Drive Shaft Vibrations Solved Step-by-Step

Yeah, PineappleGrenade's photos of that shaft pulling out of the trans looked scary. Technically we all "stretch" the overall drive line length when we lift. Most drive lines can absorb the stretch in the oh hell what's that called, the slidy part. Oh. Do you prerunner guys not have the sliding section? 4x4's have it just after the carrier bearing, on the upper side of the second drive shaft. My double cardon drive line now has the double cardon joint just after the carrier bearing, so they had to move the sliding section down to just in front of the rear pinion (yup, right where I drag it through the mud, needs lots of lube). If you don't have that section, then absolutely you'll need a pinion spacer.

And totally serious about the donation. Daddy needs a smooth ride. Bad for a developing child (happy bday) to suffer constant vibration through the car seat. Causes spinal deformation. Causes daddy to be short tempered when he's cursing at the vibes.

Chime in prerunner guys. Anyone else running that pinion spacer?

 

whoa how did i miss the shop cost rebate check?!

 

our slidey part is the actually yolk going into the transmission, our shafts themselves dont have the slidey part im not sure the pinion spacer will be solving any vibes, but im sure its a wonderful solution to hammering the gas to have the damn shaft fall out.

 

Hey seric! Baco is a bro from way early in this thread, has a new kid, is on a budget, and is still fighting vibes. You've already solved yours. That said, yeah ok, fair is fair and you've been way helpful, so PM me your address and I'll kick you a few hundred. Never know when I might be upside down in a ditch in AZ needing some good local karma!

 

My truck vibrated a bit whill accellerating when I bought it. I installed a complete OME/dakar setup after about 2000 km on it and now no more vibs! I also added air bags and still no vibs. I didn't install the CB spacer that whent with the kit either and no shims. I'll measure my angles and post em at some point. The axel might be so croked that it cant vibrate anymore!

 

Much appreciated ! however i'd much like to see that go to someone who needs it. BUT i'll pass that good karma along nontheless

 

thanks for the help tscot. i'm going to do the measurements again and report back. i was doing very quick measurements, probably couldve had a better piece of metal to drop down from the yolk to attach the angle finder to. once i do i'll let you know. and i dont blame you for wanting to give away the "ultimate knowledge" as far as i'm concerned. i bet the feeling of fixing your vibes is second to none!
and to answer your questions, yes i have the toytec DC drop (approx 3/8") and the shims skinny side forward. think i should take them both out and get some measurements? or just go for it as is?
thanks for the help brotha.

 

dmeko0 - Measure what you have now and we'll take a look at the numbers more closely and accurately. For the metal drop down from the yoke, I found a nice flat straight metal file that worked great. I held mine to the yoke with one hand and held the angle finder with the other, but if you have a clamp handy that would obviously be easier. Files tend to be made of rather hard material and are pretty close to dead straight and hard to bend, and handy to have around anyway (mine was about 8 inches in overall total length, about 3/4 inches wide at widest point).

 

I just ordered a spacer so thank you pinappleGrenade for the info. My yolk has been pulled away from the tranny for about six months now with no problem. But, when I was having work done on it the other day the CB was damn near out of it's housing pulling to the rear towards the pinion. Got that fixed but now I have noticed a very small lead around the yolk. My yolk looked just like pineappleGrnade's did. So I'm hopping I did not screw things up by taking out the drive shaft to replace the CB. I have heard that once your Tranny starts leaking it's over. Will keep you informed.

 

I forgot to ask, does anyone have a drive shaft shop they could recommend in the So. Cal. area. If this will not work I will go with the double cardon like seric007. Any help will be appreciated. If I have to order out of state I don't mind, I would rather have someone with the experience do it than trying to explain what needs to be done to people who don't have a clue.

 

I got this same spacer and helped slide the driveshaft in towards the transmission and also added the beefed taco cb drop bracket. I have never had any problems w vibes at all either before or after lift but was glad to see this post on this spacer for the driveshaft

 

After reading this thread more times than I can count, buying the Habor Freight angle finder, taking measurments, reading this thread a few more times and taking more measurments, I ordered my 2 degree shims today. Hoping they will do the trick.

