I
also
have a high
mileage drive shaft with vibrations in a couple of RPM ranges. I
pulled mine out, several times, attempting to correct the
problem.
I had new u-joints installed (a mistake; I would have preferred to
install
them myself - and I think the shop boogered the journals in one of the
ends)
So
I
thought I would
have the shaft spin balanced, which would either confirm above
mentioned
boogering, or show some other difficulty (i.e., bent, out of balance,
out
of phase with our time-space, etc.)
And
no
one has the
fixtures to spin the VW shaft. Facing $695-1295 for rebuilt/new
drive
shaft...I had one fabricated.
The
new
shaft has
more common OTS parts, with greasable joints and a slider to adjust
geometry
as the different parts of the van flex. It cost me less then
$350.
It works great.
Although
you might
try having a local drive line shop "rebuild" the shaft, all that means
is installing new u-joints. The rubber flex collar will remain,
and
if that is the source of your vibration, you are stuck with it until
you
replace the shaft; the rubber collar is not serviced as its own
part.
Try to find a shop that will spin balance/straiten etc the rebuilt unit
when they are done; might save you the trouble of installing the newer
unit only to have to pull it again.
And
now
with about
500 miles city and highway driving, all appears to be well. The
new
shaft is not quite as smooth as the OEM shaft, given the absence of the
rubber collar, but is smooth in operation throughout the RPM
band.
So far, I am happy...
Roger
Bowman - bowmanrp@
earthlink.net