Drive shaft noise and viberation

14817 Views 36 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Gnarly, Aug 22, 2016

ahbah13

Discussion Starter · Jan 19, 2007

Hello I recently purchased a 1994, 1100 cc honda shadow,

i have noticed that it has a rather noticeable vibration and noise coming from drive shaft area. :?: I was wondering if any one has any ideas on solution .
I appreciate your incite and advise.
Thanks Jay

21 - 37 of 37 Posts

TGR-MAVERICK

· #21 · Aug 10, 2016 (Edited)

Jacked the bike up, wife was rushing me so I forgot to check the tire, but spinning it by hand definitely sounds like bearings. I'm working on pulling up the service manual now to see if I'll need any special tools.

If it is bearings, I'm completely flabbergasted that they have failed in less than 6500 miles while looking at other threads where people are getting over 50k miles.

h13man

· #22 · Aug 10, 2016 (Edited)

A hammer and a 12" piece of 1/2" round steel or aluminium (1st choice). Slip metal thru axle hole catching the inner race of bad bearing and tap one side then tap the other side alternating back and forth. If you get lucky like I did you'll will be able to reuse the seal. Save the old 6204 bearing for inserting new bearings. Grind down the OD of the 6204 on a belt/disc sander so it slides easily into the hub. On the side that faces the new bearing (press side) grind the inner race to alleviate any possible interferance with the new bearing. Set wheel in the sun to heat up good with the axle installed thru the spacer, bearing in the freezer for about an hour, and wait. A 3/4" washer over the old bearing is a good/safe "beating/pressing" surface over the drive side of old bearing if you using a hammer (lovingly) to insert bearing. After the heating/cooling process grab the bearing with a gloved hand and quickly install bearing into hub using the axle as your guide. With luck it should go into the bore enough to "press" the rest of the way with old bearing, washer, and hammer. Now if you have a arbor press available great if not a 16 oz. ballpien hammer is plenty. The hammer method is used ALOT in industry do where failure exist in industrial situations. Just use some finesse and only apply pressure on the OD of the bearing. The seal should slip in most the way then gently use same method to finish seating it. That done do the other side the same way making sure the spacer is always in assembly when going back together. Also another method is use "all threaded rod" and draw/press the bearing in but again be careful and not to apply any pressure to the inner race.
The 6204 is the outer bearing (non drive side). Don't forget to secure your caliper with a zip tie to avoid any mishap. A good NTH #6204-2RS bearing cost me $12 locally. On a note on bearing designation, the "UU" means the same as "2RS" which = two rubber seals. Now do you need anymore confusion? If so wait around somebody will step up!

>

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TGR-MAVERICK

· #23 · Aug 10, 2016

h13man said:
A hammer and a 12" piece of 1/2" round steel or aluminium (1st choice). Slip metal thru axle hole catching the inner race of bad bearing and tap one side then tap the other side alternating back and forth. If you get lucky like I did you'll will be able to reuse the seal. Save the old 6204 bearing for inserting new bearings. Grind down the OD of the 6204 on a belt/disc sander so it slides easily into the hub. On the side that faces the new bearing (press side) grind the inner race to alleviate any possible interferance with the new bearing. Set wheel in the sun to heat up good with the axle installed thru the spacer, bearing in the freezer for about an hour, and wait. A 3/4" washer over the old bearing is a good/safe "beating/pressing" surface over the drive side of old bearing if you using a hammer (lovingly) to insert bearing. After the heating/cooling process grab the bearing with a gloved hand and quickly install bearing into hub using the axle as your guide. With luck it should go into the bore enough to "press" the rest of the way with old bearing, washer, and hammer. Now if you have a arbor press available great if not a 16 oz. ballpien hammer is plenty. The hammer method is used ALOT in industry do where failure exist in industrial situations. Just use some finesse and only apply pressure on the OD of the bearing. The seal should slip in most the way then gently use same method to finish seating it. That done do the other side the same way making sure the spacer is always in assembly when going back together. Also another method is use "all threaded rod" and draw/press the bearing in but again be careful and not to apply any pressure to the inner race.
The 6204 is the outer bearing (non drive side). Don't forget to secure your caliper with a zip tie to avoid any mishap. A good NTH #6204-2RS bearing cost me $12 locally. On a note on bearing designation, the "UU" means the same as "2RS" which = two rubber seals. Now do you need anymore confusion? If so wait around somebody will step up!

>

You're awesome for typing all that up and seriously, thank you for all the insight into the job.

I think I'm gonna go pick up a bike lift, been looking for an excuse to get one...

adlowe

· #24 · Aug 10, 2016

TGR-MAVERICK said:
Jacked the bike up, wife was rushing me so I forgot to check the tire, but spinning it by hand definitely sounds like bearings. I'm working on pulling up the service manual now to see if I'll need any special tools.

Is there a recall on that driveshaft?

Over in this thread a guy reports a dealer wants to change his driveshaft after only 8,000 miles.

swifty2014

· #25 · Aug 10, 2016

I worked on cars for years and always got suspicious when a customer said "I just had a tune up", or something similar, and their car was doing something unusual now.
So I would start by going over the previous work to see if that was the cause, and many times it sure was. I can't believe it either that a bearing would go bad suddenly and just 1000 miles since a tire replacement. Things may not have been put together back there correctly when it was apart. Maybe killed a bearing!
I AM SUSPICIOUS !!!

