Driveshaft Angles

Long time lurker first time poster. Hello all! I am coming here looking for some help.

I have a 2007 Toyota Tacoma double cab TRD sport, 2 wheel drive. It had a 3 inch lift kit. I have been struggling with driveshaft vibrations for months now and I am running out of ideas. I've searched the many threads on this very issue, I have replaced all ujoints twice (they keep going bad, I suspect from the vibes), replaced and dropped the carrier bearing, but my vibes just keep coming back.

I am here to ask a huge favor of another member. I feel like my issue is still with my angles, even though all of mine are within 3 degrees, I feel like this is the culprit.

Could anyone with a relatively stock double cab, 2 wheel drive Tacoma (2 piece drive shaft) that is not experiencing any driveshaft vibrations take an angle finder, be kind enough to measure their stock angles and post them here? I'm looking for the angle between the transfer case and the first driveshaft...The transfer case compared to the rear axle driveshaft output (pinion I believe?) And then the angles of both shafts. Please and thank you in advance.

 

http://youtu.be/f1m-Fh5kiRU

 

I have seen that video...But doesn't the fact that these trucks have leaf springs the axle wrap will change what angles you need?

I'm going to watch this video again though. It's been a while since I watched it. Thanks for posting

 

Buy digital angle finder for $30. Make the pinion angle match the slope of the first shaft. That's usually all you need to do. This is usually accomplished by shimming the axle.

Also good to make sure that center support bearing is centered. Use the string method. Easy.

 

I bought an angle finder already, that's how I'm measuring the angles now. String method?

 

I believe that drivetrain is from a Tundra , and axle wrap is going to come and go as you drive , you still need to get a baseline

 

Yeah I think so. But still, driveshaft mechanics should still be the same.

I have my carrier bearing all the way up, no shims or spacers, yet my operating angle between my transfer case and the first piece of the driveshaft is 2.9...In the video he states it needs to be less than .89 / as close as possible.

It's a downward 2.9 angle...Which would mean I need the carrier bearing to be raised up? It doesn't go any higher?

 

Use shims

 

How can I use shims to raise my carrier bearing if it's already as high as it goes?

 

This is a photo I just took.

 

Are the U-joints center aligned?

 

Can you post a Picture showing all of 3 joints?

 

They are 2.7 degrees off from being parallel. I bought 3 degree axle shims I plan on putting on. But I can't get the output shaft down from 2.9 degrees

 

This is the best shot I can get all three angles in

 

The angles he finds in the video are examples and aren't intended to be the numbers you should find , the key thing is how they relate to one another

 

Yes I completely understand that.

But isn't my output shaft supposed to be very close to the angle of the transfer case? Because right now it's as high as I can put it and it's 2.9 degrees.

 

The phasing of the rear shaft is perfectly lined up. The front shaft appears close, but not perfectly lined up I guess

 

How I measured my drive line angles.

The way I did it was put my digital angle finder on the transfer case flange and set the unit to "Zero". That's my reference point.

• Then hang the angle finder on the first shaft. The angle of the first shaft in my truck is 5.05* down. This is also the angle of the first u-joint.

• Then hang the angle finder on the second shaft. In my case it was 5.75* down, Subtracting the two slopes I get 0.7* for the second u-joint.

• Then using the a flat bar I measured the flange of the pinion and got 2.95*. The angle of the third u-joint is 2.8*.

Now comparing the slope of the first shaft 5.05*, minus the pinion angle 2.95*, it looks like my pinyon is -2.1* down relative to the first shaft.

Pinion angle should really match slope of first shaft.

EDIT: 11/1/2016 - Measured again after modifying spring pack:

• First u-joint operating angle (OA), closest to xfer case: 4.85° Down,
• Second u-joint: 2.35° Down,
• Third u-joint angle is somewhere between 2.45° - 3.9° Down

Which means Pinion angle is within 0.10° - 1.55° Down, of first shaft.
I can't get more accurate on the pinion without putting rear axle on jack stands.

Here is some tech that I'm using to help me:

From the factory the Tacoma has a two piece drive shaft. According to Dana who manufactured the center support bearing and shafts, I would want the pinion angle to match the output shaft of the transfer case.

I snipped this picture out of their documentation.


But there is more to the story, in practice, a lot of *performance* shops will make the pinion 1*-2* negative. The reason for this is because, when accelerating, the pinion will rotate up because of torque. In theory, when it's under load it will match or be very close to the slope of the first shaft.

This is a good article with references to recognized industry experts and explains what they do in setting up built vehicles.

 

@Crom I was just going to link this