Single (and Two) Piece Driveshaft = Vibes....BE GONE!!!

What gearing did you decide to go with? I'm curious if it'll make highway vibrations as I'm looking to get 4.56 gears and just ordered my Tom Woods driveshaft.

 

I went with 4.56 gears. Picked up the truck last night. There's a break in period for the gears which means I can't go too fast yet and won't know about vibrations at highway speeds for another 150 miles or so (planning on putting some miles on it today to break it in). Looks like I'll be taking back roads for a while.

 

My DS comes tomorrow, hoping to install sunday

 

Awaiting your report. If all goes well I'll be pretty tempted to order one.

 

Looks like install will happen Sunday. I'll post as soon as it's in and I take it for a drive. I spoke to Tom Woods himself when I placed the order, and he told me if it doesn't fix my issue to send it back for a full refund. So I figured win/win, why the hell not try it, cheap enough and install seems straight forward, just bolt up and go. I may need to skim thru the "torque specs" post or call Tom Woods back and see what torque ft/lb they recommend.

 

When you can't believe your drive shaft vibes are gone...



j/k good job OP! I've wanted to do this, but many say you lose some ground clearance.

 

Ground clearance loss is minimal, if you're crawling over boulders every weekend, then this might not be a good fix for you. For me it's a good trade off, a loss of maybe a couple inches of ground clearance to rid my truck of vibes (fingers crossed) was a no brainer. You're gonna catch other things before you hit your drive shaft, unless your drive shaft is in line with whatever you are navigating over or around. Not saying it couldn't happen, but I would think you could foresee that coming. Your transfer case output flange is lower than the start of the drive shaft, now yes it does slope down from there to the diff, but the diff then is lower than the end of the drive shaft, so in my opinion, your gonna have other things catch before and along with your drive shaft. I would say just be aware that it's a possibility. This is my DD and I don't take hard trails like the Rubicon trail, and don't plan to. Like I said, if your planning on doing a lot of boulder style trails, this might not work for you. If you are a weekend trail guy and vacation trail guy like me and primarily explore mild-moderate trails for camping and hiking then this might help your vibes. This is just my opinion, I'm sure others can weigh in with their opinions and experiences with such things.

 

Any tips or advice you picked up along the way as far as the install goes? Anything you would have done differently? Installing mine tomorrow. Thanks

 

sub'd thinking about calling Ol'Tom monday

 

The driveshaft is literally the FIRST thing you are going to hit that can't handle the abuse, might as well be a soda can under there...I personally would not sacrifice the ground clearance by running a one piece. If you don't ever go offroad, fine.

 

Thanks

 

Just opened it, about to install my 67.5" "soda can" in a couple hours, report to follow.

 

Let us know! And As far as clearance @1MK posted some pics in the overland thread. Clearance loss looks minimal. And he's always using his rig.

 

My thoughts exactly, can't be that much of a loss if he did it, because yes, he uses the shit out of his rig. But that's neither here nor there, it works for ME, that's what I care about, and I used my own monies to buy it, so I can do what he f$&k I want with it, if someone doesn't want a one piece Tom Woods drive shaft, guess what?, don't buy one and install it, "ground clearance loss" avoided

 

There is a reason I recommend a Woody. This just adds a new reason. Tom is FAIR above all else. In my opinion he takes customer service to a level not seen anywhere else. Lets be honest who can afford to offer the warrantee he does, offer a refund in a case like yours and still stay profitable? He isn’t the cheapest you can get but his quality is second to none and the warrantee / customer service makes you a moron to buy elsewhere. I used his warrantee because of my own stupidity and it shipped out next business day.

 

Take notes, because I'll probably be asking you the same exact same question in a couple months lol.

 

Okay boys, she's in. Install was easy, with the right tools. The area is pretty tight at the transfer case. But with some extensions and gear wrenches it wasn't too bad. Took me right at 2 hours, but I double and triple checked and double and triple torqued. Torque spec thread says 65 ft lbs at both the double cardan flange and the rear diff flange It definitely could be done quicker. I'm just OCD. This thing is very very well made. And has ample grease zerks. I have to drive about 60 miles tomorrow, so I'll give my feedback then. Hit me with questions. Oh and by the way, for those that are extremely curious and doubtful, ground clearance loss (as stated above) is VERY minimal. I stopped counting all the things that sit lower than the drive shaft.

 

Post edited, I originally put 85 ft lbs for torque, it should have been 65 ft lbs. sorry. That is according to the oem Toyota torque spec guide. I will call Tom Wood to verify what he recommends.

 

I just have to add, if the drive shaft, especially a one-piece is so "vulnerable" due to it's lowered clearance, why are there no skid protection plates for it or some kind of armor? Legit question, not trying to stir things. It just seems to be a valid debate for the one-piece vs the oem that has been discussed. Thanks for input