 

Tscot, back with some measurements my man. again i have the 3.5 degree shims (skinny side forward) and toytec CB drop on it.
TC vs pinion - 5.75 up
TC vs 1st shaft - 7.1
CB op angle - 7.1-4.3=2.8
Pinion op angle - 4.3
pinion pointing up 5.75
am i wrong in saying that if i flipped the shims to fat side forward, that would put me at -1.25. think that would help? just wondering, you're the magician so you tell me.
again, i've got vibes at 18-21 mph and faint at 55+. also have a hum like in the steering wheel, toytec said something about a bearing in the transfer case is manufactured a little loose and they would sell me one for $100 that fits tighter??? idk doesnt do it in 4wd so wrap your mind around that one too!!
thanks for the help man, i really really appreciate it!

 

dmeko0, I would say you definitely need to reverse those leaf shims, to skinny side BACK (fat side forward). Right now your shims are forcing your rear pinion to point up, and ideally you want it flat or a touch down (it will warp up on its own with axle wrap). I wish it were as easy as subtracting your 3.5 shims from your 5.75 up angle to predict a 2.25 up angle result, but I've found that it's not so clean. Read the numerous posts (including my own) griping about measurements changing depending on whether you backed in to your driveway, or pulled in straight, or wore a red tshirt that day, etc. Flip the shims, measure again, and post new numbers.

That hum that goes away in 4wd could be your messed driveline angles as when the front wheel driveline is engaged it takes some of the stress of the rear driveline to move the vehicle. Could also be a messed rear diff, for same diagnostic reasons. There's a bunch of master mechanic types on this forum better to answer that one.

 

Have you looked at this for your hum that goes away when in 4WD?
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...nt-differential-bearing-vibration-thread.html

 

gese louise! and i thought 9 pages was a lot to read through. i would imagine that's my problem. i dont have a serious noise but just a constant vibration in the steering wheel that like i said goes away in 4hi. sounds like this is the fix though. thanks for pointing that out. hopefully i'm mechanically inclined enough to pull it off. and then if i can get rid of my drive shaft vibe i'll be sitting pretty. i was worried for a while that id have to take the lift off. tacomas just look sooooo much better with a bit of lift under them, its a shame all these problems come with the satisfaction, oh well. thanks man i really appreciate the heads up. will order soon.

 

tscot, flipped the rear axle shims today and the vibrations are terrible!!! however the measurements seem to be a lot better. i pulled the CB shims and used a slightly smaller shim after i took my initial measurements and it seems to have helped a little but not much. so here are my measurements now.
TC vs Pinion - .45 down
trans op angle - 7.9
CB op angle - .6 down
pinion angle - 7.3
just out of curiousity, this is my daily driver, and although i don't drive too awful much (approx 25 mi a day) i worry daily about the damage i may be doing by driving with these vibrations. should i be worried terribly like i am or is everything built well enough under there to get me through a few months of vibes while i figure it out. BTW ordered the bushing from ECGS in order to correct the front differential/cv growl so hopefully that helps as well. im bummed fellas!!! but thanks for the help, i'm sure we'll get it fixed.

 

dmeko0, not bad numbers. Tell me, vibes at low speed (CB), high speed (pinion), or both. Don't worry about the vibes tearing things apart, I ran for over 6months and almost 10k miles before I finally got rid of my vibes, no apparent damage, 25miles round trip to work and back plus a few long distance trips. I also made it a point to not drive right AT the nasty vibe speeds whenever I could help it, mostly for my anger and sanity. I think you're close, try the handful of washers now for teeny CB adjustments. The rear pinion looks good, and changes all the time as you drive anyway. Mess with the CB this weekend and report back.

 

high speed, somewhere around 50+, didnt want to get up too fast and through my shaft through the floor. and low speed, now from about 15-32mph. which is much more noticeable now both accelerating and decelerating.

 

Still both low and high speeds huh? See if messing with the CB changes the low speed vibe, which should feel stronger than the high speed vibe and should change its speed range depending on your CB drop distance. With a few washers you should feel the difference in just a mile or two of driving, it's pretty dramatic and instant results. The high speed vibe may need your rear leafs "pinned", details earlier on in this same thread, but let's stick with the CB low speed for the moment.