Driveshaft failed...Please Help!

Hello! Long time lurker, first time with an issue. I'll try to describe the problem as briefly as I can, but will include everything that led up to it, in case that helps diagnose the cause. Some questions at the end. But I'm just looking for some advice, or a "that happened to me too," maybe a suggestion or a guess at the cause as well.

TLDR: Driveshaft broke apart while driving today. Scroll down to see pictures and questions.

Anyways. Bought my 2011 TRD Off-Road 4x4 Double Cab a year ago. I am the 3rd owner. It came with all sorts of (in my opinion) shoddy modifications. The only thing I kept was the wheels and the huge tires (LT285/75R16), and I stripped the rest. Didn't have enough money to swap out the wheels or tires just yet. No problems at all at first, drove and ran real smooth. Maybe some road noise from the aggressive tires, that's it.

Around May this year, I started hearing, I don't know, like a vague grinding or like metal cranking sound as the truck accelerated, that went away a higher speeds (YouTube video of noise). That was it for a while. It was intermittent. I ignored it because I was super broke, which I feel horrible about. Then I switched something at my job and had to commute everyday about 45 minutes each way, which was a lot more driving than normal. Wasn't feeling or hearing much that whole time, except some vibrations, that were only bad when I hit the brakes. Car would rumble a bit on acceleration, but if I took my foot of the gas then put it back, it stopped.

Then I drove to a friends place about 6 hours away and back a week ago. On the way back the truck starts making that loud *clank* noise and jerking a bit when I put it in gear and when it switches gears. I though oh, must be a transmission thing, I'll replace the fluid and take a look. I've been stuck at home with no time to do that work. Then 2 days ago, on a brief errand, truck was rumbling and vibrating nonstop essentially while driving. Rumbling on acceleration, and then a sort of whistling/rubbing noise on deceleration. I knew it was getting bad.

Today, WHILE I WAS DRIVING .5 MILES TO AUTOZONE, there was a loud gunshot noise, car coasts to a stop. Look underneath, Driveshaft has exploded apart at the front U-joints. Since it was spinning since it broke apart (at about 40mph) it carved an arc across my undercarriage.
I have attached pictures of the carnage:

Anyways, here are my questions:

What is this that broke apart exactly? I think it’s the flange yoke and the u-joint that came apart, right? And this is technically the propeller shaft of the rear driveshaft, correct?
And I think there is damage at the carrier joint. Could that have been the culprit? Did this perhaps fail at the carrier bearing and then break apart at the front u-joint?

Because of the 2 piece driveshaft, do you think the larger tires the former owner put on the truck caused some strain on the u-joints? I've had them on for a year, which I drove 40k miles. Could this be the cause (along with not greasing them)?

This is all part of the rear driveshaft correct? So could I still drive it currently in 4HI? But do I need to take out the rest of the rear driveshaft before doing this? (I wouldn't do this for very long ideally.)

Do you think this could be caused by a transmission problem, or do you think it effected my transmission at all? Or is it the transfer case I should be worried about?

I’m so sorry, but what is that part right by the the front u-joints that the driveshaft scraped when it came apart? (3rd to last photo) It kind of busted open the housing and the plastic connector. Wondering if I need to replace the connector or that entire part?
Any other parts under there it looks like I should be concerned about?

Do y'all think I could just replace that u-joint, yoke, the carrier bearing, and propeller shaft portion and be ok?
If not, or alternatively, I'm thinking I'll go to local drivetrain/driveline repair shop and get them to build or find me a new rear driveshaft and replace the entire thing. Or is that overkill?
If I do should I go with another stock 2-piece rear driveshaft (or will this just happen again)?
I've read getting a driveshaft with a double cardan joint after the carrier bearing is a good idea.
I've also read getting the one piece driveshaft (like the Tom Woods one) is a good idea to reduce vibration.
What do y'all think?

LASLTY: Anyone live in Austin and can recommend a good driveshaft place?
I've only been able to find Scotty's and Drivetrain Specialists. I'm leaning towards Scotty's based on some reviews on Yelp, BUT I would love to hear if anyone has had any experience at either.

WHAT about a good Tacoma mechanic in Austin? I was going to start taking the truck to Juke Auto, they did some good work on my old Subaru Outback. But I would love some suggestions.

SORRY, long post, ANY help would be wonderful!

 

Looks like you got a very poorly maintained truck.

 

Looks like you need at least one new yoke for your front u-joint, the others need to be inspected. All of the u-joints and the carrier bearing need to be replaced. From the picture I can't tell if the propeller shaft is bad or not.

 

A grease gun would have prevented this. Maintenance man, maintenance.

 

It gave you 2 months worth of warning before it catastrophically failed. You’re lucky it didn’t do even more damage.

U-joints and ball joints are a couple items that you either replace, or stop driving the vehicle if you can’t afford to replace, when they’re making noise.

