97 Xlimited 4406e problem

[97xlimited]

(I apologize in advance for the length of the post.)
I've been working on cars for nearly 20 years now and this truck has me chasing my tail. I've read post on here for years and your community is great about answering question so I decided to post.
I have a 97 limited 5.0l with a 4406e swapped transfer case. I'm new to posting so pictures are not as easy, so bear with me.
First, I bought the truck already swapped and wired. It is not a manual shift it is electric. I have a wobble/vibration at 15-20MPH on deceleration and acceleration but not at a cruise. It goes away and a vibration comes back a 30-35MPH and stays there until 50-55MPH but varies in intensity; again not at a cruise. Seems, sounds and feels like a drive-line vibration. Whats been done:
1. New/Used front drive shaft shortened and balanced
(The old one was done incorrectly and could have damaged the tcase)
2. New ujoints front and rear shafts
3. Replaced front differential (old one puking out the vent and the gear backlash was slightly out) Inspected the rear and change fluids.
4. Went through EVERYTHING else including measuring the tires diameter with a tape measure. Ran it on a lift to check for vibration location and found the tcase to be shaking slightly. Trans mount OK.
So I'm thinking at this point the tcase must be bad due to the old front shaft. If I remove the front shaft the vibration is gone. Took the shaft back to the drive-line shop yesterday to have it rechecked and its not a issue. Changed the tcase fluid, it was OK if not a little dark. Not burned just dirty. It could be angles but have not heard that that was much of an issue on the swaps.
I have read on here that the GEM can sometimes cause a issue so I went to the salvage yard and got a replacement just to see. That GEM made the vibration way worse even though the part numbers matched. Now there is no telling when that GEM was updated last. They were both for a 97 4.0l a4wd model truck. I also took time to check the wiring on mountys and other Xs as well as other v8 models. When I came home I found another issue.
My X has two wiring harnesses for the 4wd mode switch. One was spliced in and wired like the others, the other seems original but does not match any color set that I saw at the yard (for 96,97 or 98 model years). It also is not wired the same as ALL of the other Xs, mountys, or V8 models. The expeditions are even different. It had a 4wd mode style switch connected to it and was hid behind the panel, but it is only a two position switch. One position is off and the other is on but with variable resistance. The spliced in switch is in the normal position (on the bezel with three positions) and the 4wd does work. I have no idea what the two position switch does. I cant even find any ford in those years that used a two position on/off switch in the 4wd system(f150 maybe, idk) The brown wire is intact but had been splice back together. I though maybe they wired it for 2wd but the two pole switch has no effect on the coil.
Before I condemn the tcase completely, I would like to make sure the wiring is not causing a problem. The two pole switch is connected with power for light (Rd/blk), then the gem wire (Bl/Wht not (Wht/bl) (which does not go to the gem), the next is a ground (Blk/Wht) and the last is a ground (Blk). (Going left to right on the connector installed position). The splice in connector/switch is wired/colored correctly. Switching switches around doesn't seem to work.
Whew! So if anyone has any ideas or info I would love to hear it. I don't know what kind of monkey has been in there messing around, or even whats going on with the wiring and the vibration.:scratch:
Thanks

 

[Dono]

Have you pulled the front drive shaft off and gone for a drive? Some guys seem to be dealing with various vibrations, but yours sounds pretty bad.

On the electric xfer case, guys seem to go manual instead of automatic. Check with blueka and see how he's making out. I know he has been researching how to make an auto transfer case work, and is a pretty smart guy. I wonder if the previous owner of your truck ever had it working?

 

[97xlimited]

Have you pulled the front drive shaft off and gone for a drive? Some guys seem to be dealing with various vibrations, but yours sounds pretty bad.

On the electric xfer case, guys seem to go manual instead of automatic. Check with blueka and see how he's making out. I know he has been researching how to make an auto transfer case work, and is a pretty smart guy. I wonder if the previous owner of your truck ever had it working?

Thanks for the reply, yes I have pulled the shaft and driven it, the vibration is gone for the most part. Still seems to be there a little, but you have to really pay attention to catch it. I can tell its still there but my wife cannot.
I disconnected the brown wire last night and all vibration is gone with the front shaft removed. There seems to be something around 45mph with the front shaft installed, but it is different than before.
This transfer case is fully operational and works just fine. Except the vibration. I'm trying to figure out if it is really the transfer case or not.
I have been chasing the wiring issue for a week now, and it figures as soon as I post it I found the problem. It seems the ARC equipped Full Time AWD V8 trucks did not have the 4wd connector. Although all the trucks at the salvage yard did, I don't believe any had the ARC suspension. The 4WD low input signal to the GEM was replace with the ARC input signal using the same connector pin. So the two systems could not coexist in the same truck. The connector I found is wired to the switch to simulate the 4low input signal to raise the suspension the 1-inch travel on demand
It doesn't seem to work anymore, but the ARC in this truck has seen better days. Maybe a bad module. Anyway mystery solved I believe on the wiring issue. I'll just have to get it working again.
So what do you all think about the t-case and vibration. I still thinking it is probably damaged do to the old front shaft and the front flange is wobbling slightly. I know the front flange on the t-case has 10-12 thousandths end play. Maybe 5-6 thousandths run-out, but it has been difficult to check do to the flange torqueing causing the readings to be off.(flange is to stiff to turn by hand) It could be as little as 3 thousandths.

