Single-piece driveshaft for DCLB

Nice, thanks man! Is it all Spicer parts? I'm trying to stick with OEM-specified components everywhere I can.

I didn't realize you're local. How was your experience with Gregory's and do you like the finished product?

 

It doesn't really matter sometimes non OE is better than OE. Plus for something like this you aren't going to get OE specified. This is hodgepodging things together. These are universal parts for the most part that you can use to make work in your truck.

 

I'm not familiar with who makes quality driveline components and who makes garbage, so I figured sticking with parts made by the OEM-specified company would be a fairly safe bet. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Spicer or Dana don't make all the parts required by this conversion.

That's another good question. Are there any driveline component manufacturers that should be avoided?

 

That's pretty much who makes them.

 

So I found stuff. A lot of stuff. Here's the tl;dr.

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An immensely helpful thread, originally linked by @ovrlndkull:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/single-and-two-piece-driveshaft-vibes-be-gone.475797/

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Short answer: no, this company sucks. Sources:
http://www.alloffroadaz.com/index.php?topic=163.0
https://www.pirate4x4.com/threads/anyone-running-a-driveshaft-superstore-shaft.554360/

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Parts lists for 2 piece double cardan driveshaft using 1310 U-joints (weaker than stock 1330 u-joints):

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A couple helpful graphics for visualizing driveline angles:

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If there is any incorrect information in there, PLEASE correct me. There's enough inaccurate BS on the internet already, so I'd rather not contribute to it.

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*EDIT*
I misunderstood one of the posts above. There doesn't appear to be any simple way to retain the use of 1330 u-joints in a double cardan setup.

 

You're right on it. Pirate has a lot of very good info on there it can be hard to navigate.

 

Dana/Spicer is stock on Tacomas. My local shop stocks Neapco and side-by-side I'd call them equivalent. My essentially new

$35 Spicer 5-1330-1X U-Joint Kit

Spicer 5-1330-1X u-joints fit the Neapco 1330 series yoke perfectly anyway so they could retain them.

I got a vibration after rebuilding with new u-joints and a carrier that turned out was due to loose slip yoke splines and that's what they replaced. The shop does a lot of work for oilfield equipment and trucks and they prefer Neapco for whatever reason.

The yoke ears are a little thicker and the casting and machining are a little nicer on the Neapco than the Spicer. But I don't know that this isn't just that the OEM parts are usually made to a contract and price point where replacement catalog parts might just go through a few extra finishing steps or something.



BTW, to the original point, the OME carrier bearing drop/shim for me only introduced a vibration in the front shaft between the carrier and transfer case. Took them out. Did put in axle shims to match angles, which rotated the pinion 2 degrees up.

Took time to get DS aligned left-right through carrier so it's straight from pinion to t-case flange. I get mild vibrations under hard acceleration from about 20 to 30 MPH that's probably mostly axle wrap, which the shims will make worse. But they corrected the cruising vibrations. I also filled my carrier bearing rubber voids with urethane and it's a fairly solid block now. Not quite a full poly bushing or solid carrier but stiffer than it was out of the box.

I can live with the vibrations I have, which are worse when I'm not packed for camping. Fully loaded things quiet down. I also have OME CS047R packs with an extra leaf, so they are stiff and fairly tall. I also need to rebuild my rear shocks (FOX) so I might also have a little bit of underdamping going on.

 

I was not aware that there are alternatives to the Spicer carrier bearing. Do you have any information on these poly bushings or solid carriers?

 

IEDLS makes carrier bearings that use a polyurethane isolator instead of rubber.

https://www.iedls.com/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...uy-iedls-polyurethane-carrier-bearing.421410/

Some people have tried a pillow block instead of a bearing in a semi-rigid isolator. This is not an option for 99.9995% of people who aren't willing to do a lot of custom work and willing to essentially engineer the rear power transfer system. I'm not sure it's even wise to do or how long the pillow block would live in this application.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/carrier-bearing…-alternatives-and-solutions.419706/

The poly option might be worthwhile, never done one so I have no first hand experience. What I did was use a new Spicer carrier and filled the rubber voids with the roof flashing urethane you get at the hardware store. My reason is to hopefully make the carrier last longer is all. From a vibration standpoint leaving it stock probably would be better.

