1. Welcome to Tacoma World!

    You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.

    As a registered member, you’ll be able to:
    • Participate in all Tacoma discussion topics
    • Communicate privately with other Tacoma owners from around the world
    • Post your own photos in our Members Gallery
    • Access all special features of the site

Drive Shaft Vibration (one piece shaft)

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by Brutus870, Jan 1, 2025.

  1. Jan 1, 2025 at 8:53 AM
    #1
    Brutus870

    Brutus870 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2025
    Member:
    #463345
    Messages:
    4
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    White 1998 Tacoma TRD
    Prerunner to 4WD conversion, manual hubs, skid plates, lift
    First, I would like to say HELLO and introduce myself as I am new to this forum. My name is Bruce Hornberger and have a 1998 Tacoma that was converted to 4WD from a Prerunner. I am in the process of doing some upgrades to the truck to better allow reliable exploring in the desert southwest. During this process, I have found myself with a bit of a problem.

    The problem I am trying to solve is a drive shaft vibration problem that comes on at about 60 MPH. The truck has a Tom Woods one piece drive shaft that worked great until I lifted the truck a bit over 2 inches. (it had about an inch+ of droop in the rear and now it is now an inch over factory ride height). As I’m sure many know, Tom Woods no longer will make drive shafts for Tacoma’s because they have had too many issues with vibrations that they can’t solve. Since I already had a Tom Wood drive shaft, they volunteered to help solve my problem. They were wonderful to work with and I can say nothing but great things about there effort to solve my problems but for some reason, the vibration is still there. As the truck sits currently, all the drive line angles are within limits and should be vibration free. I am really at a loss on what to do now and was wondering if anyone else had this issue and how did you solve it. Thank you in advance for your help!
     
  2. Jan 1, 2025 at 8:56 AM
    #2
    1 Limited Toyota

    1 Limited Toyota ISO XRunner body kit complete or pieces

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2023
    Member:
    #423667
    Messages:
    1,055
    Gender:
    Male
    California
    Vehicle:
    08 XRunner
    slowly erasing past owner hacks
    What are the angles set at?
     
  3. Jan 1, 2025 at 9:11 AM
    #3
    Brutus870

    Brutus870 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2025
    Member:
    #463345
    Messages:
    4
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    White 1998 Tacoma TRD
    Prerunner to 4WD conversion, manual hubs, skid plates, lift
    One thing I didnt mention in the origional question, is that this shaft is a 2 U-Joint shaft (not a double cardan shaft)
    I have 5.1 degrees at the transfer case and 5.8 at the differential end. From what the guys at Tom Woods were telling me, the angle issues would result in low speed vibrations where as high speed vibrations (what I seem to have) is a result of a balanceing issue. is that correct??
     
  4. Jan 1, 2025 at 9:14 AM
    #4
    LanceRN

    LanceRN Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2021
    Member:
    #361492
    Messages:
    497
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Lance
    Vehicle:
    1998 Purple Tacoma TRD
    Are you sure it's the driveshaft?
     
    MalinoisDad likes this.
  5. Jan 1, 2025 at 9:18 AM
    #5
    Brutus870

    Brutus870 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2025
    Member:
    #463345
    Messages:
    4
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    White 1998 Tacoma TRD
    Prerunner to 4WD conversion, manual hubs, skid plates, lift
    THe frequency of the vibration seems to be about right for a drive shaft issue but not 100% sure. I had all the wheels balanced and the vibration persisted. Dont know what eise it could be.
     
  6. Jan 1, 2025 at 9:31 AM
    #6
    MalinoisDad

    MalinoisDad Misanthropic dog person

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2017
    Member:
    #224205
    Messages:
    1,480
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Michael
    Vehicle:
    01 TRD PreRunner 5VZ
    5100s w/ 881s, JBA UCAs, J59s, other stuff and things
    Alignment, tire balance/inflation, some combination of mildly worn suspension components that passed a visual inspection..? Carrier bearing
     
  7. Jan 1, 2025 at 9:39 AM
    #7
    Brutus870

    Brutus870 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2025
    Member:
    #463345
    Messages:
    4
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    White 1998 Tacoma TRD
    Prerunner to 4WD conversion, manual hubs, skid plates, lift
    its a one peice drive shaft, so no carrier bearing in the system. as part of the lift, I upgraded with a 1 inch lift new spring set from alcan springs with all new bushings and shackles. the front end received all new OEM bushings, ball joints, etc along with SPC UCAs. An allignment was performed after the upgrades.
     
    MalinoisDad likes this.

Products Discussed in

To Top