 

[Dono]

I have no clue on the vibration. I'm betting a bunch of us will like to know what you find. Vroomzoomboom fought a vibration also, and it was his front shaft. You have ruled that out. It might be end play in the case as you suggested.
Great job on the wiring.

 

[97xlimited]

I have no clue on the vibration. I'm betting a bunch of us will like to know what you find. Vroomzoomboom fought a vibration also, and it was his front shaft. You have ruled that out. It might be end play in the case as you suggested.
Great job on the wiring.

I decided to put the truck up again and take a good look at the pinion angles which I never really checked. I found a definite problem with the front differential in comparison to the 4406. The flange on the 4406 is pointing up at 4degs. The front differential is also pointing up at 4degs. Umm! That's not good. The driveshaft will jump rope and vibrate like crazy set like that. When I ran it on the lift at about 15mph it looked like the shaft was wobbling/ hopping, but I chocked it up to a optical illusion. At higher speeds it appeared to run straight and true.
Now, how the hell am I going to adjust that? The front diffy does not have enough adjustment to reach 4degs down. I can get it to 0-1degs, but I don't know if that's going to be enough. Does anybody know how much torque pitch is applied. With the way it is mounted I don't see it moving much. The rear angles are good so I don't really want to change the transfer case position. Then have to readjust the rear. Well, I guess ill be on the phone to superlift or someone with a possible solution and to verify my findings are accurate. If not I guess ill have to make some mounting brackets or modify the ones that are in it now. That should be interesting!
I'll post updates as I go and if anyone out there knows Im on the wrong track please speak up. Its been forever since I messed with pinion angles, I had to search my garage for a hour to find the gauge. The horrible thing is, my wife finally asked me what I was looking for and she found it in 30secs.
Right where I put it so it wouldn't get lost.

 

[Dono]

I think you are on the perfect track. I didn't know you could really adjust pinion angles at all without major fabrication.
Ive wanted to do the 4406 manual mod, but have been concerned about vibration. Iy has seemed hit and miss on different installs. Once your done here, you just might have resolved the issue that is slowing me down from doing this.

 

[R1dd1cK]

Yea I did the manual 4406 swap and I have a vibration around 60. It is annoying as hell.

 

[97xlimited]

I think you are on the perfect track. I didn't know you could really adjust pinion angles at all without major fabrication.
Ive wanted to do the 4406 manual mod, but have been concerned about vibration. Iy has seemed hit and miss on different installs. Once your done here, you just might have resolved the issue that is slowing me down from doing this.

Yeah, "technically" you cannot on the front diff. The rear you can all day long by shimming the leaf springs. I'm not positive without checking first , but the transfer case can have multiple choices for change. Usually though only drop blocks are available, which I'm not sure how much change/problems that will bring with it. The t-case really needs to pivot to 2degs front up and rear down angle. Then the Front could be adjusted at the bracket and "should" be fine. Right now it is sitting 4degs up in the front and 4degs down in the rear.
The front you have to shim the bracket where it mounts to the frame and the only available adjustment is a downward point. Small adjustments have been ok for me in the past at the bracket, but for this being off a full 8 degs just to make it parallel, will probably require some changes to be mounted safe and secure. I think at first, given that this truck is mine, I will try a large shim with a longer bolt to reach up to a max of 3deg down. Then see if the problem is gone. Cant leave it like that or the diff mounting ears might snap off. It will also probably bleed a bunch of noise and vibration from the diff if there is metal to metal contact. First, I need to make a couple calls and find out all my options. I would think someone somewhere has run into this problem already.

 

[97xlimited]

Yea I did the manual 4406 swap and I have a vibration around 60. It is annoying as hell.

It would be interesting to know what your angles are at the transfer case and differentials. My wife and I are thinking about going back out to the salvage yard to gather more information.(Yes, she likes to go. ) Is your vibration in 4hi at that speed or just 2hi or both.(Have to pull rear driveshaft and run FWD to find out or just check the angles) If just 2hi then your angles could be off in the rear but ok up front. Maybe that's a difference between installed manual and auto t-cases, even though you wouldn't think there would be one. If so I could switch to a manual shift then just readjust the rear diff, which is more easily adjusted. It could also mean a double adjustment. Question, questions, questions.

 

[Entrixable]

One thing that you could try is a double cardon front shaft form an 1st gen explorer and a rear double cardon shaft form an expy. I currently have the fromt shaft installed on my ride but have yet to install the rear, btw i have a manual 4406

 

[R1dd1cK]

It would be interesting to know what your angles are at the transfer case and differentials. My wife and I are thinking about going back out to the salvage yard to gather more information.(Yes, she likes to go. ) Is your vibration in 4hi at that speed or just 2hi or both.(Have to pull rear driveshaft and run FWD to find out or just check the angles) If just 2hi then your angles could be off in the rear but ok up front. Maybe that's a difference between installed manual and auto t-cases, even though you wouldn't think there would be one. If so I could switch to a manual shift then just readjust the rear diff, which is more easily adjusted. It could also mean a double adjustment. Question, questions, questions.

