as some of you know, i had a bad driveline vibration after a T5 install. i found that the driveshaft was way out of phase and too short and the trans was loose!. so i fixed those problems and vibration goes away. today i put everything back together, put insulation and carpet down and damn, the vibration is back. different but back. that floorpan hitting the trans is causing me problems. when i test drove it with the pan off, no vibration. i thought when i put it all back together that it wasn't touching the trans but i'm pretty sure it is. unfortunately i put insulation and carpet down now i have to tear it all up to get to that floor pan.
Are you sure the vibration wasn't still there and now, with the floor pan hitting the trans it's just helping to transmit and magnify the vibration through the body?
i'm not sure about anything right now. all i know is; floor pan off, truck runs smooth, floor pan on, very pronounced vibration. i think that tightening those floor pan bolts pushes down on the trans changing the angle of the trans to the rearend. also i can hear that the trans makes this strange sandpaper sound and that too is gone with the floorboard off. so tomorrow, i'm going to remove it and do another test drive. it it's gone, i'll put that floorboard back on but make absolutely certain that it's not hitting the trans.
no, i wish i was.... this is driving me out of my ****ing mind. i should have been gone to florida two months ago. this truck is holding me back. got to remove that floorboard tomorrow and do another test drive.
drive it roll windows down and turn up radio move go go go get a pry bar and add clearance with out removing anything not touching is not touching
Dang Dragsta,you brought the comedy back to the HAMB,but just thought I would give you the news if you don"t already know,Florida developed a bad vibration,broke away from the US and there are no plans yet for a new bridge,so you just have to stay in Texas.
There should be NO contact between the floor pan/bolts and the trans period. Minimum of 3/8 inch at all points to allow for engine/trans movement on the mounts. All engines vibrate and any contact with the bodywork will cause all sorts of racket.
john: thanks.... that's what i'm thinking. i just really didn't want to have to remove my seat and tear up my carpet. another strange thing is that the trans makes a "sandpaper" sound with the floorpan hitting it. it's disconcerting.... tomorrow i'm going out early, before it heats up and getting this done. yeah, i thought about that but i don't want to push that hard on the trans and even so i still have to pull up the carpet. taking the floor pan off is a cinch after that. also, i want to raise it at least 1/3" AFTER i beat the **** out of it with a sledge. i don't want to do this again....
a friend of mine suggested doing a 1" body lift on my truck. that's an excellent idea. in fact the bushings are shot anyway and i wanted to do this for a long time. where can i get the hardware for doing a lift?
If the body bushings are shot just replace them, that alone should get you a 1/2" or better of clearance. It will also help to cushion any vibrations and a kill a few squeaks clunks and bangs. No need for body lift. Probably wont have to modify your tunnel. Oh yeah, use atf in your transmission, not 40w or gear oil, and yeah, check the pinion angle.
borntoloze: i was hoping to deal with building a new floor pan at a later date but your idea will be considered at that time. the fibergl*** resin is something i didn't consider. but again; the only way the angles can change is by forcing the trans up or down. i may have done just that when i tightened those floorboard bolts. it could also have caused my trans to go slightly out of alignment. i don't know for sure. all i do know is that with the floorboard off, vibration and other strange noises cease. the quick fix is to remove that pan and beat the **** out of it. i can do that in a few hours. so that's the plan.
tinman: thanks, that confirms my thought process. new bushings alone should raise the truck body about 1/2" . the only difficulty now is finding them locally. i don't want to have to wait a week for them to arrive by mail.
Let me start by saying I am a lazy-***. But I would first check under the truck before you pull anything. Make sure the cover isn't hitting or closer than fingers width. If you have any spot up on top that are real close, you might not have anything more than the trans rattling the body via the trans cover. You can do a couple of things. Get new body mounts - The best idea, but you have to find them, install them, hope you don't find any other gremlins, etc. Raise the trans cover. And here is where the lazy part comes to play. Get some thick flat stock and build a perimeter shim. Shim it up, seal the edges, and call it a day. Then you can go back fix the body mounts and remove the shim, if you want to. Or buy a big f'n radio and call it done.
