My Drive Shaft Saga

Just wanted to document my "journey" I have had with my drive shaft over the last 19 months. The truck is a 2007 Access cab, 2wd, TRD Offroad, 3" front lift, with 2" rear block. I had the typical vibes, as I could not find the proper carrier bearing drop/ rear axle shim combo. I kept a 3/8" drop, no axle shim. I dealt with it and paid no attention to it. The problem started in May of 2014, with my drive line started squeaking while in reverse. I figured with 88,500 miles, it was time for new grease-able ujoints and a new carrier bearing.


June 1, 2014

88,500 Miles




Reason for squeak. I guess 7 years in a humid climate will do that. Note at this point I had no symptoms of a bad carrier bearing. I replaced anyways since I had the drive shaft all the way apart.





Fast forward to May of 2015. I start to notice a shimmy/ more vibes than before. I take notice, but can't figure quite what the problem is either. Started to investigate. Started with wheel bearings. Not the issue. At this time, my wife and I relocated to Texas, so the truck was put on the back burner. When I finally get some time to climb under the truck this is what I find.



August 10, 2015

103,794 miles

(click for video)









Bad carrier bearing. I don't know if it was an installation issue, or a bad bearing.Failed after 15,357 miles!Either way, it needed to be taken care of immediately. This was a Monday, I had to work Tuesday and then was off for 5 days. My plan was to install a new bearing on Wednesday, my first off day.


August 11,2015

103,857 miles














This is what was left of the bearing





The bearing didn't give me enough time to replace it. It gave out on me while I was heading home from work, doing 65 mph down the highway.


Now I need a new bearing, a new bolt on flange yoke, and a new Ujoint. I noticed damage to the yoke that bolts to the shaft the carrier bearing is on but don't do anything about it.






Since I drive roughly 66 miles a day round trip for work, reliability is a must for me. I decide to remove the rear blocks. The lift is for looks anyways, and the trade off for reliability is worth it to me. I still had the vibes at highway speeds, and I did not want another failed bearings.


November 10, 2015

Rear lift removed, rear back to stock








Still need to lower my front, but will get to that later in time.





With the blocks and carrier bearing drop removed, I had eliminated the vibes at highway speeds, but had a worse take off shudder. After reading up on drivelines, I realize when I installed the last carrier bearing, I installed the bolt on yoke out of phase. This in turn was causing the take off shudders.


January 15, 2016 7 AM

111,170 miles








I remove the bolt on flange and notice significantly more damage. I now regret not taking care of it when the carrier bearing failed. The joint goes together by hand, and is held in by half of a spring retaining clip. I call a local shop, and luckily they have a yoke in stock. I start to head the shop, get a mile from my house, and the Ujoint falls apart.



January 15,2016 10AM

111,171 miles





I am once again stranded on the side of the road. I get in my wife's car when she gets home and go get a new Ujoint and bolt on yoke. I take care to install the yoke perfectly parallel to the front yoke of the small propeller shaft. Install all back together and boom! Back to stock feeling!!!! Absolutely no vibes, pure bliss!















January 16,2016

111,175 miles








Now my output shaft seal is leaking. I must have damaged it putting the shaft back in. So now to the dealership for the new double lip seal.







Got that taken care of and so far so good. About 100 miles on the new seal, no leaks, smooth sailing. Here's to hoping that is the end of my drive shaft saga.


So if you read this far, moral of the story,I HATE 2 PIECE DRIVE SHAFTS.


/End of rant

 

Wow, that's quite an ordeal

 

Sounds like a single piece might be in your future. Sorry that happened to you though. My two piece is at all sorts of conflicting angles and gets no mercy and hasn't hiccupped before. Guess it is the luck of the draw.

 

What you said at the end. Ive been running a TW one piece for three years having the carrier bearing blows!

 

Good on you for persevering, diagnosing and correcting the issue. Quite the saga.

2nd gen 300ZXs had 2 piece shafts also, but it was common to replace them with one piece from a driveshaft specialty shop. Does anyone make such a thing for Tacomas, or do the angles preclude this option?

 

And I thought @SMKYTXN had it bad.

Sorry to hear about this OP.

 

OP, sorry for your troubles. I have one question: why a lift on a 2wd? What's the point?

 

By no means am I doubting your skills, but I had similar problems although no where near as long or bad...thankfully. I just wanted to add that I lifted my 2005 dcsb TRD Off Road and developed very serious vibrations from the driveline. No big deal, I expected to run into some of these issues. Needless to say, I pulled the propeller shaft and replaced all the ujoints and the carrier bearing. It drove like a top for a couple hundred miles then the whole thing blew up going 70 mph. At least the truck didn't flip over for either of us; I didn't wind up with any other damage.
So, I got towed over to a small Toyota specialist shop and $700 later I had a rebuilt shaft, newer ujoints and a newer carrier bearing. I think you may be at this point to.
Either way, GOOD LUCK. I hope you figure it out. Dealing with the same issue over and over again is a pain in the ass.

 

OP mentioned earlier 'The lift is for looks only..' and that's his point/

 

Reread the thread, still missed it. Was in a different thread?

 

God damn. I never want that much trouble. Sounds like being in a cartoon. Thanks for telling your story OP.

 

nope, this same thread..

Since I drive roughly 66 miles a day round trip for work, reliability is a must for me. I decide to remove the rear blocks. The lift is for looks anyways, and the trade off for reliability is worth it to me. I still had the vibes at highway speeds, and I did not want another failed bearings. ...

 

Reedin an ritin was never my strong point...

 

not a problem. one word of advice: careful when asking why a lift on a 2wd. those questions dont end well and result in threadlocks and people getting banned.

 

Thanks for the reply. Asking why lift a 2wd was an honest question from me, because my taco is a 2wd 5 lug, and I don't see why anyone would want to lift it, even for looks. I certainly meant no offense to anyone.

I've derailed this thread and for that I apologize.

 

Not a problem. I guess I lifted it because I was 20 years old, found Tacomaworld, and had over time money to blow!!! I love the look of 285's, and I wanted to run them at one point. But wheel spacers scare the crap out of me! So I lifted it and never did anything after that. I don't even off road


Hopefully this is the end of the problems. 200 miles and still going well. I thought at one point it was my abilities (or lack there of), but I replaced a carrier bearing on a buddy's Taco in 2013, and he has ran without a hitch since then. I also did the same on my dad's 2008 Tundra, and likewise he has had no problems.

Anywho, if another problem arises, it will be a one piece drive shaft with double cardin joint and I will be in the market for a full size. I hate to talk like that because I really do enjoy my truck, but I have to remain practical.

 

5 lugger myself.

Many folks lift to be able to stuff a larger tire in. Whether the function that comes from that offsets the cost of the parts/work is dependent on how the truck is used and the skill of the driver.

I enjoy my cheap tires and great mpg too much to mess with it.

 

same here. just for looks- mall crawler

 

This is why I will not lift my truck. Thanks for sharing.

 

Looking back, I probably would have done it differently and not lifted. Hind sight is 20/20 and luckily it was only a little money and time to fix things. No bodily harm came from my misfortunes.