Thud thunk lunge lurch, stopping started, axle wrap SOLVED.

So I started a new job and have to drive my truck about 350 miles a week now versus 350 in two months.

The supposed axle wrap that was causing my thump in the back when coming to a stop and starting was driving me insane since I am in the truck more now. (Stereo is getting changed as well)

So I have not had much time due to all the hours at the new job so I decided to just clamp the springs together about and inch in front of the axle U bolts.

Figured this would be a bandaid until I have time to install the other leafs I have sitting standby.

Thought the clamps solved the problem but it did not. So I moved them about 3 inches in front of the U-bolts. Thump and thud is still there. So I took the spring clamps off and thought of past experiences.

I have TSB rear springs. Springs have been on the truck for about 6 months. Truck is lifted in the front with 5100 and eibachs at 0.

I used to have a Chevy Tahoe and a GMC sierra which did the same thump/clunk and it was always the output shaft and slip yoke that just needed grease and the problem would go away. It is a different setup than the tacoma but same in theory how it is causing the bind which causes the kick in the rear when stopping and starting.

Well on the tacoma we have a number of different types of driveshaft setups. I am a 4wd double cab so there is one slip you just behind the carrier bearing but it is sealed in a rubber boot and not setup to be lubricated.

If you work carefully you can open up the clamp and reuse it or get a band clamp if you feel the need to replace.

Step 1
Take off clamp and loosen rubber under clamped area since it is seized to the shaft.

Step 2
Take the four 14MM bolts off the junction point from the driveshaft to the rear axle. At this point after a few hits of your palm you should be able to move the shaft you unbolted toward the front of the truck and release it from the flange at the axle. Swing it out of the way and slip it out of the slip yoke.

Step 3
Apply proper synthetic grease that will not fly out. I applied it to both parts of the splined areas.

Step 4
Place shaft back into place. It only goes in one way due to the splines orientation.

Step 5
Reassemble 4 bolts

Step 6
Reuse clamp or replace

Step 7
Drive around and be


I will post back to see how long this lasts. I am guessing about every 5-10K it will reappear. I plan to drill and tap yoke area with a zerk fitting to save the time of dropping the shaft always.

If I do this again and it works for others I can take some pics next time around. Should take about 30 minutes your first time around. Do not have to jack up the truck. Block front wheels since it can roll once shaft is taken out. Two 14mm wrenchs and another for added leverage used to break them loose.

So due to the lift it changed the driveshaft angles enough to cause binding in the slip yoke to a greater amount and the splines also needs to be lubed as part of maintenance, is what I have concluded.

 

Glad you posted this. After three Tacomas all having this "thunk," I've had enough. I've literally just been researching this the last few weeks. Looks like marine grade grease works for GM owners, but even then many posted that it is a routine maintenance requirement because the thunk comes back. Tightening my u-bolts to 73 ft-lbs helped shore up the rear, hopefully this will fix my "lurch.". Now, if I can only get rid of my driveline takeoff shudder my truck will be perfect!

 

It is just common on autos which are rear wheel drive, does not really matter make or model.

Some are worse than others.

My Chevy was finally cured when I popped for a chrome lined yoke. I did not have to grease near as often. It will come back eventually I know just depends how long.

The tacoma driveshaft when pulled apart has a blue coating on the male side splines. It is a slippery coating to prevent bind which does not seem to be working. I have about 75K on my truck now so it did last that long.

There was some grease in there when I took it apart but not enough.

My U bolts are at 90 ft lbs it did not help me any checking torque since they were correct from when I did the tsb myself

 

Was just thinking of doing this myself the other day from reading about the Silverado and Ford guys doing this. It seems easy enough. Remember to make alignment marks before unbolting. Also if that metal band holding on boot dies perhaps a nylon or steel zip tie would suffice.

 

The shaft is only able to go back together exactly as it came out due to an orientation groove in the splines. Marking it will make it easier though to find it. Mark the front and the rear of the shaft since the rear moves freely if you roll the truck at any point to gain access to the bolts.

The stainless band is reuseable if you take care to open it nicely. It would be quicker to not have to dick with it and just use typical band clamp. The reason it is there is to keep debris from entering so there is not a huge amount of tension on it.

Post back it if you try it to see if the results prove positive as well.

 

Put about 100 miles on the truck today and it drives like a new truck again.

Will post back when it needs lube again.

