I have a 1987 GXL and a serious problem. I have a vibration that is apparently coming from the rear end of the car. From spinning the wheels on a rack I think it is behind the drive shaft and somewhere on the rear halfshafts or suspension. The car shakes at any speed above 20 MPH and increases in frequency as the car goes faster. The vibration seems to be about as fast as the tires spinning. I have checked every thing on the back for some play and everything is tight as far as I can tell, including the rear bearings. I don't know how to find out what else it could be. Any ideas would be toorific.
Ron

 

Could be a rim/tire thats out of round. Have you had the wheels balanced recently? If you've elimated that, the driveshaft could be out of balance. You can buy balance weights for the driveshaft (part no: M055-25-901) and try to smooth it out. Good luck.

 

I think the U-Joints on the driveshaft also tend to wear out and cause this problem... How many miles are on the car?

 

Yes, the 2Gen driveshafts suck. Does the vibration lessen if you shift to the next higher gear while maintaining the same speed?

 

Thanks for the help. Today I was doing a little more research. I was pretty sure that the noise was coming from the back end but I today I realized that when I accelerate hard enough the car does not vibrate. When I coast it is fairly regular and when I brake it shudders violently. This makes me think that I need to replace the front tires. How does that sound to the experts? Also, if I need a rear driveshaft, where can I get one for free or even cheaper. I'm an Electrical Engineering student and I'm dirt poor.
Thanks again
Ron

 

hey, GuidoCat and Piston eater

one of you guys should change your logo under your name, for a moment i thought you are the same person cause the same picture you guys use.

 

I had a problem with my first gen, whenever I got on the gas hard it would shudder. Coasting and decel would be ok. Then it got to the point where it vibrated throughout, just more on hard accel. Theory was that under heavy load, it (the driveshaft) was prone to vibration due to a bad u-joint. After pulling it off (not too hard, you don't know about it and the exhuast on the 2nd gen) I noticed one of the bearings had pretty much been destroyed (looked like it had exploded). I'd say its the driveshaft. Check your local junkyards for a low milage driveshaft, they run about 15-20 dollars, and they are do it yourself swaps.

Have a good one,
Joe