Single (and Two) Piece Driveshaft = Vibes....BE GONE!!!

Yes, DC joint after the bearing.
http://www.driveshaftsuperstore.com
I would at least try this solution.
Very cost effective and will be better than what we have.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, Might give that a shot when I get motivated to start dropping some cash.

 

This
http://www.driveshaftsuperstore.com/CUSTOM_Toyota_drive_shafts.htm

 

That sounds like a ujoint.

 

I have taken it to 2 different driveline shops and both have said U-Joints are fine, granted they did not pull the shaft and do a full inspection. Seems to be the relation to engine speed that makes them think it is not just the driveline. In addition, there are a number of threads here that have other owners with the same symptoms who have had their U-Joints done to no avail. I still haven't done the front wheel drive test (pull driveshaft, drive in 4HI[as straight as possible of course]) to narrow it down to the driveline so with their professional skepticism I didn't feel like having it done would be worth it.

 

I agree it sounds like a u-joint since it goes away letting off the gas. BUT you say it goes away in 4wd so that usually means it’s the needle bearing.

 

It goes away when I go into 4th gear and the engine revs up, still there in 4hi on the t case.

So it is simultaneously engine and vehicle speed related. U joint shouldn’t be affected by engine speed so I doubt it is there. No vibe when climbing in 4th, just on the highway in OD. Might be 5th gear in the tranny, now that I think about it...

Either way, most threads I’ve read on the subject say that it is just a “Characteristic of the vehicle”, with some people having their whole Powertrain swapped out to no avail. Since it seems hard to get rid of with just a fix I was curious to see if mods might do something.

 

Yes, but high engine rpms can have something to do with the driveshaft. It could be that higher rpms causing itself to fix

 

@Greenlemon21 here's an easy way to eliminate the rear drive shaft as an issue (and it's something I did too). Simply remove the shaft. It's 10 bolts. Remove the drive shaft and then go for a drive in 4HI. If the problem is your drive shaft, the problem will go away. If the issue is the transmission, torque converter, or anything up front it will still be there.

PS: You won't have to worry about driving on dry pavement since the drive train won't bind front to rear due to the rear wheels not even being connected to the drive train; so no worries there. Be advised, if you don't have the truck in 4WD, putting the gear lever into park will do NOTHING since the front and rear wheels aren't attached to the transmission at all. Thus, liberal use of the emergency brake is recommended!

 

Thanks, I'll give this a shot when I visit my buddy who is more mechanically inclined.

 

Although, would this be safe to do at 60mph+? That is the only place I have my issue.

 

Thanks for posting this, Chris.

I took this info to the local driveline shop in Colorado Springs and their reply was, "Well, the Dana 300 yoke (Spicer 2-4-4341) isn't going to fit snug on the factory splines". They proceeded to go in the back, grab a 2nd gen Tacoma drive shaft and the Spicer piece and slipped them together and showed me the slight play in the splines. They said they could use a Nissan (I presume Frontier) spline shaft that'd fit snug with the Spicer yoke.

The way it breaks down is;



A Transfer case output > front piece of rear drive shaft (lengthened)
B Nissan spline shaft welded on to rear of front shaft
C Factory center bearing
D 2-4-4341 yoke > U-Joint > 211355X to bolt u-joint to 2-4-4341
E 2-26-487 double cardan center > u-joint
F 2-28-2977X welded to a 3" to 3.5" adapter
G flipped and shortened rear driveshaft > u-joint > pinion/diff

The two big issues they seem to be concerned with, regarding your parts list, are:

1. The splines in the 2-4-4341 don't mate up snug with the factory drive shaft splines (B connecting to D) and mating them together would lead to premature failure.
2. The spline lengths on the 2-4-4341 are much shorter than the factory driveshaft spline lengths (again, a relationship between B and D). This will cause the drive shaft splines to poke out of the 2-4-4341 too far and they splines would contact the first u-joint in the double cardan joint (the area between D and E)

To correct this, they'd use a Nissan splined shaft end (B) but will have to lengthen the front shaft (or replace it with longer) to make it all fit in the factory space as the original does. The Nissan part will have a shorter spline shaft that fits the 2-4-4341 both in snugness and length (it's shorter) then build the double cardan as you've shown.

I'm dropping my driveshaft off today to have the work done and was curious if they mentioned such modifications to yours, as it's not mentioned in the parts list.

Jake

 

Did they give you an estimate cost?

 

$350-400 they said. A little more depending on whether they throw in a new stock Spicer CB (~$75) to replace the Ford Ranger one I'm currently running.

They're a reputable shop, my buddies all have used them in the past for their Jeep repairs.

 

Hmmm I may take this to the shop and have them do this since the rear section already needs retubed.

 

no need to get crazy with nissan parts (ewww) You can keep the front section of the 2 piece completely stock. Bolt a splined flange up after the CB where the stock yoke went. Then bolt up the proper DC joint thats the same sized u joints as stock to the flipped (and slightly shortened) rear shaft.

 

Yeah i am not sure if they did this modification or not when i had my shaft done. Good info.

 

I just dropped it off and they said they’d figure it out. I told them my only concern was it be as strong, if not stronger than, stock. They understood and said no problem.

Guess we’ll wait a few days (going out of town) and see what I get when I come back. I’ll update here.

Incorrect according to these guys and the setup they showed me before my very eyes.

The new splined yoke has a much shorter shaft, by 1/2” or so, which allows too much factory driveshaft splines to poke through. This extra 1/2” would try to occupy the same space as the first u-joint in the double Cardan.

Talking to them today when I dropped it off, they had talked and figured a spacer was used on Chris’s setup. It’d be a cheap and easy fix that wouldn’t show up on the bill (as in his case it didn’t).

If you know different, we’d love to hear this part number that fits the factory front half shaft and creates no clearance issues.

Jake

 

I am really interested to see how this turns out and if they can make one from scratch for a reasonable price.

 

Hmm interesting... if i can find the post where someone did what i described it had part numbers listed out. but man, that is gonna be buried.... sorry man.