My 92 Chevy Astro shutters when moving. It is most noticable when taking off from a start under load (accleration). I believe it is due to bad u-joints. The van has 167K miles. The rear differential has been replaced within the last year. Any advice?

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

Sell it while it still runs.
Pull the driveshaft and rebuild it.

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Jim

I would sell it but since I have owned and maintained it since new I prefer to run it into the ground like I did with my last 2 cars. Since I installed a limited-slip differential it handles much better in foul weather.

What is involved in rebuilding a driveshaft? New u-joints and rebalancing?

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

I took the driveshaft off today and found several problems. The left rear leaf spring (fiberglass leaf) is broken (split) causing the van to lean. The pinion gear had lost its preload, I had to tighten up the nut. The front u-joint is loose after I tightened the pinion nut.

I was curious if the broken leaf spring caused the other problems. I will need to price out leaf springs to determine if I want to spend money into my van. I will also need to remove the rear differential cover to determine if the loose pinion gear caused any damage to my rear differential I replaced 10K miles ago.

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

You should be able to find another leaf spring at a pull a parts place without spending a bunch of money. Not sure it it could cause the vibration problem or not. Replace the front and rear universal joint in the d'shaft. You should be able to do it yourself without alot of issues.

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Jim

Thanks for the reality check Jim. I never considered buying parts from a junk yard for my van before. Your suggestion makes good sense based on the age and milage of my van.

I forgot to mention by tighting the pinion nut the vibration has been reduced by 50%. My next step is to replace the u-joints. If that solves the vibration problem then I will attack the leaf springs.

__________________
Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles