[Rick C]

Does Ford balance the drivelines after they are installed or do they balance them seperately. The reason I ask is that I had to have my truck towed and they un-coupled the drive line from the diff. I don't think index marked the flange or the joint and it seems that I have a bit of vibration that I did not have before the tow. I will probably just get under there and change it to see if this improves, but I thought i'd ask first.

 

[sargar]

The shaft(s) would have been balanced prior to going into the truck. Mine has factory index marks in yellow on the flange at the rear axle. I wouldn't think that turning the shaft 180* on the pinion flange would cause you a vibration. Did the wrecker driver pull your shaft halves apart or just tie up the rear half? If they were pulled apart then the shafts may be indexed incorrectly. Look at the front joint and the rearmost joint, the ears on the shafts should be exactly 90* from each other.

 

[Rick C]

Kinda what I thought. No, he just tied up the rear of the shaft with ratchet straps. Thanks for the reply. I've got a feeling it's those balancing beads that I had the shop install in my front tires...heard they don't work the best on 19.5's.

 

[Evil Eye]

Kinda what I thought. No, he just tied up the rear of the shaft with ratchet straps. Thanks for the reply. I've got a feeling it's those balancing beads that I had the shop install in my front tires...heard they don't work the best on 19.5's.

Hmmm, hadn't heard anything negative about the balancing beads until your post. How new are your tires?

 

[Rick C]

I almost hate to admit this, but, the tires I have on there are a used pair that I bought from a shop that I do business regularly. They are some Michelin 12 ply take offs that were in really good condition (I was getting ready to leave on a trip the next day and could not find a pair of decent 19.5 steer positions for the life of me, so I had to settle. The drivers side oem tire had a huge cut in the sidewall). He talked me into the balancing beads for them, but I subsequently heard they work best on 22.5's and above. This trip that I made is when I had to have the truck towed due to a bad turbo to cac pipe boot that no matter how hard I tried to get to stay on refused (7 mi north of Baker Ca., at 11 pm trialer in tow). So the two possibilities kinda converged about the same time period.

 

[Evil Eye]

That's one of the reasons I went with the Dieselsite boots and clamps. I have broken 2 clamps (on 2 separate occasions) while towing my toy hauler up a grade. Thankfully, my boots never got holes in them or let go before I got the Dieselsite boots. After the second one, I NEVER wanted to be removing the clamp from my sewer hose to be used as an "emergency" clamp for my turbo boots... Add to that, having to do it on the side of the road on a HOT AZZ turbo. :doh:

 

[Rick C]

Here that. First time it came off climbing Cajon Pass, 98 degrees towing my 17k Teton. Gives HOT AZZ turbo a whole new meaning. Came off three more times enroute to Vegas (I had to be there the next day to open one of our businesses, and cover for managers on vacation). Tow bill was 900.00+, glad I had Coach Net.
.

 

[sargar]

Kinda what I thought. No, he just tied up the rear of the shaft with ratchet straps. Thanks for the reply. I've got a feeling it's those balancing beads that I had the shop install in my front tires...heard they don't work the best on 19.5's.

Check the date on those tires, they may be several years old and hard as a rock. If that is the case no amount of balancing will smooth them out. My experience with internal balancing media is mixed. I have a Jeep with 35" mud tires on 15" wheels that are smooth @ 60 mph using Counteract. I have used Equal in the past on a 35 and it worked. I have tried Counteract on a DRW F-350 with 17" wheels and a F-250 with 20" wheels, both trucks with factory sized tires, and it didn't work. I have a theory that the product will only work on smaller diameter wheels when they have a LOT of sidewall. I need a Gov't grant to study this theory. Anyone else have balance bead experience?