Driveline angles - sanity check

I crossed this off the list by replacing the entire drive shaft.

 

hows the fight going?

 

Not to suggest overly simple things as you’ve clearly been chasing this for a while: what about tires, worn suspension components, anything else front end original wear items?

Where do you feel the vibration? Seat or steering wheel?

 

I feel the vibration through the cab. Not the steering wheel.

Things have recently (within in the last year) been updated:

New wheels and tires (pro comp 7069 + 265/75/16 Goodyear workhorse), road force balanced.

Front suspension - new upper (ES) and lower (Whiteline) control arm bushings, upper and lower ball joints (OEM), outer tie rods(OEM), rebuilt king c/os + replaced the coil springs, new wheel bearings & seals(OEM), calipers, rotors, brake pads, and SS brake lines.

Rear suspension - new leaf packs, new u bolts (x2), new shackles (x3) bushings and bolts, replaced wheel bearings & seals (OEM), new wheel cylinders (OEM), shoes (OEM), had the drums turned, new SS brake line.

New Drive shaft pro drive shaft, new transmission mount.

I was able to put some miles on it over the weekend after I swapped in the 4 degree shim. The pinion angle matched the drive shaft exactly. It's better but not perfect. Once things settled with the new shackles, it was lower than reported on Thursday. But now I need to lower the front a touch to things to where I like them.

The really strange thing with this vibration now, is that I noticed it really only occurs on concrete sections of the freeway, while it feels perfect on the paved sections.

 

If it feels perfect on pavement and not on concrete, that sounds like tire characteristics to me. If so, I would be happy with that. Different tires may make it disappear entirely.

 

I can swap the old set on and test- but don't think the new tires are the problem. I had bought them from a local place but they were way understaffed and did a real shit job balancing them so I took them to Discount Tire for a road force balance and specifically asked if there were any additional issues with the tires or wheels which might cause vibrations- and they said they were easily able to balance them.

At this point, I think I am going to put a go pro under the truck and go for a drive...

 

so you ended up at option 1?

 

Revival

How has the good fight gone? Ever come to any solutions?

I am having similar problems with my lifted single cab 96. and I’ve chased down, seemingly, everything at this point (at one point I even discovered that my mounting plate for my driveshaft at the transmission had become loose and I had to re set that).


I am now leaning towards something being bent that I haven’t discovered. I’m going to swap my wheels from my 01 onto my 96 (problem child) and see if it is something more simple than I’ve thought. I’ve always had the same wheels on it and maybe with the new suspension I am feeling a bent rim more.

I’m also thinking back to something another user mentioned when I discovered the transmission plate issue, is that maybe my transmission got toasted before I discovered that.

either way I feel your pain, I’m just glad I have my 01 which has been treating me well. Now I’m driving my 96 more and want to get it ready for wheeling and I just want to not feel like I’m going to rattle apart on the highway.

 

I ended up with 2 degree shims. After all that, the rear brakes were essentially out of round. With the tires off the ground, while turning the wheels, I could feel the shoes drag on the drum in three specific locations on one side, and two on the other. I replaced the shoes and drums with Napa parts, and it's smooth ever since. Going back- when I rebuilt the axle, I got new Toyota shoes, and turned my original drums. I am not sure if the shop did a crappy job turning them or what.

 

I have never checked my rear drums…

 

what’s funny is that well after this post Toyota released a TSB for vibrating at 10-30mph. Part of the diagnosis is to remove the DS and see if the vibration goes away.

It’s like saying that it’s the drive shaft without actually saying it’s the drive shaft. The fix is a new spring pack that “fixes” the DS angle, and a damper in the steering column. Essentially, they are fixing the symptoms.

 

Tom woods one piece ?

 

see post: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/driveline-angles-sanity-check.764885/page-2#post-28327166

TLDR; 2-degree shims. The culprit of the persistent vibration at freeway speeds ended up being out of round brake drums.

 

That’s an ongoing thing, was it oem ?

 

I don't think we need to beat a here.. The post thread has all the info. The drums were OEM, and I had them turned when I rebuilt the rear end. New shoes. Not sure what happened but between that work, the ended up dragging on the shoes in three different places per rotation. Replaced the drums and shoes, and it fixed everything. Been smooth sailing since then.