Driveshaft Replacement?

Hello TW,
Truck: 2010 4.0L V6 4x4 with 120k miles

I made an original post asking for advice on my shudder starting from stop happening around 10-30mph.

Everything I have done to it includes, spark plugs, tire rebalance and rotation, MAF and throttle body clean. All fluids including oil, transmission, diff, transfer case. All U-joints replaced (I believe) and carrier bearing replaced about 10k miles ago.

Shudder is still present!! Ended up taking to Toyota in Bozeman, MT and they said,
“rear driveshaft looks twisted and u joint is out of line” and want to me to replace the entire driveshaft for $1400.
I took a look under there to see if I could find what they were talking about because they would not tell me which u joint it was… let alone what part of the driveshaft. But I saw a space in the u joint (pic below) and was wondering if it would be enough to cause the entire driveshaft to be replaced or even needing to replace the u joint.

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

 

Id say normal use no. Ujoints look bad, it takes a lot to bend a driveshaft.

 

I don't know if you work on your truck, but I had a similar "shutter". I replaced the carrier bearing and u-joints since I had to remove the driveshaft anyway. Problem solved. If you have just a little mechanical ability, it's a job you can do yourself. I did mine after watching a few videos. Good luck.

 

I do not know too much outside of basic maintenance but I am trying.. so the think the u joint is bad? Is it possible for them to go bad after only 10k miles?

 

I don’t drive off-road. I have gone in a couple of rough places but that was two years ago. This all started when my carrier bearing went bad in November and was replaced along with the u joints. I did not replace the joints myself so I am not sure what parts they are

 

YES

The knock offs on Amazon and ebay fail fast.

These are easy to change out in a couple hours with a BJ tool from Harbour Freight and two 14 mm wrenches. Forget the carrier bolt size.

Done it three times in 300k miles. Easy peasy, the diff one fails first on mine and i do all three every time since its out.

 

The picture is of the diff one

 

if you dont offroad I highly doubt you twisted your driveline. Only time I have ever seen a driveline twist on a taco is when you bottom on a rock or offroad object and try and drive off the object.

 

I would replace the carrier bearing and u-joints. I believe it will solve your issue and for WAY less than $1,400 I would be shocked if your driveshaft was twisted.

 

U joints for sure, ive smoked a U joint and vibrated my seat while driving home

 

my driveshaft yoke actually snapped at the ujoint on rear diff. I opted cheap Ebay $300 driveshaft. I got a year of HEAVY offroading same u joint went bad as last , replaced them all and no problems since. Also my daily driver, I tried to work in the dark and over pressed, 1 of the ujoints exploded!

 

I just replaced mine a few weeks back -- pic below. The cap of the ujoint is what gets pressed in and there are a bunch of needle bearings in there. If one of those falls out and into the top of the cap it doesn't sit flush down in my case, the blue rubber (?) seal thing that keeps the grease contained. I say this because in your pic it does look like there is a gap between the cap and the main base ... possibly caused by one of those needle bearings coming falling down when the install was done. The bottom pic shows my 'bad' ujoint and you can see the needle bearings I'm talking about.

 

Thank you for clarifying what the needle bearings look like… I’ve never seen them.

 

If theres a gap in the rubber like that its bad. It wasnt seated right or they didnt put the clips in on the ujoint. Or they dropped a needle bearing in the cup and installed the ujoint

 

They are trying to scam you into buying a new driveline.

 

Quoted/bold because I did this once and didn't realize it until I couldn't get the cap all the way seated and clip in position.

 

Update:

So I did indeed have a bad u-joint, but it seemed to have failed prematurely for some reason but shudder is still there with absolutely no improvement whatsoever. So I was recommended to have my driveline spun and balanced as a next step.

Does anyone have any other recommendations or know someone that’s had this issue because I am at a complete loss…
Thank you.

 

Did they check carrier bearing?

 

I told them that I had it replaced it less than 15k miles ago and even asked if it was possible that it could have been put on the wrong way. But it did not seem to be on the radar as a problem. Any suggestions on how much play there should be with the bearing? Could it be an incorrect part?

 

The carrier bearing has a little movement. But the rubber bushing should look in good condition. If it wasnt put back in same spot as the old one it might cause vib. Easy way to check is mark the driveline and totally remove the rear driveline and drive it in 4x4 a little ways up to the speed you are getting the issue and see if the vibe is gone. If its gone you know its carrier bearing.

If the carrier bearing isnt factory part its prob bad IMO.