1-piece driveshaft from Tom Woods, axle shims needed?

Hello,
I have a 2015 DCSB TRD O/R 4WD, 71,000 miles. I've been dealing with take-off vibes & 20 mph shudder for a while now. I installed new leaf springs (ATS 2.5" extra capacity) a few months ago & it's worse PLUS I have a hum under acceleration at around 70MPH now that I didn't have before. I did CB drops (all different spacers) & finally 3 degree axle shims. The shims helped the most but all symptoms are still there. My drive shaft has new u-joints & carrier bearing & it helped only slightly. I now have 2 degree axle shims and cb drop. This set-up helped the most but still has shudder, especially under load, and the 70 mph hum. I've had it with this vibe chasing.

I can't find anyone locally (Miami) that knows what they're talking about. 3 shops so far. The last one said I need to lengthen the rear shaft (from diff to cb) by 1.5"'s & redo the joints and CB bearing (which are less than a year old). I asked about adding a double-cardan joint to the 2-piece assembly & all of them said they can't do that. I don't mind spending the money. It's the guessing that is frustrating.

After pm'ing @muddog321 & @pearing and getting great feedback from them I decided to go with the TW driveshaft. I'm looking to go with 3.5" diameter tube.

Questions for those of you running the TW shaft or similar 1-piece double-cardan driveshaft.

Are you using axle shims?

Are you running your 1-piece with the slip yoke near the transfer case (like @muddog321) or the slip yoke near the diff?

Did you have to cut out your cross member cb support out in order to clear the shaft? If incase I go with a 4" diameter tube.

Greasable or non greasable u-joints? I'm aware I still have to grease the double cardan & slip yoke so thinking of going greaseable on the joints.

I spoke to a TW rep (forgot his name) and he said that I shouldn't need to remove my 2 degree axle shims. Just want to hear of your experiences.


From the TW website:

"Normally we build these shafts using a 3.5" diameter tube. If you expect regular drive shaft speeds of above 3,500 rpm a 4" diameter tube is required. If you expect regular drive shaft speeds of above 4,000 rpm the stock carrier bearing style shaft is the type of shaft you should be running. These are already pushed limits!"

According to their calculator with my 265/70r17's (31.6" diameter tires) running at 80 mph (the fastest cruising speed I drive) the driveshaft spins at 3174 rpms. I may go to 285/70r17's since all I would have to do is remove the mud flaps. I already test fitted them & they don't come close to the cab mount at all. This would also lower the driveshaft rpms by about 100 less at same speeds.


Thank you.

 

I have the 3.5" TW single piece driveshaft. No, I do not use axle shims. No, I did not cut my CB cross member to clear the shaft. I went with greasable u-joints. My slip yoke is at the differential end.

Before this driveshaft, I had take off vibes around 10 to 15 mph. I did a CB drop which only moved the vibes to a different speed. The TW driveshaft eliminated all the vibes completely for me.

The clearance with the crossmember is close, but not close enough for me to remove the crossmember. If I remember correctly, the closest it came was 5/8". The driveshaft isn't centered in the middle of the carrier crossmember, so the other side has a little more clearance.

Before I ordered my TW driveshaft, I did some measurements and determined already that I wouldn't need to cut or remove the crossmember and that I wouldn't bottom out the driveshaft on the crossmember. I also made sure that my differential angle was within 3 deg lower of pointing directly at the transfer case. This was something I called TW about to confirm my understanding.

I would recommend you grease the slip yoke again before you install it and make sure you slide it back in the exact position you removed it.

FYI, I determined I wouldn't bottom out the driveshaft based on my rear lift and bump stops. I have a 2.5" rear lift with 1" extended bump stops (ICON RXT on option 2 with archive garage/wheelers bump stop kit).

Hope this helps.

Edit: I have 265-75/R17 tires and have taken the driveshaft to higher speeds (90 mph about) without issue of vibes with the driveshaft.

 

With a double cardan driveshaft you need to have the differential pointing to the transfer case output flange. Use a string to determine the amount of shims required.

 

Thank you for that info. Makes sense to have the diff a bit lower than pointing straight at the transfer case since the diff naturally rotates up on acceleration. I’ll try it with my current 2 degree axle shims since they’re already on and go from there.

 

No shims
Yoke down per TW (I keep thinking this is Tacoma World, but Tom Woods...) Seems wrong but works.
Clears the carrier bearing cross member-close though. I will be taking it out eventually.
Greasable
Vibrations gone at the upper end, but now have small shudder back @ 40 mph but think it is a tire issue... It has come on over time after the install.

 

TW shaft here. I just went w/ the standard one they offer. I tried not to over think it. So I guess it's 3.5". I remember asking TW about larger, but was shut down pretty quickly. Didn't have to cut the center support and I also removed my shims. Greasable zerks. All is good. Only vibes I have is some really slight ones at 55mph, but that could be anything

 

Went back to search for the install date. Looks like I have about 40k on this driveshaft now.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...y-a-build-journal.125201/page-7#post-22659703

 

Awesome & thank you!

 

Thank you!