Vibration

I have a 2003 tacoma prerunner without any mods. I just recently replaced the front u joint where the shaft meets the tranny, it is a 2 piece shaft, after replacing when i go about 40-50 mph i get a strong vibration throughout the truck. My brake light does turn on and off. I've replaced both front rotors as well and double checked the brakes which were fine. The shaft was aligned properly when i put it back in cause i marked a big white line from front to end before removing it.

 

did you mark the drive shaft so it went back "exactly" the same position you removed it?

it looks the same but if you flip it 180 degrees and put it together that way, it will be slightly off centered and it will cause vibrations.

its the easiest mistake people make and is the most common cause of vibrations after replacing a u-joint

 

I sure did. I took a permanent marker and made a dotted line from the tranny to the differential. The shaft is also held onto by 4 bolts on each side in a specific pattern, they're on the differential and tranny.

 

well then I can only think there is another bad u-joint and now that that one is solid you feel the other one, that or you have the u-joint installed off center.

you sure everything went on the same way, nothing had trouble going together?

 

When i was putting in the rear of the shaft the wheels moved forward so i had to rock the wheels back and forth so i could align the holes with the bolts. Other than that everything went back in nicely.

 

are you sure the holes lined up the way they were before and it seated completely flush?

it sounds like you did it right, it might just be a bad or cheap aftermarket u-joint, try replacing it again but with an oem one this time

 

The u joint i used was from moog. Everything seated flush when i put it in but now thinking about the center yolk where the 2 piece shaft connects i didn't mark how far in the bolts were. Most likely out of alignment.