 

I just did a 2.5" front, 3" rear lift with ome Dakar leafs. Installed front diff drop kit and 2.5° rear shims. No vibes on Accel from stop, no vibes at any speeds up to about 90 (hadn't gone faster than that) no vibes on coasting, etc.

I'd try installing nothing besides the lift first and see where that gets you.

 

That’s my plan. I’m just working out alternatives in case I have issues. I’d rather be armed with knowledge and a course of action in advance.

 

Yea, always start at step one. Each truck is different and only change one thing at a time. You also have to realize not everyone's tolerance for good-vs-bad is the same. One might expect a Cadillac smooth ride while another owner is happy just as long as the CD player doesn't skip.

 

My expectation is no loss in ride quality. If there is a loss in ride quality, I'll work through my sequence of corrective actions until it's back where I want it to be. Dumping over $3k into an "upgrade" that results in worsened performance is inexcusable.

 

Yeah, exactly. If you're happy then that's all that matters. Just don't expect miracles since the only way for it to ride *exactly* like it does now is not to change anything. New springs, new shocks, changing driveline angles, an alignment. There's potentially a lot of new things you're going to find. Mine was smooth and quiet after the initial batch of things - the rear angle shim, upper control arms, an ECGS bushing in the front - for 40k miles. You also might find motor or transmission mounts are worn causing a vibration.

Then I replaced the u-joints and carrier and no matter how careful you are checking bearing cap shims the *exact* true and balance of the driveshaft changes just from manufacturing variance by Spicer.

So that led me down the road to new splines and a re-balance and even now it's still not perfect. Maybe I'll have it rebuilt again with a CV at the carrier and put the splines at the axle. That's the right way to make a driveshaft for these trucks. It's how Toyota used to make two-piece driveshafts, at least on my 1991 it was like that. It never gave me any hint of vibration and even when I once put a dent in the tube I could tell but it was wasn't bad nor offensive on the drive home from the trail.

 

@cjsqueeky, I just got off the phone with Gregory's Driveshaft. Super helpful folks who walked me through parts selection and design considerations. I'll be dropping by next week to get a quote put together.

Also this. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

 

Its a good place although they are always packed since they are the only driveshaft shop in the area.

 

I did alot of home work and couldnt find any combo to use a 1330..
Have over 30k without issues having 1310 in the middle

 

There exists 1330 double cardan parts but it's a smaller selection than 1310 or 1350. So was it not possible to get the right flange or stub configuration? You're not the first person to conclude this so I'm honestly curious why you found this to be the case.

The 1310 is about 11% to 14% reduction in strength compared to a 1330 while the 1350 is a significant step up. It's your truck to decide whether that's a problem or not. I'd tend to agree with you that the benefits of a double cardan would outweigh the fairly small difference.

1310 Series:
Width: 3.219"
Cap Diameter: 1.062"
Max Angle: 30°
Continuous Rating: 130 lbs-ft
Short Duration Rating: 790 lbs-ft
Yield Rating: 1,600 lbs-ft

1330 Series:
Width 3.625"
Cap Diameter: 1.062"
Max Angle: 20°
Continuous Rating: 150 lbs-ft
Short Duration Rating: 890 lbs-ft
Yield Rating: 1,850 lbs-ft

1350 Series:
Width: 3.625"
Cap Diameter: 1.188"
Max Angle: 20°
Continuous Rating: 210 lbs-ft
Short Duration Rating: 1,240 lbs-ft
Yield Rating: 2,260 lbs-ft

 

Very interested in the answer to this. I'd like to maintain strength at a minimum, or increase if the rotational weight penalty isn't too high.

 

Please let me know if you do find a combo of parts that work.. The highly reputable shop I took it to was not able to find a design that would work with the currently available spicer parts.
For me it works great the only drawback I see is trying to explain to a parts person which ujoint I would need for the center section.