 

Glad to hear the good news! For anyone wanting pcis of this procedure, I found this a few days ago: http://www.eurekaboy.com/f250/slipjoint.htm

 

Those pics are pretty much the same for the tacoma driveshaft setup except there are four bolts on two mating flat flanges instead of u-joint clamps on the ford.

 

I probably put another 3-500 miles on the truck and the rear thunk/thud is gone.

People take note this is the problem and not axle wrap for a number of us, it is the splines binding in the slip yoke.

 

This cured my axle wrap:



I had axle wrap resulting in slip yoke bind on both my one-piece Tom Woods shaft and the stock Toyota shaft. The axle wraps and then has a difficult time *unwrapping* when you brake to a stop, resulting in slip-yoke bind.

I don't think the lube is stopping the axle wrap, just the binding. Either way, it gets rid of your clunk, so I'd consider it a good-enough fix if you're staying on pavement. If you're towing a lot or getting offroad, I would still want a true fix for the wrapping issue itself.

 

^^^^^^That is a nice setup but is not in budget and overkill for most of us who see limited off roading.

I think it depends if you truly have axle wrap or if you have slip yoke bind.

I clamped my springs and the problem was still there so it eliminated axle wrap out of the equation. This is why I ventured into greasing the slip yoke.

I know axle wrap can occur and does on a number of vehicles with age/towing/ and wheeling since toyota sucks at setting up a real suspension in these trucks.

I am just hear to spread the word to grease the slip yoke for us mall rats to see if it solves the problem before dropping cash on a AAL or a leaf pack to only have the same problem still.

 

I would agree.

Not necessarily. Spring clamps only stiffen the spring rate. If it's floppy weak to begin with, it may not have enough force to stop axle wrap even when clamped.

This is why moving to aftermarket leaf packs sometimes cures axle wrap by itself. Stiffer spring = enough resistance to keep the axle in check.

It's not a bad setup, it's just a compromise between clearance, load carrying, safe handling....trucks are asked to do a lot of things. As they say, you can be okay at many things or excellent at a few....

No problem with that. What I'm saying is your axle is probably still wrapping, it's just that now the slip yoke doesn't bind...it slides back into position without thumping when you brake to a stop. Which is fine - that's one of the purposes of the slip yoke in the first place. ToMoCo expects the axles on these trucks to wrap a little bit (it's impossible to prevent completely without a traction bar or links on a SOA leaf spring suspension) so they built it such that there are tolerances (slip yoke, u-joints) that can absorb the minor shift and keep things in spec enough to prevent damage.

 

subd

 

did this today, I used mobil 1 synthetic grease since it was the only one I could find that was a brand name I recognized (was also the most expensive). the only thing that sucked for doing it in my driveway was as soon as I got the bolts off the flange, and took the rear driveshaft out, the truck moved back like half an inch so the holes wouldn't line back up... I had to have a buddy come over and push the truck forward so I could get the bolts back in... but I shalacked that grease on both female and male parts of the slip yoke (it is some thick shit!), andwhen I slid it back in the excess grease just came out. I got frustrated with the metal clamps and ended up rendering them unusable, so I just zip tied the boot back into place, which is pretty secure without anything holding it on honestly... not sure if the zip ties will be permanent but they work for now. ill try to grab some new metal clamps that fasten with screws so I can really tighten it on. drove maybe half a mile so far, will update after I get more miles on!

OP have any more updates? has the thud come back?

 

650H1 sent you a pm.

No thud/clunk has come back yet and I have roughly 3-4K miles since it was greased up.

 

I'm debating doing this also. If there's anything you'd care to share, would you mind sending me a PM also? If not, I'll tear into it this weekend or the next. I've got a good couple days worth of work to do to the Taco so I might as well add this to the list. My 'clunk' has gotten worse recently.

 

This is def a job where you wish you had a auto lift in your garage...

 

my "clunk" was diagnosed by the dealer as normal and a known concern. after 3 different trips- because it has gotten worse- they submitted to greasing it up hard. its was like new again......FOR 1000 MILES. now its back worse than ever.Im putting new Dakars on as I type and shocks all the way around. my springs were shot so maybe this would help? also told them to be sure to torque the new u bolts at the proper measurements. will update tomorrow.....

 

If your springs are shit, that's your problem

 

Ttt

300 miles and no bump since I've done this