One piece drive shaft woes...

Hi everyone!

I drive an 08' Toyota Tacoma 4.0 V6 4x4 Off road ACLB, been having the dreaded hummmmm since i've owned the truck. Since then, I've done the ECGS Needle bearing.. 5100's w/ Eibachs..Wheelers off road progressive 3 leaf...rebuilt my 2 piece drive shaft (new u joints, carrier bearing) and to no avail have not solved my vibes.

I was getting the take off shudder, the rumble strip feeling when breaking and the 55-60 mph droning noise. So I decided to bite the bullet and have a one piece shaft made. I tossed the idea around going the TW route or go local, So i went local. I got the double cardon input joint (1310 series u joints) and slip joint @ the rear (1330 U joint). The shop used 3" tube to make it (not sure of wall thickness) and I called TW to get a 2nd opinion. They said 3" is too small and to go 3.5" or 4" which ive read other members have done here.

The shop owner built it, said there was 0 run out and it balanced like a dream. Balanced to 3000 RPM. I got home, bolted it up to the truck and took it for a test drive and was EXTREMELY disappointed. Vibes from 25mph on up constantly. I couldn't go over 75mph. Got back home, pulled the shaft back out and double checked the Tcase & pinion flange angles and they were parallel as they should be. Since I pulled the shaft, I rotated it 180 degrees and mounted it back up and still the same results. Vibes everywhere.

I would mount my 2 piece back up in the mean-time...but they stole the pinion flange off that to put on the 1 piece. Did i mention i paid $646 for the 1 piece? So I'm not gonna flip my S*** yet because I did talk to the shop owner and he said if I had problems to call him immediately so ill get on that tomorrow.

So any input would be appreciated from the vibe/driveline gurus.......THANKS!

 

Have you tried angled shims under the rear leaf springs. General recommendation I was told is 1 degree per inch of rear lift. Has to do with the angle of the rear dif in relation to the rest of the drive train.

 

I have not tried shims yet. I see no need to if the tcase & pinion flange are parallel to one another like I mentioned above

 

This post is discouraging. Hope ya get it figured out. I also have the front end vibration after lifting my truck.

 

That’s your needle bearing

 

I would go back to the shop who built It and complain, I’m betting it’s the wrong size tube. At 75mph and a stock size tire your nearly at 3k rpms driveshaft speed.

To solve my problems I did a two piece driveshaft with a dc joint in it (like first gen Tacoma’s).

 

Wow man, I’m sorry to hear you’re having so much trouble with your one piece rear driveshaft. I just had one built locally for $450 and my truck has never been smoother. I had tried everything to get rid of my take off shudder and the vibrations upon slowing down but it wasn’t until my OEM CB crapped the bed that I decided to pull the trigger on the one piece. And I don’t know if it will help you but mine is a 3.5” tube with the OEM slip yoke and flanges.

 

Any reason you didn't try shimming the axle before having the 1 piece made? Seems to help a lot of people, I'll be shimming off the bat when I install my Dakars in a couple weeks.

 

I had a 1pc DS made for my conversion without the cardon joints and mine is smooth as can be. You think the cardon joint might be causing the problem?

 

I tried everything, including shims and I could never get rid of the vibrations. I documented everything I went through after I installed my lift here.

 

I did call them this morning and they did offer my $$ back. I do believe it's vibrating due to the 3" tube, I called Tom Woods and they said that was too small and to go 4".

? For those w/ a 4" diameter driveshaft---Have you had to chop that carrier bearing cross member? Will it clear?

The local shop said for them to build the 4" shaft it would be $800+ "highly custom" they said and Tom Woods quoted me $579 + shipping.

 

I had that thought....When reading the write up for the 1 piece conversion, they said the double-cardon joint was "essential" to eliminate vibrations. but if both flanges on the truck are parallel, then a conventional 2 joint shaft should work in theory.

 

Double cardan geometry wants to look like this:



You might need to shim.

 

How are they parallel? On my truck they sure ain't

 

My driveshaft is 3.6" in diameter and I have about 1/2" clearance on both sides of the carrier bearing bracket. 4" driveshaft is cutting it kinda close. You'll have to cut the bolt brackets off but not the whole thing.

 

They shouldn't be. There is math that can figure out this dudes problem. Math camp! Let's all go!

 

True but having a dcj eliminates possible vibs

I chopped mines. I have a TW's 4" shaft that was shipped out the next day after ordering. Awesome customer service.

 

Thank you! I was thinking of aligning a 2 joint shaft with parallel flanges. I will need to shim to get my angles correct...my bad everyone!! I guess I was in denial.... lol Ill get out in the garage and measure the DS working angle in relation to the pinion flange to see how much I need to shim.

Thanks for showing me the light!!

 

so the DS is @ a downward slope of 9* and pinion is pointed up 6*....so looks like ill be looking into a 3* pinion shim to make the angle 0* between the the pinion/DS