I have yet to source a shifter so I only drive around in 2hi.

 

[delexploder]

Im definetaly subscribed to this one

 

[97xlimited]

One thing that you could try is a double cardon front shaft form an 1st gen explorer and a rear double cardon shaft form an expy. I currently have the fromt shaft installed on my ride but have yet to install the rear, btw i have a manual 4406

GEN1 Front driveshaft is on the agenda to check out tomorrow at the salvage yard. My wife had a 92 so I new they had a cardin in the front shaft. I checked on a replacement front driveshaft for a 94 x but in the picture the t-case side flange will not bolt up. Now the picture could be wrong...
So, did you have to change the flange to get the gen1 driveshaft to work?
If so, did the same ujoint work?
If not, do you have the part number for the joint you used?
Did you have to use a conversion joint or not?
Did you use a expy t-case flange?

Some answers to these questions will help. If it worked for you then it should for me, unless the angles on the manual t-case are different.(again hopefully answers tomorrow.)

 

[97xlimited]

I have yet to source a shifter so I only drive around in 2hi.

Entrixable, mentioned cardan jointed rear expy shafts. I found out today that the f150 runs a cardan rear, and ill bet the navigator as well. In 2hi with a vibe if your not running one then that may help. Is your ft shaft installed? You really should get a angle guage and check your angles, ($10) at lowes or hd. That would tell you whether a cardan shaft will help or not. Being in the rear the rear diff is at least adjustable to correct the angles but you have to know what they are first.

 

[Entrixable]

Youll need a new yoke tcase side Precision Universal Joint Part # 627 and im pretty sure you can use any year my shaft is from an 93, hope this helps your problem.

 

[97xlimited]

So, I spent a lot of the day on the phone and I think I have the issue resolved. The 4degs up on the t-case and the 4degs up on the differential with a 3deg driveshaft slope gives me a 7deg (a little extreme) working angle at the t-case and a 1deg (good) at the diffy. This situation is and I quote "a perfect setup for a Cardan joint driveshaft". After calling multiple places I finally got a hold of Troy at Tom Woods custom shafts in Utah. (Check out 4xshaft.com.(plug!plug! I said I would) Click on order and the pdf instructions are in the middle of the page) He had me make all the measurements they needed, then told me he could make me a shaft shipped to Pa for $270-$310. The only option was a normal duty spline or heavy duty spline using 1310's which Im assuming are the u-joints. No more conversion joint and the u-joints are readily available. I had other quotes of $350-$450 not shipped, but all verifying the symptoms, measurements, and solution.
He even explained my vibration to me without me saying a word and nailed the symptoms almost to a tee just by looking at the measurements. (impressive to say the least) I don't now if this will fix everyones vibrations, but if your angles are similar to whats above it should work(Hopefully). I'm going to try the gen1 shaft if possible to try to verify the fix before spending that on a custom shaft. Drive-shafts cost me $20 at the yard so its worth a little experimenting.
The other interesting thing I found was that the f150, expedition, and navigator all use the same front shaft setup. The rear shaft in a f150 seems to use a cardan at the t-case. The above quotes a rear expy shaft that has a cardin joint. So it would figure the Navigator as well. It makes me suspect that the 2-4deg up pitch in those vehicles is at the rear shaft of the t-case not the front like my situation. Just due to how ford mounted the drive line in the full-size vehicles. I have a 2deg down slope at the trans then approx. 4deg at the t-case. I have a hand thick space between the t-case and floor. So my case cannot go up any.
I think we are going to try to get to the salvage yard tomorrow so hopefully we will find some more concrete answers. Its kind of odd going to a salvage yard for research.
This just goes to show that even with 20 years under my belt, one modded truck has me back to school.

 

[97xlimited]

Youll need a new yoke tcase side Precision Universal Joint Part # 627 and im pretty sure you can use any year my shaft is from an 93, hope this helps your problem.

Hey thanks for the quick reply, based on what I found out today I think it just might help. Any issues with the shaft length or front u-joint?

 

[Entrixable]

Its fits nice, and none at all, installation is smooth as glass

 

[97xlimited]

Its fits nice, and none at all, installation is smooth as glass

Sounds good, I will see what I can find today at the yard. Not sure, how long ago you did this, I'm having trouble finding the yoke anywhere local. I'm down to just Carquest or Nolts (big A) for part houses. RockAuto (best price) online, and a few other places. Don't really want to get it online, warranty and return can be a pain. May need to call a driveline shop to see if they can get it. Many places showing it is discontinued. That is one thing I do not like about conversion joints/yokes is you don't now how much longer they are going to be available.

 

[Entrixable]

I bought mine online at rockauto, i tired a local driveline shop and they told me that i cant do what i was doing and that i needed to bring my shaft to them and pay them to mod it.( They ask what i needed the yoke for so i told them my situation) And id say iv had it for about 6-7 months if not a little more with no problems just dont forget to grease the inner centering bearing