88 thunderbird turbo coupe

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88 thunderbird turbo coupe

March 25, 2012, 01:43:06 AM

i have a question. when on the highway around 55 and up i get a vibration i feel it when i shift to fifth i get a vibration could this be a driveshaft issue like out of balance or even my u joints? sorry if anyone gets mad and say search but my computer wont let me idk why so can anyone help me out please. any help[ will be greatly appreciated. thank you ( im a noob just got the car three weeks ago):hick:

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #1 – March 25, 2012, 02:34:50 AM

i would say start with checking out the u-joints.. while you're under there, check out your trans mount.. if it looks old and beaten to death, i'd replace it.. beings it's only in 5th gear, i'd guess it's 1 of the 2

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #2 – March 26, 2012, 01:03:37 PM

U joints made a big difference in my car. But my exhaust still causes a pretty nasty vibration from 75-80....

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #3 – March 26, 2012, 07:50:57 PM

oh okay ill go ahead and try and fix that.. what about an aftermarket driveshaft anyone tried or has one like an alumium one???

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #4 – March 26, 2012, 07:59:38 PM

Get a pi crownvic ds and have it cut down to fit

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #5 – March 27, 2012, 04:23:15 PM

Is is speed or RPM related? Does it do the same thing in 3rd or 4th at that speed? If not does it do it in 3rd or 4th at the same rpm in 5th? Does it vibrate at that speed with the tranny in gear and the clutch pushed in? Does it vibrate at that speed with the tranny in neutral? These are all things we need to know first before any suggestions are made as to what to look for. Hell it could be as simple as a tire issue.

Darren

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #6 – March 28, 2012, 11:32:29 AM

It does it when it wants to and it can be when I'm getting on it around 70+ it gets worse.

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #7 – March 28, 2012, 05:41:32 PM

I am not sure I understand what you are saying. Typically it is either speed related or RPM related. This means that the problem is either from the engine damper to just before the output shaft in the tranny (Case 1) or from the output shaft of the tranny to the wheels (Case 2). The reason for this is that with a manual transmission in neutral the output shaft of the transmission to the wheels will turn freely of the rest of the parts in the transmission thus isolating it from those parts. If the vibration is RPM related is typically Case 01 and speed related is typically Case 02. If the vibration occurs at an RPM or a given RPM range then it will most likely do this in all the gears and this tells you it is most likely Case 1. If the vibration is speed related then it is most likely Case 2 and you need to check to see if it does it at this speed in all the gears you safely can. Yours seems to be at 70+ mph so I would think that you might be able to check 3rd, 4th, and 5th if the RPM's are low enough in 3rd. If the vibration is there in all three gears the next step is to run it up to that speed and see what happens when you push the clutch in. If is goes away then its before the output shaft of the tranny to the harmonic balancer. If it stays or gets worse then it is from the output shaft of the tranny to the tires.

From here a person can start to rule more things out but determining if the vibration is RPM or speed related the first step. Hopefully this makes sense and you will have an opportunity to test this out and post back on what you find.

Darren

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #8 – March 30, 2012, 12:57:55 PM

@aerocoupe. It is speed related. After 70 it is pretty bad. Doesn't matter what gear it is.

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #9 – March 30, 2012, 11:59:45 PM

Easy thing to check is to make sure the wheels are balanced. Also try swapping the wheels from front to back to see if the vibration moves. Perhaps a weight fell off a wheel. Another common problem is the drive shaft loosing a weight and going out of balance.

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #10 – March 31, 2012, 10:00:04 AM

So now we have established it vibrates in multiple gears and at or around 70mph and gets worse as you go faster. When you get it up to 70mph what happens when you put it in neutral and push the clutch in? If it still vibrates then start looking at all the components from the output shaft of the tranny to the tires. Start with the stuff that does not cost a lot and go from there.

Balance the tires
Check for bent axle s
Check the front rotors to make sure they are not warped
Bent axle
Drive shaft out of balance or bad u-joint
Bearings in the rear end going out. This usually is more of a noise that is amplified through the chassis than a vibration but if the pinion bearing was out it would cause the DS to amplify this.

I just listed these in the order I would look and may have left a few off.

Darren

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #11 – April 12, 2012, 01:31:42 AM

Anyone know the size thread for our shifter and I wanna put a short shifter in there do I get anyone from mustang I know it's a t-5 tranny. I want the classic white ball from hurst I had fit on my mustang.

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #12 – April 12, 2012, 07:29:59 AM

Mustang will fit fine.

88 thunderbird turbo coupe

Reply #13 – April 12, 2012, 09:03:08 AM

Any of the T-5 short throw shifters for the Fox body Mustangs will work on our cars. I think the shifters for the T-45 are the same as well but not 100% sure there. I have a Pro 5.0 with the stock handle (I am tall so this puts the shifter handle back a little more than the short throw handle) in my car and am considering going to the MGW shifter due to the adjustability of the shifter handle.

http://www.mgwltd.com/mustang_shifter.shtml

Darren