NEED SOME INSIGHT!!!!

So, the other day my 2011 Tacoma (3" spacer lift in front and 3" add a leaf in the back) drive shaft came out of place while going over a speed bump. It seperated where the male spline shaft meets the female end. It was completely out. My axle was pulled back about 6-8" I believe this occurred because my U bolts were extremely loose and caused some serious rattling causing the leaf spring centering pin to break on one side hence making the axle shift backward separating the drive shaft. Luckily I was only going 5mph or less and little to no damage was done to the shaft. It all went back to together quite fine. I put a cheap auto store center pin in where the one had broke "temporarily" I also realigned the axle as best I could however, it's still not centered properly needs a better touch than myself. I'm going to repalce the U bolts and centering pins with some higher quality ones on both sides as well as properly torque every nut and bolt on the truck. Where I need some insight though, dose my depiction of the events sound like the exact root of the problem or could there have been something else to cause this that my limited knowledge may be missing? Because I really love my truck and want to take great care of it as well as having it function safe and efficient. Also and steps or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. All responses welcomed

Thank you.

 

Yes the loose U-bolts and the axle moving back would be the exact cause. Why were the U-bolts so loose?

 

Thanks Jimmyh.

Honestly I do not know they must have just worked their way there over time. I've owned the truck less than a year and the guy before must not have been very attentive to the maintenance. Me myself am not super mechanically inclined but I am learning to be.

 

Ouch. Send members here PMs if you need help. You don't have to learn in these dangerous/expensive ways.

If my truck was literally rattling apart underneath me, I would grab a Torque Spec guide for Tacomas from the tech section of this forum and a $40 torque wrench. I'd slide under the truck and match the diagram to what I see under there, and start checking the torque of everything.

Edit reason: Accidentally a word