Driveline vibration 25-35MPH

Gentlemen!

I need your help I am racking my brain trying to figure out why I have driveline vibration. What I have is an 07 4WD Tacoma Doublecab Shortbed I put a 4.5 Inch RCD lift on it and my driveline problems started. It first came from 20-30 mph I had and used all different variations of carrier bearing spacers. My carrier bearing was also starting to go bad had about 3/4"s of an inch of play in the bearing. So instead of paying $250 for a carrier bearing from Toyota I got in contact with my local driveline shop and they said they could build me a 1 piece for that price with a max of $350, (plus its stonger). I now have a 1 piece driveshaft on and my vibration is from 25-35 MPH currently. I also wheel in my truck and do some heavy hauling at times (currently 3500lbs of stone is loaded) So I have hellwig EZ990's on to to help keep it sitting level. Im running out of ideas on what to do. My next step is degree shims but I have no clue on where to start with them. RCD includes tapered rear blocks so some taper is on them. I searched all over the site and am just looking for more help or to see if anyone else is running into this same problem. Can anyone give me some suggestions on where to start? P.S. as far as I know the new driveshaft was balanced properly, I will be checking on the balance of my tires too this weekend.

 

Do you have a CV joint or a standard two-joint?
http://www.4xshaft.com/images/2joint_angle.gif

Consult your driveline shop about what type of shaft they gave you.

 

U joints and bolt on flanges on transfer case and diff

 

Look at the link I provided earlier. Then, look at your driveshaft and the angle its sitting at.

If the carrier bearing spacers don't work, you'll probably need axle shims.

 

^^ I DONT have a carrier bearing... 1 piece driveshaft. Where do I start with degree of shims and how do I figure out which ones I will need?

 

Did you check out the link?

The smallest shims you can get are around 2.5degrees. DO NOT get alluminum shims (they can flatten out over time). Start with the smallest and go from there.

If it were me - I'd contact your driveline shop and tell them to MAKE IT RIGHT.

 

I had the same issue on my 08 Prerunner when I had just a TC LT kit up from with a 1.5" lift block and the truck has 305/70/16's. When I would decel and brake coming up to a stop and passing through the mph of 25 it would shutter really bad and got super annoying FAST!
I drove like this for a couple months. When I installed my Defined Engineering SUA kit, I had to change the pinion angle (angle of which the driveshaft enters the differential yoke) for proper alignment of the ujoint at full droop/full bump. When it was just the lift block the angle was far from straight on at ride height the driveshaft was at decently noticeable angle into the positive.

After I put the new leaf pack in and set the pinion angle at ride height to be dead straight with the diff yoke. Vibration gone, and I also had a weird clunk when coming out of a stop and taking my foot off the brake I could feel the slack in the driveline before I hit the gas, Toyota dealers always told me the slack was within spec and not to worry, basically showing me how to drive my truck so I wouldn't feel that clunk :\. After pinion angle was changed the clunk was gone as well.

All in all, with you having the 4.5" lift I would assume that because of the new sharpened pinion angle due to the lift, that is whats causing your vibration, I doubt it was the carrier bearing. My CB has about 3/4 inch of play as well. After adjusting pinion angle, vibration/driveline slack clunk GONE!

Granted I had to change my pinion angle due to the LT leaf pack so I was forced to measure it when putting the new spring purches on, so that's were your complication comes in is whether or not you want to have someone(or yourself) cut off and relocate your spring purches to change your pinion angle to be straight on with the diff yoke at ride height...... Just my $.02

 

my truck has 74,000 miles on it, It was a bad carrier bearing, My driveline shop just builds the driveshafts they dont install them. I talked them about this issue along with my lift kit supplier BDS We have a close connection with them and I talked to a tech for a good 30 minutes about my issue. He gave me alot of insite and things to do and try to fix it. I tried flipping the blocks and I tired 2 and 4 degree shims in all different variations and my vibration is still there. My next thing is to start messing with my wheels and tires and or look into full leaf springs and no blocks

 

........take a picture of your driveshaft u-joint where it enters your diff, so others can chime in on the issue. The only way your going to change that angle is by repositioning where the leafs are mounted on the axle. 4.5" lift is putting a major increase on that angle. What do guys with 6" lifts do about this issue??? Who can answer that? Also what size tires do you have?

 

I'm assuming they balanced the driveshaft with the u-joints and everything installed?

 

Ill try and snap some pics later this week. Im running 287-70-17 (33x11.5x17) Cepek FCII's

I would assume I dont know why they wouldn't since we the driveshaft is used with u-joints

 

4.5 Inch RCD lift kit I had a vibration immediately after I lifted it. Used 1/2 inch 3/4 inch 1 inch 1.25 inch 1.50 inch and 1.75 spacers, Found a had a bad carrier bearing. Figured Id fix the problem by just doing a 1 piece driveshaft because 1 piece and stronger and better for wheeling. Put the 1 piece on and still had vibrations from 25-35 MPH and then again from 45-55MPH. The the 45-55 vibration is sometimes bad sometimes not as bad especially noticeable when on the gas from just a lil bit-WOT. Tried flipping my degreed blocks, tried 2, 3, and 4 degree shims all made it worse. Now I'm just running with the blocks in correct orientation and 1 piece driveshaft. figured I will just have to live with it. Anyone having similar issues?

 

Where you at in PA? If you're hauling all that weight and all you have is the stock 2 leaf n an overload pack sittin on top of a block, you should definately get new leaf packs over some blocks. Blocks are good for trucks that want a looks lift. You need a more functional one. Not saying that the leaf springs are the problem causing your vibration, but they may very well be the cause. You may have weakend them with the heavy use and sitting on top of a block probably isn't helping.

 

about 15 mins from Harrisburg.. WHat do you mean if Im hauling all that weight? I rarely haul weight and my leafpack is 3 i beleived and a helper spring bolted on top

 

This sentence here led me to believe that you have alot of weight. The payload on our trucks is a 1/2 ton. That includes passenger n cargo. So you haul close to 3k more than what the truck is rated for, therefore the block is hurting your probably already worn out suspension. The most I've had in my truck was a yard of dirt, which was anywhere between 12 and 1500 lbs and my suspension looked sad and it rode like garbage. As I said before, this may not be the vibration problem, but I bet ya if you got rid of the blocks and put either AAL's or even new leaf packs in, the vibe may be less noticeable. I'm a lil east of Reading off 422 myself. The only time I've stopped in your area was to go to Bass pro shop. I love that store. They have my boat there. Any how. Try some expiramenting with some sort of video camera strapped underneath your rig under different conditions. You may be able to pin point the vibration like that. If there is any way that I can be further assistance, just hit me up.

 

Sorry but I think you need to learn to read your owners manual. TRD package is good to haul 6500lbs and i didn't wear out my suspension already,. I have the helper springs on to help support an additional 2000lbs of load. And yes before the helper springs about 30 cinderblock in the bed and the truck was just off the bump stops, still rode okay but that was with new bilteins. I had more weight then I should have at one point in time.. I know I prolly shouldn't have done it. But I didnt want to make 2 trips. Here is an 14ft trailer loaded! with old cinderblock (cinderblocks get harder and heavier as they cure) We think about 165 block . Truck didn't sag too much and the tires were extremely close to the fenders on the trailer.

 

When you said hauling 3500lbs, I thought in the bed. And yes, I've read the owners manual and that's how I got the 1/2 ton payload, in the bed. So good luck with your problem.

 

Sounded to me like in the bed too

 

My mistake... yes i think the heaviest anything I put in the bed was like 600 pounds about 40 block

 

vibrations are gone now since i had the frame replacment and rear leaf spring recall