Hello. After installing front axle u joints and wheel bearings, I have a VERY loud vibration. It’s almost deafening. Most of the time I have to wear earplugs when driving 65mph+, but sometimes it is a lot quieter. I'm not sure why this happens but on my 30min drive to work in the morning, the noise is always quieter whereas on the way home, it’s as loud as can be. However, even when I notice that the noise is quieter, it is still louder than when I had the old sloppy u joints in. I can also feel the seats and the whole car vibrate as well, which goes hand in hand with the noise. At certain lower speeds, the vibration will occur at a much lower frequency. It will still be very loud and rattle everything in the interior. Sometimes I can feel a defined up and down vibration in the steering wheel, but this only happens at low speeds. The vibration goes away when I engage the clutch at low speeds, but over 65mph, it doesn’t make a difference. It does not get worse while cornering or braking. Not sure what I could have done wrong in terms of the install, it was very easy and straightforward. I made sure my clips were seated correctly and each u joint had free and easy movement. Torqued everything to spec, took it for a test drive but only to about 60 so I didn’t hear anything. However, a few days later on a 3 hr trip I noticed it. I jacked it up, checked all wheels and u joints for play, had the wheels balanced, checked my diff, transmission and transfer case fluid, spun the wheels and didn’t hear any grinding/binding noises. The new u joints seem completely fine visually as well. Pretty stumped here, and the noise is very frustrating to deal with. Could I have got a defective wheel bearing? Not sure what to look into next. Any help is appreciated, Thank you!

 

What brand wheel bearings? Its possible one is bad, but unlikely.

What did you torque the axle nut to? Did you absolutely 100% install the thick washers behind the nuts?

Did you remove the front driveshaft during the install? Try removing the front shaft and go for a drive. Maybe the driveshaft is out of balance/phase and fresh axle u-joints are now revealing that problem.

 

They are napa brand wheel bearings and Spicer pre greased u joints. Torqued the axle nuts to 175ftlb, I don't think I would have forgot the washers but I have to do brakes this weekend so I'll likely remove the nuts to check and retorque just to make sure. I have not tried driving with the front drive shaft removed. Not sure why noise would increase while under load if that was the issue, but I'll likely try that out.

 

If it is as bad as it sounds from your description, you should stop driving it until you get it figured out. Something is very wrong

I would pull the bearing units out and feel them spin very slowly. And while they are out, flex the axle shafts all around and feel for binding.

Did you make sure the bearing unit bolts were all properly tightened and that the mounting surfaces were perfectly clean and flat? Not all dirty and rusted up

 

I'm planning to take the wheel bearings out and re torque everything this weekend. I will check the mounting surfaces as well. What do you mean by flexing the axle shafts?

 

I think he just means articulate the u-joints around to make sure they're good, which I think you said you did.

Definitely make sure the wheel bearings are seated properly. I always clean the crap out of the knuckle and apply anti-seize to the mounting surfaces.

When you rotate the wheel bearings around, feel for any gritting spots or any spots that feel like there is a small detent where the bearings catch. I've had brand new bearings not feel 100% great in the past (and installed them anyway), but that's what you're looking for. They would have to be really really bad to create the symptom you're describing.

 

Thanks for the help, ill check it out tomorrow

 

check the u joint needle bearings, might have lost a few.

 

Well, I tore it apart and everything seemed fine. U joints had free and smooth movement. Wheel bearings were smooth as can be. Cleaned the hub surface and torqued everything back down, but the issue prevails. I must have mistyped the original post, as the noise does go away at any speed with the clutch pushed in. This leads me to believe that it couldn't be tires or a driveshaft imbalance. It also happens intermittently, because some days I don't notice the noise at all. I may have exaggerated the feel, as it is a slightly more aggresive vibration than ive felt before, the noise is by far the worst thing. I did notice that the rubber of my motor mounts look very dried out and cracked. I already have a steering linkage rebuild kit with the tie rods, ends, Ball joints, track bar, end links and bushings, pitman arm and all that jazz. Plan on starting that this weekend. After that and an Alignment, ill try the motor mounts and probably a transmission mount to see if that helps. I notice that when going around a turn with bumps or potholes, the gearshift will wobble back and forth like 2 inches. Can't find any info on that but I'm sure it's not normal, and should be replaced regardless.

 

I also forgot to mention that when leaning over the dash, it's a ton louder. By the sound/frequency of it, and the fact that the motor mounts visibly look worn out, I'm thinking it's the most likely culprit. I think that I have a good plan put together, but any more input is appreciated. Thanks for the help!

 

It probably sounds louder when your face is closer to the windshield because of the sound bouncing off of it back at you.

It could be a collapsed transmission mount or really bad motor mount as you mentioned. That can cause loud vibrations and sound simply awful

 

When I do tie rods, ball joints, track bar and drag link, how would I go about checking if the steering box, pitman arm, and control arms are good? I'm assuming just checking for play would be the main thing, I do notice dry rot on the control arm bushings but nothing major. Is there anything else worth checking while I have the front end apart? Thanks.

 

My motor mounts were worn badly and when accelerating or decelerating the entire engine would flex and the electric fan would hit the a/c mount. Even when going over a speed bump it would make a noise. Dumped the electric 3 fan setup and went back to stock fan on right and electric fan on left. No more noise.