So long driveline vibes

Just thought I'd share my experience with driveline vibrations on a lifted double cab and how I went about fixing the problem.

I started off with a bone stock double cab, trd sport with about 40k miles on. never had any issues with vibes till about 4-5 months after I had a spindle lift installed. I went with 4" Maxtrac spindles and a 1" block in the rear. The truck ran fine after the lift till about 4-5 months later. I started feeling very minimal vibes in the rear, at about 30-40 mph. At first I blamed in one some bad roads and just ignored it till it started doing it more often and the vibes turned into a shudder I could really hear and feel.

By this time and started browsing the forums and people were recommending a CB drop or checking my u bolts. I checked the u bolts and did a 1/4" CB drop, the vibes seemed to go away for a bit and about a week or 2 later they came back. At this point Bob from Maxtrac chimed in on a thread and suggested I bring the truck by Maxtrac so he could have a look. He checked the u bolts and turns out 1 side was really loose. Aside from that he recommended using ET lug nuts since not having enough thread on the lugs could cause some vibes, he also gave a CB drop kit that Maxtrac makes just incase. I went home and purchased ET lug nuts and installed the CB drop(1/2" drop). The vibes went away again for about a week.

At this point I was convinced the block was stressing out my leafs and it just so happened that at the same time a local member on here was selling his old Deaver J66 pack with 3 degree shims from a great price so I went ahead and picked them up and had them swapped out, at the same time I took out the CB drop kit. The vibes were still there, I decided it was time to talk to some pro's.

I went down to OC Driveline and Placentia and talked to the owner Ray, he was really familiar with axle wrap and everything he explained was exactly what I was experiencing. He took a look at the drive shaft and explained the angle of the 2 shaft wasn't bad so there was really no need for a drop kit. He recommended extending the rear shaft 1" since the front shaft was being pulled out of the trans housing and thats what was causing the shaft to wobble and in turn was causing the vibes. The same week I was in at my local Toyota dealer for an oil change, since I was already there I decided to have them take a look and the driveline just for a second opinion. They also said the same thing, I needed a longer drive shaft. The also advised me not to drive it like that since I could damage the transmission.

By then I had seen a drive shaft pinion spacer being talked about on the forums and decided to look into it. I went ahead and took some measurement to see if in fact I needed that extra inch that was recommended by the driveline shop. I figured one inch sounded about right so I went ahead and ordered it.

I received the spacer today and installed it, takes about 30 min to do. Took the truck for a test drive and the vibes are gone. Id say it cured my vibes 99%, I forgot to mention my CB is starting to whine so that 1% could be CB so I'll have to replace and see where I'm at then but for now I'm stoked that I no longer have vibes. My only complaint is I wish I would've ordered a 3/4" spacer instead of the 1" since I feel the shaft my be sitting to far inside the trans housing. I wasn't sure about what it should've looked like originally so I assumed the 1" would be fine. I'm keeping the the 1" in there for now since I'm able to drive with no vibes but already ordered the 3/4 spacer so the 1" might be up for sale in a few days.

I couldn't be happier with this product and I would def recommend it. I'm running a 1.5 lift in the rear so anyone else with the same lift I would recommend going with 3/4 as well, anything more than that you'll have to take some measure to be sure of size of the spacer you'll need to order.

Hope this write will help anyone else with vibe issues, heres some before and after pic

 

Glad I came across this thread. Just checked my truck. It is pretty bad. I am running a 3" lift in the back and have a good shutter when I start to accelerate. It looks like a 1" spacer would just make the driveshaft flush with the end off the tranny. Not sure if I should go with the 1.25" so it will be recessed .25". How far is yours recessed with the 1" spacer? Great writeup by the way!

 

Link? Where did you get the spacer?

That looks far in. What happens if it bottoms out in the trans when you get heavy cargo that sags the rear?

 

OP, do you have link of where you purchased the spacer?

 

sub'd

 

Also curious about the spacer.

 

subd

 

Sub'd.

 

nevermind.
It helps when I read.
Drr.

 

Forgot to add the link in the original post but here it is http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/DriveshaftSpacer.shtml

The shaft is definitely too far into the trans. I talked to a local trans shop and they said you need 1/4" to 1/2" of play. I should have the 3/4 spacer tomorrow to swap out.

 

This is only for 2wd?

 

The site only specifies 2005+ 2WD Tacoma. You could try contacting them to see if they offer anything for the 4WD. I'm guessing the the driveshaft bolts up to the rear pinion the same as a 2WD?

 

i dont agree that you "dont" need it if you are 4wd. we just need a solution as well, as the male end of the slip joint is coming out of the female end too far after a lift as well. The slip joint is also where we get "bumps" after stopping in traffic after a lift becuase its sliding back into place. I've always thought a spacer would be a cheaper alternative to lengthening the driveshaft, in terms of seeing if that is the issue, but I think a 4wd needs to have a spacer bolted between the rear diff flange, and the rear driveshaft flange to keep the male part seeded well into the slip joint.

 

yeah, ive had mine apart, about every 10k miles to lube that fucking POS slip joint. toyota shouldve made a grease zerk on the end to make it easier. i was just thinking about the spacer to help with people's vibes, i mean, if a one piece shaft takes car of the vibes, and its lengthened, a spacer should pretty much eliminate them as well.

 

here is a link to a TTORA article about it. looks like you just have to have one made, no company makes them..

 

yeah, i dont notice any vibes on my truck, i just want to get rid of that fucking slip joint, or give it way less travel so it doesnt clunk every 10k miles. i did see that post about tapping the female end to put a zerk on it, but my tapping skills are probably horrible, and i dont want to remove the u joint to take that whole piece off.i have the beefed cb drop, and it seems to work well.

 

retuning your driveshaft?? What? I haven't even bothered to look at my DS, but given that I wheel a lot, I might want to reconsider that. Truck drives insanely smooth, even with the lift and when I had the bro lean going on it still ran smooth! Lol.

 

Oh nice! I didn't realized these shaft were so uber thin! That's not good, I am surprised these things can withstand the torque being applied to them that being the case. Trippy.

Would getting DS armor be a good solution as well? I don't really care too much for rock crawling so I am not too worried about bouncing the mofo off rocks, lol.

 

This is why I love TW, good info Mike and Anthony!