That "sandpaper" noise is the clutch disc coming into contact with the flywheel, perfectly acceptable and quite normal. What condition are your body bushings in now? They dry out and collapse/crumble with age. A 1" lift might do it for you. Stock bushings and some 1" aluminum spacers will do it too. Always good to make friends with someone that owns or works in a local machine shop. Other than that, try to find out exactly where the floor pan is hitting. If its only an an area or two, take the BFH to it. Bob
It could be as simple as one bolt you put in making contact, so just cut it off if it's to long or remove it and put in a shorter one. If it was making alot of contact somewhere, you would have had to force it down to put the bolts in, and you would/should have known that wasn't right in the first place.
thanks mark. i removed the floor pan and beat the **** out of it with a sledge. i'll put it all back together after i have a cup of coffee and calm down. i had to walk away from it or i'd have taken the sledge to the truck. i'm beginning to lose my patience. but when i get it back together, i'm going to take you up on your generous offer IF the truck seems roadworthy to drive that far. i'll contact you first though. thanks again. i checked the clearance when i put the pan on and i thought it wasn't hitting but it was. yeah, i'm kicking myself for not previously beating that floor pan. yeah, i did that about 20 minutes ago cursing the ******* with every blow. yeah, but it only does it in 5th and sometimes 4th but definitely it's more noticeable in 5th. i'll put the POS back together and pretend i don't hear it. finding them is the problem. i will do that job after i move. yeah, as i stated, i beat it pretty good with my sledge. that should do it but if not, i'll put some rubber down along the edge before reinstalling the bolts. i'm almost ready to use it as my 'shooting truck' and buy a dodge diesel. i took it apart this morning and went for another test drive with the floor pan off. the vibration is still there but not as bad and only at "top speed" though so i might just say, "**** it". when i put the truck in 5th is makes that sandpaper sound again. i don 't know if that's normal or not. it could be the fluid splashing around.... if i didn't plan on driving this POS to florida, i'd just get another trans and keep driving it locally and see how it goes. i have to be sure that it won't break down on me.
It sounds like we have the same personality, so I can empathize with you really easily. I don't know how many times I've wanted to just smash my truck with a hammer, too, all the while muttering and probably teaching the neighbor's kids some new words and phrases they won't be old enough to understand for some years. If I were you, I'd get back under that truck and tighten EVERYTHING up again, just make sure your mounts are tight, and that the rubber is in good shape, no tears or anything. If it was fine last week, but it isn't now, it might just be something that came loose. Are you sure it isn't something as stupid as your shifter hitting the edge of the hole in the floor? I've never done it, but it might be a good idea to VERY CAREFULLY put the rear axle up on jackstands and have someone run through the gears so you can see what might be vibrating. Just be careful and don't pull a Ferris Bueller...also make damn sure you stay away from the spinning wheels. Other than that, drive up to texoutsider's and see what he says. Not sure how far that is, though. I don't remember from the other thread, but are you absolutely sure this isn't an issue with unbalanced wheels? I had a nasty vibration that turned out to be a defect in the steel belts from the car sitting for so long. I think they were just cheap tires.
Gosh darn it did your truck never ever make any noises before? ... Geez pack up and move we all are waiting for the "dragsta on the road "thread please go over all the installations bolts ,change the fliud 1 more time pack your skivies and tooth brush , laptop and hit the road do it do it now prying on your trans for fractions of an inch of clearance should be fine .. If you think your driveline will fall out with the pressure from 1 hand on a pry bar ... ???????????/ get on your scooter and head out leave the truck to the s****pers....
Got a question how could you put the floor pan in without knowing it was hitting. Before you take it apart roll under there and verify that the pan is touching. If it is as has been mentioned take a prybar or a hammer and a pun ch of some sort and relieve it. A few years ago the raven and I changed the mill in my C-10. It ended up that my rocker coveres were not giving me the clearance needed for my valve train. OK when it wasn't running and nothing had swelled blah blah. Anyway we had to go back with the big boxy rocker covers. They interfered with the firewall so we took a bar and a hammer and relieved the firewall a bit for clearance. You should be able to do the same with your floorboard.
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