confusing, this guy also told me (like i stated earlier) some convertors had a weight added to off set this engine vibration depending 904/727 and with what engine applied. He did say..to some....it's not a big deal, but when you have a bad vibration it's a very important problem. If you have it, it can or will burn out your crank bearings being off balance. He also informed me that this off balance "can" be felt right through the complete drive train. I'm "not" saying this is your problem, but unless you know for "sure" that the engine/trans has never been split, and everything else checks out fine why not confirm your engine to trains numbers and decode them for the same year? :notworth:

Add on..have you checked out your worm gear for adjustment at your steering box?....Like for say...the wheels (tires) don't move at all when the steering wheel moves more then 10 degrees or so off center in ether dirction?? Sloppy?
 
I really appreciate your help, I will decode the motor and tranny. It's really weird though it only vibrates above 40mph not at a certain RPM I can rev the motor up to any RPM and no vibration,

The motor and transmission were only temporary I got them off ebay for $500.00 (440 & 727) I was just going to use them to get the motor mounted the exhaust done and the rest of the modifications for the for the 440 conversion, but the motor runs so strong I am not sure I am going to swap it right away, unless I find the vibration is coming from the motor.
 
I replaced the wheels and had them balanced, replaced the shocks, checked the pinion angel and the transmission angel with no problems, well now the car handles much better but still vibrates. So I was thinking it was the solid motor mounts that was used, so I got the car up to 60mph put it in neutral and shut the motor of and the vibration got even worse, until is coasted down to about 40 mph when it suddenly stops. I am thinking it has to be a drive shaft issue, but I can also feel the vibration in the steering wheel. I am going to get the drive shaft balanced this week, what else should I be looking at?
 
When Chrysler went to the 440 cast iron crankshafts in the early 70's it required some balance weights be added to the torque converter. It's possible that one or both of the weights have come off or you have a cast crank 440 and a torque converter met for the forged steel crank 440. You will get a vibration but I'm unsure at what RPM you'll feel it or how it'll manifest itself. The quick way to determine what crank you have is take a look at the vibration dampener on the front of the crank and how wide is it, 1 1/2" or 3 inches wide.
 
But the vibration goes away when the motor is shut off and I am coasting in neutral, so the torque convertor and dampner are not spinning, when I rev the motor up to 4,000 RPM there is no vibration either.
 

Ok need some more suggestions on my cars vibration problems. Here is what I've done so far:
Replaced front tires and rims (originals could not be balanced), had the rear wheels balanced, replaced all 4 shocks, checked the transmission angle which is at 4* up checked the pinion angle which is at 4* down . Checked for the vibration down the road at 60mph without the motor running in neutral (vibration still there) put the car on jack stands ran it up to 40 mph and the vibration is there, took the wheels off, still there, pulled the drums off, still there. The vibration has to be coming from the drive shaft or rear transmission shaft, I have the drive shaft in today to get balanced and checked. Is it possible that the rear transmissin shaft can cause the vibration? Also what is the maximum amount the yoke can be out of the transmission? When i push it all the way in or pull it out 2" I get the same amount of play. Am I missing something?
 
Okay, so you say that when you shut the engine off and coast down in neutral the vibration is still there until you reach 40 mph and then it fall off this when the drive shaft has been removed. That means that it's not an inbalance problem with the pump section of torque converter (outer housing that's bolted to the engine flywheel) cause the engine ain't running and it's not a balance problem with the drive shaft cause it's not installed. That leaves the torque converter turbine wheel which is still turning when you're coasting down in neutral and it could be missing a blade. It could also be a problem with the planetary gears as a tooth might be missing as the planetary is coasting in neutral. These are both leaps but it means that the problem is deeper and costly. Another precaution is do not coast the transmission for long without running the engine as the transmission oil pump is driven by the outer pump housing of the torque converter which is bolted to the engine flywheel. Good Luck. :evil2:
 
What I'm getting at is I had the cut out my tunnel and fab a new one because it would not fit without hitting the floor using the stock trans mount. A trans rubbing on the floor would definitely cause a vibration in a car even if the motor was off due to body flexing. Being the steering column is mounted to the firewall/floor you could fell it in the steering wheel.
 
to get the 727 to fit I had to pound the seam flat and it slide right in, I have about 1-2" of clearance all the way around the tunnel. Also I would think if the tranmission were hitting the tunnel I would hear a rattle this is an obvious vibration, I feel in the steering wheel, and the WHOLE car vibrates to the point where the dash actually shakes as if something is out of balance. I did pull the drive shaft out last night and ran it with out that and could not feel the vibration as I originally thought I could. I have my fingers crossed that it is the drive shaft, if thats not it the transmission is coming out and the new rear end is going in sooner rather than later.
 
Jesus, You mean that I went through that hole speal for nothing since you're saying that the vibration goes away when you removed the drive shaft. Also check that you've got the correct u joints in the yokes and that they are not loose and if you haven't already replaced "both" u joints, replace them. Both loose or froze conditions will give you a vibration.
 
I appreciate your speal and learned a lot, especially the part about coasting with the engine shut off luckily I don't do that to often:) I do have Two brand new 7290 U joints both ends of the drive shaft look good with no wear and the u-joints have a tight fit.
 
the motor mounts will definatley cause some vibrations... not sure how bad yours is.. i took the solids off of my dart and put a schumacher magnum mount on the drivers side and a regular rubber mount on the pass side and it was night and day.. i just recently replaced the trans mount and it is even smoother now... at the very least change the passenger mount to a rubber one and see if that helps..
 
Got the drive shaft straigtend and balanced and put it back in, it helped some but the vibration is still there. Any other suggestions?
 
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