Good news!! So, I pulled the driveshaft assembly today and guess what...The center bearing seems fine. When I got the assembly out it was pretty easy to see the movement was within the foward joint of the CV. I took the bearing off and examined it. It rolls smooth and doesnt have any play really to speak of. The CV joints however....toast. With some needle nose plyers, I was able to remove chunks of blasted joint cap out. I have all four joints and will be able to install them tomorrow. I have a question about the rubber collar that surrounds the outside of the center bearing. It looks intact but, how snug or tight is it supposed to sit in the crossmember? It slipped out pretty easily and I am curious about how it sits in there... Also, the front companion bolt was out and floating around between the forward u-joint and the forward companion. Lucky it didn't find it's way out or I might not have even noticed it.
Spent the whole weekend on the driveshaft. All new joints and did what I could for the bearing and ball stud. What a pain in the A$$. Seems alot better but, now that the main vibration noise is gone, I can hear all the other sounds my car makes.....
Was still getting some vibe. Noticed a little dent in the shaft just behind the CV. So I tried the old hose clamp counter wieght trick and guess what...it actually worked! Smoothed out big time. Now I notice yet another noise. At 60 or so when I step on it I get some of the vibration noise. I'm thinking my Tranny mount might be toast and when I hit it at higher speeds, its shifting my angle a bit. Or the Bearing Collar or both. When I put the collar back in it went in snug but not exactly stiff. I'm wondering what a new one sits like. They are about 100 bucks and a pain in the neck to do so I don't want to just start changing things.
Nick I was reading through your drive shaft letters and understand what your going through.I own a 1963 Olds F85. You can still get the center bearing BCA makes it, you just have to get it out of the insulator BE CAREFUL INSULATOR IS DISCONTINUED FROM SAGINAW. Lynn Steele Rubber Products used to redo them .Ujoints are available though.The third one from the engine needs to have a sunken center section to clear the cup with the C.V. parts. When you install the shaft you MUST make sure it is in alignment the factory shop manual shows this operation .they use two equal lenths of string and four nuts (lug nuts will work) Tie the nuts to the end of the cords and hang one over the center of the front shaft and one over the center of the rear and sight through them move the center bearing until the holes align this isvery important Also when you take the shaft apart mark it with chalk so it goes back together the exact same way they do this for balance. As for CV kits good luck they were discontinued in '71 Check the swap meets. Also if you take the CV apart check the ball stud at the end of the slip joint if it's out of round its no good don't throw it out if it is bad I'm trying to find a way to have them repaired. I used to drive my car every day also and finally had to up grade the fleet they are great cars it's just that they are obsolete . I've owned my car forover twenty years and know every inch of them.I hope this info helps Good luck
