damage & wear from axle wrap?

I've been driving my truck for over 6 years and 145K miles with the clunk. No problems at all. If you go looking for trouble you will find it. My suggestion is run it and forget about it. If and when it breaks you will know exactly what went wrong instead of guessing and driving yourself nuts Just my opinion of course.

 

i guess it just depends on what your threshold is. ...i am uber sensitive to rattles, squeeks, fluid leaks, and any other noises i hear that i shouldn't.

my wife, on the other hand, drives a jeep and has become desensitized to such noises and would rather turn the radio up rather than fix them.

 

I am too but something like this will drive you nuts and you end up stressing and throwing money at it and it's still there. Good luck though

 

You would never make it in a long traveled truck. They squeek and clunk more then anything ive seen.

Check your carrier bearing if it needs to be replaced get the toyota bearing all others are junk. I got 130k out of a factory bearing. got 5k out of a napa bearing. Trans mount that I think would be more of a vibration then a clunk. Check engine mounts there also prone to breaking. re torque ubolts. What kind of bushings did you use in the leaf springs?

 

this will fix it

http://www.budbuilt.com/new/traction_bars.html

just stop axle wrap all together. I had one on my 99 and it was on the best mods I did.

especially if you have larger tires and any power adders, or blocks etc.

I had the issue of the slip yoke sticking and holding pressure, then releasing when you start to roll and "pop" you get thet little jolt

Justin

 

What I have found annoying is that my 93 pickup (exactly the same spec including a cap and carpet kit, but 4 banger rather than v6) had more than 200k miles on it and never had suspension or axle wrap issues. All I ever had to do was replace the shocks once. Granted, it had torsion rather than coilover in the front, but still had leafs in the back, and had the same driveline setup with the slip yoke. It never had the annoying clunking and jerking this Tacoma (101k miles) exhibited when I first got it.

So, in comparison to the previous generation of Toyota pickups (pre-Tacoma), it seems they somehow took a step backward with the Tacoma in this regard, and it really got my attention, and not in an "annoying little rattle" way. It outright pissed me off every time I drove it.

So far, between the 5-pack and maintenance, the axle wrap seems mostly resolved, but I have only a couple thousand mile on the leafs. I won't even go into the front end...because that would be off-topic, and Her Royal Highness the OP would likley become perturbed.

 

Which alcans do you have, the "Wheeler" 5 leaf pack or the 8 leaf pack with the torque leaf?

 

i'm running the 8 leaf pack w/torque leaf. ..no wrap at all for the first few months. ..then it slowly started again.

mtgirl - try the spring clamps. ..if it doesn't work for you, your only out $30. ..but there's no reason it shouldn't.

 

I wondered about that. I just ordered a set alcans from Wheelers. This is what Dan recommended based on my concerns but axle wrap wasn't at the top of that list, articulation/flex was. I am beginning to wonder if I should have gone with the Deavers instead.

 

from what i've gathered over the years, the deavers supposedly offer more flex with less load carrying capacity ...the alcans offer more load capacity but flex less. personally, i went with the alcans because they offer side specific packs that address the "taco lean". ....but ive also never found myself saying "these alcans limit my flex.. should have gone with deavers"


i have no doubt that you're going to be happy as a pig in shit with the alcans. ..

 

Here's to hoping you are right. It is disconcerting that your axle wrap is returning even though the springs have that torque leaf that is supposed to prevent that.

Now that I think about it, one reason for the alcan recommendation was because I have a hard tonneau cover that is on most of the time and didn't want sagging.

I've always wondered why some brands have the side specific spec. Was your truck drivers side low by about .5" before you put on the alcans?

 

You know, when I just installed my leafs (Wheeler/Alcan 5, 1.5 lift, L/R specific), I first threw them on the bench with spring-ends down and noticed that the high point in arch on the left (driver) leaf is a full inch higher (9.5 inches) than the right (passenger) side (8.5). Also, the left was .25 inches shorter in overall length (eye-to-eye).

When I got the old leafs (OEM 4-pack) off and measured them the same way, the driver was 8 1/8 and the passenger 7 3/8. And for the record, the rear passenger side was about 1/4 inch lower than the driver side before I installed the new leafs...

So there. Have some fak-chew-al data from one truck.

 

my truck started the whole axle warp thingy at about 39,000. I replaced the leafs at 130,000 to aid in my trailer pulling abilities. It didn't resolve the axle warp disease, but I didn't mind because it no longer sagged when I hooked my trailer to it. My tacoma now has 142000, with axle warp for well over 100,000 miles and I have never had any side effects from it. So don't worry about, save your money, and drive the piss out of it.

 

That is a a big chuck of chew. Hhmmm......

I didn't think to measure my stock leafs when I had them off. That is good, hard data. It would be nice if someone else would corroborate that their stock lefts with no weight actually had .75" more arch to them on then compared to the right side. Hhmmm......

I think that means that Toyota knew all along that the left side needed more support (driver, fuel tank, batter, etc.).

I will definitely measure my new alcan 8s to see how they compare to these numbers.

btw: I really understand the "one truck" reference. These trucks were massed produced on an assembly line weren't they? I am sometimes amazed at how unique each seems to be. Mine has consistantly been .5" higher on the right side. But to be fair, I'm not measuring from the frame. That number is from the axle center of the wheel well.

 

Let me guess. You have an auto, not a manual! Do I get a prize?

What springs (brand/model) did you put on?

 

Yes I do have an auto. I have the wheelers HD 4-leaf replacements. Your prize:

 

^^^well she looks well suspended...

With regard to the 4- and 5-leaf Wheelers packs, I specifcally went with the 5 -pack even though I really did not want/need a lift because others who got the 4-pack said it didn't really fix the axle wrap. So I got the 5 -pack and was willing to deal with the necessary mods to the front end, too. (I am happier than ever that I did, BTW)

 

Subed, Interested to see if once the leaf pack settles, the axle wrap returns?