Drive Shaft Vibrations Solved Step-by-Step

Most likely need less shim. No way to know the number without measuring. Also, have you tried your setup without the carrier bearing drop?

I have Icon RXT’s in setup 2 which gave around 2.7 inches of lift. With no shims I had vibes on deceleration. I put my camper shell on (rear end loaded) and they went away - due to less lift. Though I still expected to need shims of some sort.

 

yeah I tried it without carrier bearing drop, still the same

 

Just want to throw this out there. Before I did anything I had marked the original position of the bolts to the CB with marker as it came from the factory with a permanent marker. I had a 3 leaf add a leaf with a 3 degree shim and CB drop with no vibes. I swapped it out for OME ELO95R's and removed the CB drop. I had slight vibes on decel only so I added the CB back in and it seemed to be worse so I removed it. If I don't put the bolts right where it was from the factory the vibes get worse so I've just been loosening up the bolts and slightly moving it. Depending on where it sits the vibes almost go away or get worse. It is now very slight vibe on decel and I'm okay with it for now. Just wanted to throw that out there because I know every truck is different and this might help someone else out.

 

Can someone please guide me towards the best 3 degree shim option for an ome hd leaf pack?? .i'm trying to order these today and have them installed before a big road trip next month. Thanks for any help in advance

 

Thanks I was gonna grab those but kept reading to only use steel, but it seems wheelers no longer has steel available and @HeadStrong Off-Road isnt taking orders apparently

 

I'm running those, with zero issues.

 

Thanks guys I'll order today. I'm hoping to install these myself, I've found a couple write ups on here and it seems simple enough. I just feel like its needed bc I achieved quite a bit more lift especially in rear than I thought I would, and its like I can just feel things not running where they should be especially at higher speeds and on highway hills. The one carrier bearing drop helped but didn't eliminate it.Guess we will see soon enough!!

 

Thanks for the write-up OP, I'm going down this road starting today. I used your guidance and the graphic someone else did to track progress. Here is where I am today.

 

Subbed

 

I have a vibration that has turned unbearable, from 20 to 30 mph. It’s really bad in the morning, sometimes it gets better as the day goes by and sometimes stays the same.
I did an inspection and there is no play in the shaft, I do have play on the center bearing holder, not sure if the rubber it’s supposed to flex easily.
I installed spacers under the holder and no change.
These are the numbers that I have. Not sure what to do, the numbers seems pretty even.

 

Does anybody know if the center bearing can cause any vibration or it's just to hold de driveshaft in place? I really need to get under a Tacoma and see how it compares to mine. But I can't just get under any Tacoma, I'm afraid that I will be accused of trying to steal the catalytic converter .
I wan't to try to narrow it down before I start changing parts.

 

Damn, this is almost exactly what I have after doing 2° shims and the OME CB drop, maybe it is tires after all...

 

Good info, so on my DCSB running OME BP51s, OME Dakkar Heavys, and OME carrier spacer I have 5.8 on the first shaft, 5.9 on the second, and 3.1 on the rear diff. Should I go with a 2.5 degree shim?

 

Installed Bils 6120/5160 on my 2014 short box Tacoma, along with heavy duty Dakars. Gained 4 inches in both front and rear. Had drive line shudder on acceleration from a dead stop - felt like a propeller was coming from my rear end. I installed the OME carrier bearing drop. Then I had drive line shudder on acceleration and deceleration in the range of 5-20 km/h and it had a much different feel than the take off shudder I felt before.

After reading through this thread and finding a lot of feelings and unexplained anecdotes on driveshaft angles, and dreading doing a bunch of little adjustments on angles I was trying to grasp, I came across this post and gave my driveshaft a look. I tied a piece of string onto the zerk on the end of the shaft at my rear diff and attached it to the zerk on the U joint connected to the transfer case. The shaft was already rotated so the zerks were facing the ground by putting the truck in gear and pushing it and adjusting the drive shaft to accomplish this.

What I noticed was the middle zerk on the driveshaft (at the carrier bearing) was about a full cm to the left of my string. I loosened the bolts on my carrier bearing and shifted the entire thing to the right (it has a lot of play!) to align the 3 zerks along my driveshaft using my string guide. After tightening the bolts in this new position, no shudder on acceleration or deceleration!

Makes me wonder: how many people have paid attention to the horizontal straightness of their drive shaft? It seems to never be brought up, and the vertical angles are all mostly mentioned here.

 

im going to try this tmrw. after multiple changes in suspension and ale ive had nothing but problems. ive got dakar springs, 1" blocks, 2* shims, and wheel spacers, newly balanced and check driveline professionally, tires balanced yesterday, and wheel spacers. carrier is dropped 3/4"+. with driveshaft removed, in 4wd its perfect so unlikely the spacers. front and rear shaft are nearly perfect inline according to my gauge. thanks for this tip.

 

Anyone have a lead on 1* and 1.5* shims? My t-case is at 2.8* down and pinion at 4* up, looking to bump it down a tad and compensate for axle wrap

 

i got 2* on Amazon. maybe try them or tune them with a grinder to suite.

 

Roger brown/ 4 crawler. He custom makes them to order and they are made out of steel. Thats where i got mine

 

Thanks, I'll grab a set from him. The Tacoma shims are 2.5" wide and 6" long right? What size is the center hole?