Driving without a propeller shaft?

So in the process of diagnosing a vibration I pulled out my propeller shaft which cured the vibration. Now I don't want to shell out the money for a new one from Toyota ($394), so for the time being is it safe to drive without it?

And a side note, toyota does not sell the u-joints seperately for the propeller shaft

 

What???

You want to drive your truck without the drive shaft? The rear one?

 

^Probably the silliest question I've seen in a while.

If it was the rear- of course it would cure the vibrations....and make the truck immobile.

OP-I don't think that you'll have any issues...but I'm not really sure.

 

I think you can get replacement U joints from toyotapartszone.com Found the one below, but you might want to start from the beginning and enter in you VIN so the right part numbers show up for your frame code, trim, etc... http://www.toyotapartszone.com/onli...ndex=28&pictureName=370452&isBigPicture=False

 

no, the front drive shaft, from the transfer case to the front diff. Essentially making my truck RWD

 

FYI, the link I posted was for the rear driveshaft

 

Actually this is the front drive shaft here

http://www.toyotapartszone.com/onli...ndex=28&pictureName=370449&isBigPicture=False

The link adf23a posted was for the rear drive shaft (notice the carrier bearing)

Its looking like they don't sell the u-joints seperately either

 

Okay. Yes. You can drive without the front drive shaft. Just don't engage the 4x4 and you're fine.

FWIW, You can turn (rotate) the front drive shaft by hand if 4x4 is not engaged. I learned this while greasing some zerks the other day.

 

Yeah thats what i'm thinking too. Engaging 4WD will just start the front flange of the transfer case spinning though, which as long as I'm not moving while engaging it it should be ok (although I would have no reason to engage 4WD)

 

Right. It would look very funny to see it spinning with no shaft.

 

^That's what she said...

 

I don't think that really applies. Unless...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDss8V2OME4

 

Good follow up!!

 

Check or change the u-joints in the propeller shaft.

Take the shaft to a driveshaft (or similar) shop. Ask them to check the BALANCE ... If the shaft is 'out of balance', it will cause a vibration.

Do you know anyone whom you could swap propeller shafts.....remove it from someone elses truck and put it on yours just to see if the vibrations are still there (or not). If they ARE still there, then its' not the shaft.

Yes, you can drive around without it.

 

Well here's my update:

I found a driveshaft shop that I took it to. Turns out one of the balancing weights fell off. If you look close there was a rust spot where there used to be a weight.

Spent $25 bucks and half an hour having it balanced and hopefully I'll be good to go.

I was expecting to pay almost $400 for a new one this morning, to $125 for a used one, and now i'm down to $25. I'm liking this.

 

Well that fixed it.. and yes the answer is most assuredly that you can drive without a propeller shaft

 

Did you notice the vibe in 2wd or just 4wd?

 

Just two wheel, it totally went away in 4wd

 

At what speed are you getting vibrations. I get a bad vibration at 70 mph. I'm still trying to narrow this down. The dealer balanced the tires but it didn't help.

 

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but the front driveshaft doesn't spin while the truck is in 2wd - therefore an out of balance shaft shouldn't have been the problem since it isn't rotating in 2wd, and you don't feel the vibe when it is rotating in 4wd. Climb under the truck if you don't believe me - you can turn the shaft freely (independent of front tires) when the truck is in 2wd. That tells me its not tied to the front tires and will not rotate when driving in 2wd.