Need help please, still problems: clunk, vibrations

[badmpg03]

My brews - I need help, I'm sorry this is a long post, we have been at this a while and is a major headache. My shop and I are out of ideas. Any suggestions appreciated.
This is going on 4 months of this nonsense, and I have been having trans issues for about 8 months now.

What my shop installed:
T56 Mag
new custom driveshaft
FTBR Bushing kit
G Force 1000 HP axles
(I also had RXT clutch and Flywheel installed by another shop a few months before)

Symptoms -
-Vibration that shakes the entire car above 80 mph - NOT RPM specific, happens in neutral or in any gear. Is MPH dependent
-A little pop and clunk (about 50% of the time) while I am stopping and going in traffic.
-A lot of vibration under 2K rpms when on throttle (not WOT) crusing highway. (maybe this is normal)
***It should also be said that my old t56 was eating input shafts and clusters for some reason. Same shop and transmission shop in Houston could not figure out why. After the second input shaft I said f* it and bought the magnum.

What we have done- to try and fix.
swapped the cut down stock driveshaft for new custom made driveshaft - no change
then borrowed a new D&D Transmission driveshaft specifically for the T56 mag - no change

Have played with pinion angle 3 times. Car currently is 88deg at the trans and 92deg at the diff - I don't know a lot about what is involved here. This made it a little better but vibration still there.

Swapped back in factory half shafts - no change

re-tightened/ torqued all bushings from kit.

Bought new LSD diff and Ford racing 3.55 gears - no change.

I have talked to D&D performance where we bought the trans. They are saying of course no way it is the trans.
We are now thinking about pulling the clutch and flywheel to see if there is anything there - but would that make any difference if the vibration problem is not RPM specific?

The shop doing the work was in business 25 years in Houston. The turner working on my car now, used to be with the main shop and has 10 years experience and specializes in Mustangs.

Any ideas??

 

[zredfire04]

anybody change the pilot bearing in the crank?

 

[GDDYUP]

Did you have the vibration problem before the Magnum swap?

 

[MG0h3]

Was going to ask about the pilot bearing as well although Im not entirely sure it would cause this.

Id say look at the clutch. Maybe the hub got bent during the original install.

 

[badmpg03]

anybody change the pilot bearing in the crank?

No sir

Did you have the vibration problem before the Magnum swap?

Id say look at the clutch. Maybe the hub got bent during the original install.[/QUOTE]

Thanks guys for the replies.
Slight update - I got a nail in my front tire on my way back to the shop. Went to Discount Tire to fix. Earlier I had talked to Bruce at Full Title Boogie and he suggested to start eliminating possibilities and start with everything, even check wheels and tires just to start eliminating any possible options. Well I feel dumb...sure enough at Discount tire, one of my 'new to me' BBS RK wheels was bent pretty bad. The last shop that did the tire install for me did not say a word about it...I did the wheel swap along with drive train swap at the same time, and we jumped to conclusions the wheels were fine. We are getting the wheel repaired now and hopefully that was all the vibration issue!

Another update is a still kept driving the car here and there to see what parts would get worse or fail. The T56 magnum is no longer feeling very butter smooth. I have stopped driving the car. We are going to check clutch/flywheel next, was hoping to not have to pay to drop the trans again but something does not seem right.

 

[Flcracker]

My T56 Magnum XL went from smooth to notchy, so we changed the fluid to Amsoil. Now it shifts great.

 

[Mojo88]

My T56 Magnum XL went from smooth to notchy, so we changed the fluid to Amsoil. Now it shifts great.

Interesting. I recently used Mobil 1 ATF in my T56 Magnum XL fluid change and I swear it now feels a tad notchy, not bad, but not super smooth. Are you using Amsoil Manual Synchromesh Transmission Fluid 5W-30? Thanks...............

 

[Mojo88]

....sure enough at Discount tire, one of my 'new to me' BBS RK wheels was bent pretty bad. The last shop that did the tire install for me did not say a word about it...I did the wheel swap along with drive train swap at the same time, and we jumped to conclusions the wheels were fine. We are getting the wheel repaired now and hopefully that was all the vibration issue!....

Please be sure and let us know if this solved your problem. I also have vibration at highway speeds and I am suspecting bent wheel (I hope, haha).

 

[hotcobra03]

Was the rear pinion flange changed with all the other stuff you tried?

I don't see a wheel causing issue you describe..but have seen wheels cause strange things

 

[Mojo88]

.......I don't see a wheel causing issue you describe..but have seen wheels cause strange things

Well, not trying to bust your chops at all, but he said vibration was "not RPM specific" and "is MPH dependent", so then a wheel/tire would be very first suspect, no??? If not that, what would you look at?

Obviously if not wheel/tire issue, then check pinion angle, bent axle, driveshaft balance, etc. But based on his criteria it seems (to me) that the very first things to check would be wheels and tires...........

 

[hotcobra03]

Well, not trying to bust your chops at all, but he said vibration was "not RPM specific" and "is MPH dependent", so then a wheel/tire would be very first suspect, no??? If not that, what would you look at?

Obviously if not wheel/tire issue, then check pinion angle, bent axle, driveshaft balance, etc. But based on his criteria it seems (to me) that the very first things to check would be wheels and tires...........

Ever use these. .
Top of the line on the vehicle wheel balancer.
And

Drive shafts balancer

 

[Flcracker]

Interesting. I recently used Mobil 1 ATF in my T56 Magnum XL fluid change and I swear it now feels a tad notchy, not bad, but not super smooth. Are you using Amsoil Manual Synchromesh Transmission Fluid 5W-30? Thanks...............