But this video cracks me up in the simple way this guy gets the old bearing out and so quickly, with a concrete bolt anchor =

https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...720ac394cebd93a24db527047ad9663b&action=click

TGR-MAVERICK

· #26 · Aug 10, 2016

adlowe said:
Is there a recall on that driveshaft?

Over in this thread a guy reports a dealer wants to change his driveshaft after only 8,000 miles.

That is an interesting thread, but I didn't see anything other than the bank angle sensor over on the DOT GOV...

TGR-MAVERICK

· #27 · Aug 10, 2016 (Edited)

swifty2014 said:
I worked on cars for years and always got suspicious when a customer said "I just had a tune up", or something similar, and their car was doing something unusual now.
So I would start by going over the previous work to see if that was the cause, and many times it sure was. I can't believe it either that a bearing would go bad suddenly and just 1000 miles since a tire replacement. Things may not have been put together back there correctly when it was apart. Maybe killed a bearing!
I AM SUSPICIOUS !!!

I only noticed it after I had work done and I'm still convinced it was something the previous wrench did, I mean hell, the front axle wasn't even fully seated when I picked it up.

Good times. Just another reason to do sh*t yourself, that way you can only be pissed at yourself.

Went back and jacked up the rear again and spun the wheel, tire isn't out of round.

TGR-MAVERICK

· #28 · Aug 20, 2016

So, the wheel is off and the bearings feel perfect. I'm at a loss, I guess it would have to be in the shaft?

h13man

· #29 · Aug 20, 2016

Bearings may feel good but a complete removal of the rear tire is a must. I just went thru this same senario. It felt good in the swing arm but after a 1,000 mi. still didn't feel right and after complete removal the smaller bearing #62042RS inner race was shot. I put the axle in it and it wiggled around. I just replaced the one bearing but this winter I'm replacing all the wheel bearings front and rear. My bike 17 yrs. old and the seal on the bearings are subject to deteriation which what happened to rear.

swifty2014

· #30 · Aug 20, 2016

When the tire work was done was the rear diff bolts removed or the assembly taken off for some reason? If not I can't see how it would suddenly be a problem.
But make sure the previous tech has put all the spacers and washers in the correct place.
And you can put the axle through the bearings and put one end on the edge of a bench or in a vice, and hold the other end of the shaft, and spin the wheel by hand. Then you can feel the smoothness of the bearings while they have some weight on them as a double check. Also roll the axle on a table top to see if it got bent.

swifty2014

· #31 · Aug 20, 2016

When the tire work was done was the rear diff bolts removed or the assembly taken off for some reason? If not I can't see how it would suddenly be a problem.
But make sure the previous tech has put all the spacers and washers in the correct place.
And you can put the axle through the bearings and put one end on the edge of a bench or in a vice, and hold the other end of the shaft, and spin the wheel by hand. Then you can feel the smoothness of the bearings while they have some weight on them as a double check. Also roll the axle on a table top to see if it got bent.

jpr1968

· #32 · Aug 20, 2016

adlowe said:
Is there a recall on that driveshaft?

Over in this thread a guy reports a dealer wants to change his driveshaft after only 8,000 miles.

actually he only wanted to replace the rear diff fluid. I think he just misspoke.

TGR-MAVERICK

· #33 · Aug 22, 2016

swifty2014 said:
When the tire work was done was the rear diff bolts removed or the assembly taken off for some reason? If not I can't see how it would suddenly be a problem.
But make sure the previous tech has put all the spacers and washers in the correct place.
And you can put the axle through the bearings and put one end on the edge of a bench or in a vice, and hold the other end of the shaft, and spin the wheel by hand. Then you can feel the smoothness of the bearings while they have some weight on them as a double check. Also roll the axle on a table top to see if it got bent.

The previous tech had no reason to pull the diff, so I don't imagine he would've... however it is something I only noticed after he replaced the tire.

Changing the oil to a full synthetic made it way worse.

I pulled the diff and driveshaft and when aligned properly it is smooth when rotated by hand, but if it is misaligned I can feel what I seem to be feeling on the bike at any speed. I don't see how it would be misaligned in the tube though.

I started it with the rear wheel off, diff installed and still felt it. Yes, I know, abnormal testing conditions as there is no load but still told me something.

I can try the axle and bearing table top thing.

h13man

· #34 · Aug 22, 2016

This thread was started back in May and the bike isn't still fixed?

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TGR-MAVERICK

· #35 · Aug 22, 2016

h13man said:
This thread was started back in May and the bike isn't still fixed?

I was mainly ignoring it, as I was informed by a dismissive wrench that it was fine and as it wasn't getting worse.

Then it got worse a thousand miles later and now I'm actively trying to fix it.

adlowe

· #36 · Aug 22, 2016

TGR-MAVERICK said:
I was mainly ignoring it, as I was informed by a dismissive wrench that it was fine and as it wasn't getting worse.

Never do business with a dismissive wrench. They'll take your money but they'll never respect you.

That goes for dismissive wenches as well.

Gnarly

· #37 · Aug 22, 2016

THIS just begs for a hearty AMEN!

~If it's too loud, you're too old.

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