vibration from 25 to 45 MPH

maybe someone can help!

I put a three inch lift on the front of my Tacoma and a 1 inch on the back to make it dead level.. i went with Ready lift suspension, after installed it looks great! but now i have a vibration that's driving me crazy from 25 to 45 MPH

 

^ Yep, JH is all over it.

 

good luck man.i have the same thing.i was going to try this w/e some diff. stuff but just had a major medical issue with my pops,(bad stroke) and major bummed out, so that might put the dampner on things for a while.i do know this isnt the first thred on this topic.snowboarder has been working on this(hes smart).so u might wanna give him a pm.im sure he will help out. yeah and what JH said

 

Thanks for the kudos pataco and I'm so sorry to hear about your pops.

Tacomasnow, try the carrier bearing spacer as JHodge83 suggested and see if that helps. Did you install front diff drop spacers with your lift?

 

and if all else fails, get a Tom Woods Drive Shaft

 

hey thanks everyone for the info i ended up getting some procomp 2 degree shims for the rear axle so i will give them a try.. which way would you put the shims? there were no directions. and for SnoBoarder, yes i did install the diff drop spacers.. the vibration is not terrible but its like you have over sized tires on, when you actually don't.

 

Did you have a chance to drive it for a day or 2 before installing the front diff drop?

 

haha that's a great way of explaining it, i appreciate the info jhodge83.

SnoBoarder no, i never got a chance to give it a spin with the diff drop spacer removed i didn't think of that working. Does it it help? it almost seems like the vibration comes from the front end and not the drive line. I've just figured that's the problem because of what i have been reading on it. Let me know if that's something i should be trying. Thanks!

 

I've tried a front diff drop with a lifted 05 and an 07, with the toyota 2 piece rear driveline and with a Tom Woods 1 piece, and I think the front diff drop is worthless and causes more vibrations and droning noises for most people than it cures. I removed my diff drop and that reduced the lower speed vibrations and droning each time.

Your rear driveline u-joint operating angles are definatley out of spec after the lift. A lot of those rear driveline vibrations ripple up the driveline where you sense them up front. The carrier bearing spacer has helped also.

 

^^
I hear what you're saying:

But, the diff drop will lessen the angle on your front CVs and is highly recommended by any lifted 4x4 owner on this board to extend the life of your CVs.

For driveline vibes, get the shims or carrier bearing drop (or a TWDS).

 

I understand that to be a general recommendation, but I disagree with it from research and personal experience.

Some lift kit manufacturers have stated that the CV angles are not severe with the added 2-3 inches of front lift and that the front diff drop is really not necesssary and no longer recommended. I happen to agree with those statements.

I've installed the front diff drop multiple times, and compared CV angles. Even though they are 1 inch drop spacers, they don't lower the front diff by 1 inch, instead they rotate the front pinion angle a few more degrees upward (unnecessary) and add only a slight amount of overall lowering, perhaps 3/8 of an inch, which has very little effect on sparing the CV angles from significant wear and tear. Vibration and droning complaints are fairly common with the front diff drop which is why I checked to see if he had driven it without it. FWIW, I had almost 90,000 miles on my old lifted 05, with no diff drop and no CV issues, and 35,000 on my lifted 07 with no diff drop (that's a whole other story) and no issues. I also have a 1-piece from Tom, great investment.

I would make correcting the rear driveline angles top priority. It usually results in reduced or at least more acceptable levels of vibrations, without the front diff drop. Just my 2 cents.

 

Thank You!!! I have that drone that feals like it is up front, worse when very cold. I thought it was the front barrings??? I'm going to try taking out the front diff drop and get a carrier baring drop instead (when it warms up a bit).

Again, Thank you, that makes perfect sense.

 

Alright well i'm going to go with SnoBoarder it seems like you know what your talking about.. once again thanks a lot for this valuable info.

one more question SnoBoarder what's the pros and cons on getting this Tom Woods drive shaft?

 

Thanks for the kudos, but this info's only good if it actually helps cure your issues. The 1 piece is so much easier to measure and correct the working angles, plus there are no adjustments, it just bolts on. It helps with take off shudder too.

 

I to have the vibe in the front that start during the cold weather. Have the tw dc shaft with 2.5 degree shims that cured every vibe at first. Ran awesome then it got cold. My vibe is from 30-45 in the front left. Been to toyota dealer and everything "looks good". stated probable lift vibe. I strongly feel it's the diff output shaft on the left as others have stated. This shaft must be on the side of short to begin with and cant handle the cold weather and a lift (shortening the shaft). Other theroy is the diff lube is sub par causing vibes during the colder weather. It reached 65 here today and she rode nearly vibe free. I also lowered the air pressure in my ruggeds to 35psi from 40psi. Lowering my billy co's to 2" of lift lessened the vibe a little also. My vibe is a very mild thump, thump, thump, You mostly feel it and cant really hear it.
2008 TRD offroad DC 4x4

 

^ I have a similar vibe Budisweiser, I jacked the truck up from under the lower A arm, and when I rotate the tire by hand you can hear the noise in the diff? You could try the same thing. I'm going in today to see what Toyota says about it. I've read that a few people have had the front diff replaced with similar issues.

 

Your 2.5 shim pushed your rear pinion angle upwards another 2.5+ degrees and with your 1 piece drive shaft, you'll need to take some new measurements as the angles may have changed over time.

Edit: since you have a double cardan 1 piece, your double cardan joint should be up at the transfer case and the single cardan side should be down at the rear axle. The angle between the pinion and the driveshaft at the single cardan side has to be 0 degrees, so the 2.5 is either over or under correcting, you'd have to measure both angles and see which way you need to go.

The "thump" description doesn't exactly match what we've been talking about as far as driveline vibrations, so any kind of "thump" is likely another issue to troubleshoot .

 

Sonjay-I did it, no helpers, just me. Dakars and shocks, 4 hours. Thanks for all the pm info!!!