dalet

Still trying to get the bugs out of my 87 ta, I put a new set of toyo's on the rear to eliminate shaking over 63 miles an hour. Car still shakes after having wheels balanced by four different garages. They say the wheels and tires are next to perfect, but it still shakes... The car sat for probably a number of years before I bought it about 3 weeks ago. There is absolutely no rust under the car. It looks like it was made yesterday. The rear end howls like it has been worn out, but there are no signs of an oil leak or anything. I've driven other chevy's with the same noise in the rear end, but they never shook. The odometer says 96 thousand miles. Could the bearings on the axle, wheel bearings, or rear end gear bearings cause a shake at about 65 and over? The wheels themselves are 16X8 which looks mighty wide to me. I'm wondering if the wide wheels have caused excessive wear to the axle bearings or something... Can anybody clue me in on what to look for?? Thanks, Dale

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toomany

16x8 sounds like a factory wheel.

If you can hear the rear end making noise, I'd look there for the vibration. Check the u-joints and while you're down there grab the pinion and try to move it around. If you can move it (up/down/left/right/in/out), the bearings are bad. If that checks out to be good, it could be the wheel bearings. I've never experianced it, but have heard that bad wheel bearings can/will cause a vibration.

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stealtht/a

mine has a similar vibe. im pretty sure its because the rear track bar/panhard bar bushings are toast. if you push the rear of the card sideways, is there squeaky movement?

Stephen

Bent driveshaft/worn u-joints/bent axle(s)......Could be any of those things, a combination of, or even something else entirely.

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dalet

Alright,
I've finally got a couple of responses to some of the suggestions of everyone. The car is still in the garage, (the 87 305 ta.) I ended up taking it to a place which I won't mention the name for now, looks to be kind of a speed shop a guy owns where he works on the older muscle cars. He's had the car for about a week and a half. I told him the problem I was having with the shaking in the rear and so he took the wheels and had them once again for the fifth time now, balanced and "checked". Everyone says they're good! So he commensed to doing other things to rule them out as the problem. So far he has changed front and back u-joints of drive shaft. He has today had the drive shaft balanced which didn't need much. He has pulled the rear end apart, replacing the spider gears which he said were pitted and not to be put back in that way. He informed me that it cost him several trips to the supply shops because it was some kind of 'rare spider gears' in a 2.73 highway rear end??? He says that after all this, the car still shakes and he's afraid to drive it fast around the small town because of possibly getting a ticket... When he runs it on stands in the garage, he says he can see no movement or shaking in axle. He wants to check front wheels when there is no shaking in steering wheel whatsoever. Personally, I think it is either a wheel or the Toyo wide tires. If the car wasn't in such good condition (rust wise) I probably wouldn't put so much into it, but my wife and I need a good ride to cross the country with before we get too old to appreciate it that aint gonna fall apart all the time like a honda. The newer cars don't look good to me. I guess I'm old fashioned. I'm not the most knowledgable as you can tell and I'm beginning to start forgetting some of my old car knowledge. We've been shopin lately for bullets for our deer guns and I got the numbers mixed up with rear end gears. Just spent 45 mins trying to find road gears for the 87 ta. Wife used to shoot a 243 and now she shoots a 223, like my old m16 in the war. Maybe we should've put the 223 in the rear end just to see how it would do?? If they got in the way, it might mow down a water buffalow or two... So far, I've kept it together. I hope I'm good for another few years or so...

UMI Sales

Hello
Like mentioned above I would look to see what type of shape the bushings are in. The number 1 thing that kills a rubber bushing is storing it over a long period of time. And its possible if they are ruined they could cause the rear to be shifted just enough to get a whining noise. That is just something else for you to consider. If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I will be more than glad to help.
Thanks
Brad

dalet

Brad,

I asked the mechanic to check the sway bars out and he said they all looked ok. I don't know if he pushed on the side of the car out though. I'm planning on picking the car up on Monday and will ask him once again to check the bushings out. Another thing he found when removing the drive shaft to get it balanced was the transmission end had spindle gears twisted. It was causing the drive shaft to fasten on and stick to the spindle. He replaced the yoke on it and is planning on driving it to see if it took any of the shaking out. Thanks for your advice. I'm taking all advice very seriously...
Dale