This just comes down to poor maintenance and ignoring obvious issues.

 

DT America should have what you need. I had a failure and removed my driveshaft and drove in 4wd with just the front tires spinning while I waited for my new driveshaft to be built. I ended up driving like that for 2 weeks. I went to a one piece since it was less expensive at the place I went.

Drive shafts unlimited in San Antonio made my new one.

I'll add more later today

 

I would have it checked to see if the drive shaft and yoke is salvageble. Unless it was dented then maybe you could just have it balanced with the bearing & joints changed out though it is unlikely. This is definitely something you should have stopped and not used your truck till you got it fixed.

 

I am not in Austin so do not know the shops but driveline shops should have the knowledge to fix those yolks, shafts and other parts as they do it daily. Look at the electrical connector on the transfer case also as was hit.
If you do not want to replace the entire Toyota setup now would be the time to get a 1-piece driveshaft either locally or order a Tom Woods.
If the rear half of the shaft did not drop out then the rear diff and pinion should be OK but get it checked same time.
In any case go to the Woods site and read about lifts and shaft types and the rear pinion angles required if your truck was altered.

 

If you do your own maintenance grease the driveshaft. If you don’t, recommend rebuild with sealed bearings. Most service places won’t grease unless you pay extra.

 

Your best bet is to get a new replacement assembly , check the web, maybe rock auto ? Did one for a guy couple years ago same thing as yours and think that's where he got it from. Came with both shafts bolted together w/carrier bearing. Think it was around $400. If you can handle the 10 bolts to swap it yourself you will be $ ahead just from the parts and labor. Plus the other joints are at that point, carrier bearing probably dry, and the slip yoke may have slip too from lack of grease.

 

Looks like those U joints were bone dry, absolutely NO grease in them and that most likely was the noise, clanking and vibration you were hearing and feeling..GREASE your U JOINTS!! and change all the fluids..today..dont wait. Isounds like money is tight, but neglect is only going to cost you MORE in the long run, just advise from an old man..take it or leave it.

now what it takes to fix it is another story. Do you know what lift is on it? blocks on the back or springs? axle wrap is an issue with these trucks at a certain point of lift..figure out what you have, and then break out the wallet. One piece drive shafts are nice, but they dont always fix vibration issues..do some research, look in local junk yards for a new set up, that would be the cheapest way..

 

To me it looks like the carrier bearing was long worn out and the front u-joint just failed from lack of grease. The swinging driveshaft also hit/broke the electrical connector on the t-case. IF one u-joint didn't have grease in it ( you can tell by the amount of rust inside of the bearing caps and on cross of the joint) then it's safe to assume that none of the rest have been greased. You're looking at a new or fully rebuilt driveshaft and the electrical damage on the t-case to get moving again.

 

Universal joint failed, took the carrier bearing with it. Or vise versa.

At this point, just replace the entire driveshaft with a new Toyota one, should be ~$800, but it'll come balanced and with new universal joints.

Call Triple C Chop Shop in Lago Vista and see how soon @Texoma can install it.

Yes, you can pull the drive shaft at the transfer case and drive in FWD, but it's not ideal. Definitely don't use that as a way to commute to work; you need to get this fixed ASAP.

 

Thank you all for these responses, this is all really helpful. I'm gonna go through what each person said and respond.

But to the point EVERYONE is making, yes I did a horrible job addressing the issue when it first started AND just maintaining the truck in general. I'm very sorry, I am just super broke and so scared about the initial sound, but when it didn't get worse, I thought I could just take a look when I had a freaking break. I'd been working myself to death at work lately and just absolutely waited WAY too long. I feel so stupid. Won't happen again. Grease, yes, I got it, thank you all so much.

 

@fixnfly @Gearheadesw I agree. I am realizing this. Is there any other regular maintenance that tends to go overlooked that y'all recommend? Or a thread about regular maintenance?

 

@cmoore Thank you, yeah I'm thinking this is the bare minimum I need to do. Still going to look at new driveshaft though as well.

 

@Brandon### Thank, you are absolutely correct. I am very lucky. I should have stopped and just checked 2 months ago. I mean even just a peek would have been prudent, and I probably would have seen it and addressed the issue. I wanted to stop driving the vehicle, but then I couldn't go to work to earn the money to fix the problem. I'll try not to make this mistake again.

 

@Dan 77 Thank you so much for this information. I'll probably shop around then perhaps, give them a call. I don't really need to drive anywhere for the next few days. But if I did have to go to like the grocery store, this makes me feel better.

If I do this, would you recommend completely removing the rest of the rear driveshaft before I drive around in 4wd. Will it be spinning at all?

 

@Alealexi Thank you, I will start there, but yeah, I have a hunch in the end I may just need a new one. Yep, I totally should have stopped. I felt pressured by my economic circumstances to just power through and continue going to work. I screwed up, it wasn't worth it.