I'll have to ask my shop. After going with Amsoil, the tranny shifted smoother over time. Does it seem like sometimes down shifting into second requires too much effort?

 

[Mojo88]

Ever use these. .
Top of the line on the vehicle wheel balancer.
And

Drive shafts balancer

LOL, I had a couple of service stations back in 70's and we actually had an on-vehicle tire balancer. It didn't look anything like that though, hahah. It looked like a rube goldberg contraption, but it seemed to work OK.

 

[offroadkarter]

Does it seem like sometimes down shifting into second requires too much effort?

I'm listening...

I'm running Mobil 1 synthetic ATF (since its the only synthetic tremec stands by) and I've noticed I have to make sure its really in second when doing a 3-2 downshift, I had it pop out today when I went to shift and didn't get it in all the way.

My 3-4 shifts are a bit notchy til the trans warms up as well.

 

[Flcracker]

Hey, my apologies, but my shop is real busy. All I can tell you is that we went to Amsoil fluid. I went to Amsoil's website and I don't see any other fluid for manuals besides the one that you mentioned. Anyway..As I said, I had to use quite a bit of force to down shift into second before we changed the fluid. Seems like the magnum XL gets smoother over time too with the Amsoil.

 

[badmpg03]

My T56 Magnum XL went from smooth to notchy, so we changed the fluid to Amsoil. Now it shifts great.

Thanks for the tip. I am not sure what fluid we are using, but my trans is already feeling clunky and not like it did on my first drive. I will mention we do this asap.

Please be sure and let us know if this solved your problem. I also have vibration at highway speeds and I am suspecting bent wheel (I hope, haha).

The wheel was bent. I got the wheel repaired locally but not sure if they did the job 100%. The vibration was about 90% gone after I initially got the wheel back. Now it has gone back to more vibration and assuming the more I drive it, the worse it will get. I think there is still an issue with the wheel. Even after the repair - to balance the tire on the wheel, the tire shop stacked all the wheel weights in a concentrated area again indicating there is still a rotational problem with the wheel. I think it is still jacked.

Was the rear pinion flange changed with all the other stuff you tried?

I don't see a wheel causing issue you describe..but have seen wheels cause strange things

Not sure. My shop (Heidman Racing ) has been doing a great job in helping me with this. We have talked with Full Tilt Boogie and D&D on different occasions addressing everything. I am pretty confident the drive line is in good shape. I think there may be an issue with my clutch, and I am guessing still an issue with the wheels. I am going to have the shop swap the trans fluid, change the wheels again first back to the stokers and see what happens from there.

Well, not trying to bust your chops at all, but he said vibration was "not RPM specific" and "is MPH dependent", so then a wheel/tire would be very first suspect, no??? If not that, what would you look at?

Obviously if not wheel/tire issue, then check pinion angle, bent axle, driveshaft balance, etc. But based on his criteria it seems (to me) that the very first things to check would be wheels and tires...........

Agreed on your points.
The reason we didn't check the wheels in first place is they were perfectly in order when I put them on the car, and I drove 4-6 weeks with everything running smoothly. Initially, we had more issues with the input /out on the stock t56transmission, which is why I first serviced the car. But at the time with my BBS RK's, no vibration issues to speak of.
This is where I still don't know what happened....I drop the car off with wheels tires in good condition. I get the car back after the magnum swap and, we didn't know it at the time, but the passenger rear was very bent. I didn't hit anything, no road rash of any damage to show on the wheel. Wheel looks brand new. We had no reason to suspect the wheel for damage. My shop did everything i requested to figure out the vibration, changed axles back and forth, changed gears, new LSD, changed driveshafts, changed pinon angles 2-3X. Makes me upset how much money I spent and and time we wasted trying to figure all this out, but whats done is done. Obviously have now learned start simple then work to complicated.
The fun part now is the wheel that was bent is a BBS RK that is no longer made. I paid a lot for the set. It still feels a little out of whack but not sure what to do on seeing if it can be repaired to normal. If not, I am up a creek because who is going to sell me 1 18x10 BBS RK wheel. That will be fun to track down.

Anyway, so long as we are making progress I am not worried. I was upset after 4-5 months of the spending a lot of money on the car and getting nowhere.

 

[Flcracker]

Do u feel a clunk at low rpms with the 1-2 shift? Mine did that for quite some time but not so much anymore.

 

[badmpg03]

Do u feel a clunk at low rpms with the 1-2 shift? Mine did that for quite some time but not so much anymore.

Not at the shift point. My clunk is when at a standing stop then happens when rolling into first gear. You can feel something in the drive line shift but FTBR said a lot of that may be the effect of the solid bushings.

 

[CobraBob]

You've already spent a LOT of time trying to solve the vibration issue. You suspect it is still that (repaired) bent wheel. I would find a set of wheels (all four) somewhere, maybe from a local friend with a Mustang. Trying a complete set of wheels to test with should tell you right away if one or more of your original wheels is causing the issue. It's definitely worth trying IMO.

 

[badmpg03]

You've already spent a LOT of time trying to solve the vibration issue. You suspect it is still that (repaired) bent wheel. I would find a set of wheels (all four) somewhere, maybe from a local friend with a Mustang. Trying a complete set of wheels to test with should tell you right away if one or more of your original wheels is causing the issue. It's definitely worth trying IMO.

Agreed Bob. I did this last week. Vibration got about 30-40% better. But funny enough it is still there. I swapped back on the stock wheels and got them balanced at a tire shop.
Taking the car back in tomorrow to my shop