Date:         Tue, 16 May 1995 13:32:03 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         SkiDooer@aol.com
Subject:      Re: Help! Synchro Vibration

Tim,
Thanks for the suggestions/explanation about the u-joints and driveshaft in
my Synchro. I double-checked the alignment of the yokes. That's fine...I
don't think the rubber coupling was ever disassembled. I had a driveline shop
balance the shaft & check it for straightness. I assume they did it right,
but one never knows for sure!

I guess the thing that haunts me is that I was told by my dealer that there
was a noise in the front drive. I've not heard a noise so I thought I'd keep
on driving until something is noticeable. Derek suggested I call D Haynes but
I haven't followed through on that yet because I haven't been sure if I have
a shaft problem or front drive problem. In the meantime, I have
dissassembled, checked, packed & replace grease in the cv's on both front
axles. I've also checked the alignment of the driveshaft in relation to the
tranny and front drive.

I decided last night that maybe I should bite the bullet--and it's a hard
one, $600+--and order a VW rebuilt shaft. Man, I hate to do that if it turns
out it the front drive instead. I just came in from laying under the nose agai
n, wiggling & jerking on any driveline stuff. Something I haven't noticed
before is, if I grab hold of the one of the axle shafts and push/pull on it
near the inner end in a motion that's perpendicular to the axle, I get some
movement that seems to be the axle flange on the front drive. 

Could this be causing the vibration? Seems like it might. The right side is
definitely worse than the left. Maybe the dealer was right and there is a
problem in the front drive that's getting worse. Maybe the u-joint problem
was a separate problem from the front drive. Maybe the fact that the
vibration disappears with the driveshaft out is that the front drive is not
under load that way.

A lot of "maybes"...any more ideas? Guess I'll not jump the gun & order a new
shaft. It's probably time to call Derek's friend.
Dan
87 Synchro