Vibration no one can find

I'm guessing you don't have temp gauges for the axles. Mine has them and they start at 150F. Anything under that doesn't register. So when mine get hot, the rear one is under 150 and the front one is up around 170.

 

yes it will.

 

In my opinion heat is not the problem. Friction causes heat and heat will lead to catastrophic failure. It's not going to produce the vibration you describe. I worked in a axle plant for over 25 years, did everything form machining ring and pinion gears to assembling entire axles. I also worked in quality control and have disassembled hundreds of axles that were returned for one reason or another. It's just my opinion that your problem is in your suspension, since you describe the vibration moving like a wave through the vehicle. I would start with having someone look at the front axle and all suspension components, all it takes is one loose or misaligned component to get the vibration started. You described a vibration wave, does it feel like just the frame is vibrating or is it the body vibrating ? In other words does it feel like the vibration is below the cab ? The cab would stay steady and everything underneath would be shaking. Or does it feel like the opposite, everything above the frame is shaking ?

 

I've never tried. The redline on the gauges is 250 but I don't know where the real danger point is. They've never gotten near 200 even when low on oil. The rear one had a seal leak start on it that I got fixed at last service and it never went over 160.

 

what kinda rig was this again?

 

2001 Freightliner classic XL

 

You might want to check the cab mounts on the front dog legs they did have a habit of walking over, and if they do they contact the frame and will transfer vibration from the frame to the cab. Just a thought!