2" Lift Drive Shaft Vibration....so what?

I am trying to determine if I don't do anything about my drive shaft vibration will it eventually lead to bigger problems and more $.

I have an 05 6 spd manual TRD Off-Road with 210K miles on it. My original leaf spring on the driver side broke (see pic) so I replaced them with a set of General Springs HD rear leaf springs (see pic) that gave the rear a 2" lift (see pic)

I am now the proud owner of a drive shaft shudder that is present at all engine rpm's! It is annoying and makes me slightly nervous. I have read all of the threads on fixes and it appears that the only real solution is a single piece drive shaft. I don't have the cash to spring for this and probably won't till late spring (taxes, tuition, etc).

What I haven't read is what if I do nothing? Will this create bigger problems down the road, like drive shaft failure, etc. Can I wait for spring to fix this or is impending doom just around the corner?

Also, Genereal springs has a 2" front lift kit and would that bring the drive shaft angle back to where the vibrations would disappear?

Any and all comments welcome!

 

Bump

 

Carrier bearing shim is pretty cheap place to start

 

Thanks, 2" of shim to match the lift?

 

Sorry man, I don't know how much, probably a lot less than 2". I'm pretty sure guys just start with 1/8" shim, check for vibes, if so add another one. There are some really good threads about driveline angle, pinon angle, cb shims, I would definitely start there, a one piece driveline is expensive and not a garunteed fix either. I've never done it to a taco, but on my F350 with 4" lift, I had about 1/2" spacer on carrier bearing.

 

They don't sell carrier bearing shims but they do sell axle shims. Carrier bearing drop is a spacer. Usually from 1/2" or more. I have an ARB CB spacer with a 2" rear lift. No vibes. Check wheelersoffroad.

 

This link might help. You probably just need a small shim between your leaf spring pack and axle housing.


http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/244535-drive-shaft-vibrations-solved-step-step.html

 

should do somethin about that and check your u-joints and slip yokes because its not fun being on the side of the road with both drive shafts blown. ask me how i know lol

 

Did you end up separating the rear drive shaft during the leaf-pack install? Normally not necessary, but if you did, you may not have put it back together (the splines) the same way it was. This could cause a vibration.

 

Thanks everyone for the feed back! I will drop the CB with a drop kit to start.

I have read a suggestion on another thread to heavy retorque the u bolts on the rear leaf springs
, but don't understand why this matters? Thoughts?

 

Update (update posted on another thread as well)

I crawled under my truck to look around for anything amiss and immediately saw that my carrier bearing was trashed. The rubber housing was shredded. I purchased a new carrier bearing and 3 U-Joints for a total cost of approx $100. I had a buddy who is a mechanic and does moonlighting jobs on the side install them and problem solved. I now have zero drive shaft shudder/vibration. He charged me $100 to install, so for $200 the problem is gone. He said that a 2" lift should not be causing any issues and the problem was most likely mechanical in nature. The carrier bearing was bad and 2 of the U - Joints had cracks. Start with mechanical issues in the driveshaft first to locate the root cause of the problem before adding shims to the carrier bearing or the leaf springs. I did not have to shim anything and I am running nice and smooth now. I am a happy Taco owner again!