AXLE RELOCATION PLATES to move drive shaft forward

Hello Forum,

I lifted the rear of my '08 PreRunner DCSB 3.5"'s & my driveshaft sticks out further towards the rear due to this. I had to loosen & readjust the CB but it is maxxed out also towards the rear obviously due to the rear lift moving the axle down & pulling the driveshaft rearward. Bandit, who has helped me alot with pics on his MaxTrac lift, which I will be buying VERY SOON advised me on buying a DriveShaft Spacer from 4crawler off road.

I ordered a 65mmx65mm 3/4" spacer which MOST Tacoma's use but my truck is not "most Tacomas". When I slide the spacer onto the flange I noticed that the bolt pattern on the flange is bigger than the bolt patterns (it has 2) of the spacer. I called Roger Brown from 4crawler off road (who has given me exceptional customer service) & he asked me to take measurments which I did & I sent him the pics. He said that he hadn't seen this dimension before on a Tacoma or my flange bolts either. He said that most are 10mm or 12mm. Mine are 11mm. I can have one made wothout the bolt holes & I can ghet them drilled.

At this point I don't feel comfortable doing anything else with the driveshaft so i hit the Forum again looking for ideas. Keep in mind that this is the first leaf springed vehicle that I have ever owned so I am learning as I go.

I found this post regarding axle relocation plates:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/su...t-alignment-rear-lift-no-vibes-cb-damage.html

My axle doesn't stick out of the shaft as far as his does but it sticks out flush with the edge of that round piece which needs to be flush.

Basically, I need to move the rear axle of my vehicle 3/4"'s forward & it seems that these axle relocation plates will do the job. My leaf pack is shimmed & these plates will only add about 1/2" of lift so I'm seriously considering these. Any of you running these?


Thanks

 

i would not move my axle forward. relook at the drive shaft spacer or even a longer rear drive shaft. get some measurements on that rear spacer and see if you can get one made. i am also surprised that its a 11mm bolt. are you sure about that? what was the head size on that bolt?

 

I measured the diameter of the bolt itself. The head of the bolt & the nut are 14mm.

 

Why is it not good to move the axle forward? Is it because it may rub the front of the rear fender when the tire is stuffed under flexing? If so, I measured 2 3/8"'s of space between the tire & front part of rear fender with the wheel fully stuffed in the fender to where it was bottoming out on the Timbren bump stops.

Is there another reason? I would not want to damage anything else that I may not be aware of.

Thanks.

 

I did this and ordered the same axle plate (1" though, not 3/4"). Worked out perfectly. Here's the link to my solution:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/292721-solution-prerunner-driveshaft-alignment-rear-lift-no-vibes-cb-damage.html

I'm sure you saw this, but you can see that one of the hole patterns it not round, rather it allows for a variation in the bolt pattern allowing a bolt pattern variation as you must have.

Does yours not have this wider hole pattern? I would think that it is wider to allow a bolt pattern in between the two measurements. I would not see a problem in widening the holes (machine/drill) more to fit your pattern, since it won't affect the centering of the spacer since it centers by the circular flange/lip in the center of the plate. Hope this helps...

 

Here's a link to another supplier of plates, which are "triple drilled", perhaps with the 3rd bolt pattern measurement being yours? Not sure though.... Worth a call to check if you don't find a solution with 4crawlers.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/triple-drilled-toyota-driveline-driveshaft-spacers-by-low-range-off-road-in-75-1-0-1-25-lengths-tdt-ds.html

 

Mine looks like that but my flanges bolt pattern is even wider than the wide oval bolt pattern of the spacer. If I drill the spacer to match then I will literally open the holes in the spacer.

I'm gonna check out the link you recommended.

Thanks

 

I'm having a hard time pulling up a pic of the product because my computer at work is limited so I'll have to wait until I get home tonight. Another wierd thing is that my flange bolts are 11mm in diameter when I was told that most of these trucks bring 10 or 12 mm diameter bolts. The original bolts are 10mm.

Luckily, I took pics of the flange & bolts showing the measurements with a micrometer. I can't post pics on this computer but if you don't mind PMing me your email address I can forward you the pics. I plan to forward these pics to lowrange offroad also.

I'm wondering & hoping that the 3rd pattern on their spacer works for me.

Also, Have you had any ill effects due to the spacer?

Have you had to retighten the bolts?

Thanks again.

 

You are the one that gave me the idea. I hope that lowrangeoffroads spacers 3rd bolt pattern is the one that will work for me. They open up at 8:00am MT so I'll call them after 10:00 this morning.

I took pics of the spacer, flange, bolt diameter (OEM is 11mm, odd), & bolt patterns that I measured with a micrometer so I can show them also.

If you don't mind PMing me your email I can send you the pics. I can't post pics on my work computer.

I need to ask them about towing also. I tow a boat that weighs 4600lbs (with trailer) about once every 3 months.

