Drag Racing

[Luva65wagon]

Larry, not a problem. I'll touch base this week to arrange this with you.

[BadBird]

Over the last year and a half I have been haunted by a vibration in my car. It all started when I changed to the 9" rear end.
We thought the vibration was caused by incorrect pinion angle. Reset angle. Nope
Maybe worn out leaf springs. Bought new ones. Nope
Maybe the tires were out of round. Checked that, a little bit out of round. Bought new tires. Nope
Homemade traction bars? Bought new Caltracs. Nope
Then the rear end started making noise. So, must be the rear end. Quick Performance sent me a new one. Nope
A couple of weeks ago, I put the car on stands, put it in gear and watched the driveshaft. Wobbled all over the place.
Thought I must have installed it wrong. Nope
Had Roger and my neighbor (life long Ford mechanic) come over and look at it, and both said it looks bad.
Did a check with a dial indicator and it showed the driveshaft was .070 out of balance.
Called Drivelines NW and he said it was impossible. Now get this........He said their quality assurance processes made sure they are perfect.
Well if you have followed this problem, you might remember that the first time they made the driveshaft they made it too long. Oops.
They remade it, but this time instead of cutting it 1 1/2" shorter, they cut it 3" too short. Oops.
So when he told me their inspection process makes them perfect, I reminded him of their imperfect production twice. Oops.
So...I took this driveshaft down to them, showed him the readings I got with the dial indicator. He said they would check it, but it is impossible for it to be that bad, because if it was, it would vibrate the windows out of my car. I said "Thanks a lot" that is what I have.
Now, before I took the driveshaft to them, my brother told me to put notches in the fittings so I could tell if they did anything.
Today, they said it was ready. When I got there, they told me that there was really nothing wrong, maybe a 4-6 thousandths off, and one missing washer.
But, what is weird? The notches weren't there. Also, the balance weights that were on it were rectangular. Now they are round. No evidence of them cutting the others off, no grinding.
So, instead of admitting they screwed up, they made up a story and made me a new driveshaft.
I installed that driveshaft today, and miracle. NO wobble.
I will drive it tomorrow if I can and see if the vibration is gone. I will update. Larry

[dhbfaster]

Wow, what a painful story. Anyone who knows quality assurance knows there's no such thing as a perfect quality assurance process. And then why would they cover it up when they gave you a new one anyway? Strange...looking forward to the test drive.

[Luva65wagon]

What a shame, but sort of keeps everything in line with what you saw all along. It is odd how one person can have 3 bad experiences in a row and others, like myself, have had none. I've had them do 4 drive-lines so far without a hitch. Can't begin to figure that one out.

Regardless of how it turns out, and I hope it is finally good, this sort of behavior needs to be made note of in the broader community. I'm thinking, as times get good and they have more work than they need, they think service can suffer - like what's your alternative choice? If there is none, then you need to let others know so, at least, they can keep these sorts of behavior in-line.

Hoping for a positive result!

[BadBird]

Well, the good news first. I took the car out for a drive and the vibration is gone. FINALLY. It was the driveshaft all along. I am pleased, and a little frustrated that Drivelines NW didn't do their normal "perfect" workmanship.
I will say, that I have never heard a negative thing about them. The thing that bothers me, is that this has been going on for over a year. Plus, it cost me a bunch troubleshooting. And, I am not sure that the driveshaft didn't have something to do with the other differential going bad. Oh well.
The Bible tells me to give thanks continually no matter what circumstance I am in. More on that in a minute.
Now to the bad news. I drove the car on that test trip down to highway 9 where I could get it up to speed. A truck passed me and pointed to the front end. Glanced at my gauges and saw the temp gauge at 250.
Pulled into the Chevron on 9 and 164th. Boiling over.
Water was pouring out at the gasket on the thermostat housing/intake. I have allen head bolts there, and one is hard to get at. Just as I was leaving my house, my son said "Dad what is that squealing"? I stopped, got out, but with my hearing loss, higher pitched sounds don't register.
At the chevron I added water, thought about driving the 7 miles home, but it over heated before I got out of the Chevron.
Called AAA, waited 2 hours for a tow truck, got home, pulled the fan belt off, and it looks like the water pump is making the noise.
Now back to God. Most of you know, I believe the Bible and everything in it. I post a lot of items dealing with my beliefs, and hundreds of times I have said, "there are no coincidences" Everything happens for a reason. Both bad and good. My bad thing, is nothing compared to what others in this world are dealing with. So, I give thanks, for my miniscule issues.
I went in the chevron, to buy a coke. I didn't have much money, so asked the clerk, "how much is this coke" He said $1.71 tax included. I had exactly $1.71. God is so fun sometimes. Larry

[Luva65wagon]

The question I have is:

1) Did the soda price get changed to match what you had in your pocket, or
2) Did what you have in your pocket get changed to the price of the soda, or
3) Were you led to go buy a soda at this particular store because the cost of the soda was exactly what you had to spend, or
4) All of the above?



(root beer)

[BadBird]

Nope, none of the above. My car was at the station on hwy 9 Chevron. I knew I didn't have much money so when I went to the soda dispenser, there wasn't a price on the machine. The teller had given me a 1 gallon jug of water for my overheated car and I asked him how much were the cokes with tax included.
He said $1.71 and I pulled out the money in my pocket and it was exactly $1.71.
Some will see that as a coincidence. I see nothing in life as coincidences. Everything happens for a reason.
Read the books "The Harbinger" and "The Shemitah" by Jonathan Cahn. I would love to go into the specifics of this, but I can't do it, in a small paragraph. But, there are zero coincidences in what is and has happened in history relating to Israel and America. Larry