Thanks

 

X2 on not moving the axle forward

 

I submitted my pics to low range off road also & even though their spacer comes in 3 different bolt patterns they don't match mine. WOW! He also informed me that 11mm bolts are actually common on these.

My current set-up is 2"'s of leaf spring lift & 1" of cast iron block lift. I wanted to have 4"'s total so that I can run Maxtracs with my 5100's @ .85 & still have some rake. Maybe with my cureent 3" rear lift I can still have that. I guess I'll have to install the Maxtracs & .85 5100's first & see the outcome.

Brian from Streetacos.com said that I can remove my 1" block & he can fabricate a 2" tapered & offset block that will close the gap on the driveshaft.

His email to me:
"I do offer custom steel blocks with or without a taper, and in your case can offset the pin & hole. I can move the hole 3/8" back from center and the pin 3/8" forward from center to push your drive shaft back in the amount that it pulled out after the lift"

What do you guys think?

Thanks for all your input so far

 

If you offset your blocks the ubolts will be crooked. Just like in that link you posted above relik stated with the axle relocation plates made his ubolts crooked. If it were me I would get the undrilled driveshaft spacer and take it to a machine shop and have them drill it to the pattern on your shaft yoke.

 

You & Relik are correct. This seems to be the best option. This morning I decided to re-install my 2" tapered blocks so now I have a total of 4"'s of lift which was my goal. I wanted to see how much more the drive shaft would come out & the pics will show that it's not much more at all. As k9cop said, the taper of the block helps. I wanted 4"'s of rear lift so that I can install the Maxtracs, set my 5100's @ .85 with my OEM PreRunner coils, & still have some rake:

BTW, The pic of the CB was before I installed the ToyTec CB drop kit. I actually have 2 kits so I installed both spacers @ first & here's what happened:

No cb drop spacer:
Very bad take-off vibe

2 cb drop spacers:
very little take-off vibe but a wum, wum, wum, sound between 63 & 75 MPH.

1 cb drop spacer:
same take-off vibe that I've had for the almost 2 years of different lifts but smooth all the way to 110 MPH.

I left it with 1 cb drop spacer.

I've thought of Beefed tacos CB drop kit but that brings the CB even lower than the 2 CB spacers from ToyTec so I guess it is what it is with the take-off shudder.







Got RAKE!!!! I sure as hell do....
41"'s rear / 38"'s front (from ground to fender base with 275/70r17 BFG A/T's) 885 coils with no top plate spacer,
3 Leaf AAL with 2" tapered block.


Thanks!

 

I ordered the spacer from 4crawleroffroad & both bolt patterns were too small. 4crawleroffroad & lowrangeoffroad don't make it for my truck. 4crawleroffroad did say that they can sell me a non-drilled spacer & 11mm bolts (yes, I have 11mm bolts instead of the standard 10 or 12mm bolts) & I can have the holes drilled. I'd rather have the driveshaft spacer but I don't know of any good machine shop that I would trust to drill the holes for me. If I did then I would order it from 4crawleroffroad, get the holes drilled, & be done with it.

 

Guys, please forgive my ignorance, but what is bad about the axle relocator plate making the u-bolts tighten up at an angle? Does it put stress on other rear components? I'm just trying to understand.
Thanks

 

I never said my bolt were crooked, it bolted up just fine. Your second picture looks like the holes match up exactly. Are you saying your bolt/hole is larger diameter? or that it is further out from the center and the bolt pattern needs to be wider outwards?

 

Oh. My mistake then Relik.
As for the 2nd pic it just looks that way due to my mediocre camera skills. My mechanic & I faced the spacer while on the drive shaft & it definitely does not match up. The bolt pattern & bolt holes on my flange are larger than the largest bolt pattern on the spacer.

Also, the overall diameter of the diff flange is larger than the spacer. So, if I was to enlarge the holes to match my trucks flange I would have very little material left on my spacer for me to consider it safe for use. I spoke to lowrange also & they said that I am not the first Tacoma to have 11mm bolts and larger flange but it's not very common & they have nothing to offer me.

I spoke to Brian from Streetacos & sent him my pics. He said that with a 2" steel block tapered @ 3 degrees & with a 1/2" total offset:
1/4" offset hole in the block,
1/4" offset pin in the block,
1/2" of total movement forward of the axle is safe.
He said he's made & sold offset blocks many times (for lowered & raised trucks) & never had an issue. Plus, mine is only .5"'s total movement.

I also drove my truck up an angled dirt hill & parked it to make 1 rear tire compress into the fender as much as my Timbrens will allow & I still have 2.25"'s of space between the front of the rear fenders & the tires.

I know I can also buy the undrilled spacer & have the holes drilled but they need to be 115mm's in diameter. Not the 107mm diameter that 4crawleroffroad has.

 

OEM rear axle but I did replace the entire diff because I wanted mechanical LSD. My truck came OE with open diff. I bought it from the Dealership last year. It bolted up perfectly with my driveshaft though so I assume that I had the same flange size on my OE open diff.