Strange noises after adding 3" lift

mine comes and goes too but did it before lifting and after. weighed down or not...

 

I have the same 'no-load' grind 55-65 mph. Happened both stock and with helper springs installed. I recently noticed that the slip yoke had very slight play, so this week I took it apart, cleaned, and lubed with industrial grade teflon grease (awesome stuff). It definately softened the grinding noise to a point that it's 'almost' unnoticeable. I was kind of disappointed that it didn't get rid of the noise, but my disappointment was balanced out by the benefits of solving the apparent driveshaft binding that I didn't realize were there:

1) rumbling when taking off
2) rumbling in low gear @ low RPM's
3) drivetrain 'clunk' when shifting gears

I'm probably going to end up putting some shims in the rear to see if that completely gets rid of the noise.

 

i just lifted my reg cab 2012 last week with the same 3" tuff country lift i had les schwabs install it and im hearing the same noise also its really annoying is there a better lift kit that wont make this noise or is it just beacause its a reg cab

 

there are definitely better lift kits, but they still make the noise. its just because it's a reg cab

 

I have the toytec old eman mu (always spell that wrong) lift kit. I am having weird noises at low speeds, when i sit idle and rock my truck, it squeaks but its a dull low squeak, not like a leaf spring squeak.. Not the u joints that's for sure, was gonna start a thread but may have to jack ya

 

im going to try the driveline flip this weekend hopefully that works

 

mine sounds like that but it's the leaf springs (dakars). why dont u think its the leafs?

i believe it will work temporarily (maybe a few hundred to a couple thousand miles) - that's what ive heard. i havent tried it myself tho. I do believe it will expose the weaker part of the driveline to come in contact with rocks tho if u plan on doing a lot of offroading - maybe something to watch out for.

 

I'm getting 3 deg Toytec shims installed today with the Tuff Country 3" lift. I still have the 4-wheeler in the bed and been driving all week with no noise. Will leave it in for the shop to see what it is supposed to sound like before the shims are installed.

I do like the fact that the Tuff Country lift makes my truck sit level with 500 lbs in the back. It rides and drives like a dream. (May just leave the 4-wheeler back there)!

I will report back and let you know if the shims solved the noise problem or not.

 

did you get the shims installed yet if so did it make a difference

 

I currently run a 3" Toytec Suspension lift and had some drive line issues with vibrations. I have the 3 degree axle shims and installed the carrier bearing drop kit from toytec as well. That eliminated most of the vibrations from take-off and I haven't had any since. The truck will drive and feel different, it's not stock like it used to be so it has a different personality. You just have to get used to it and trust everything is working properly.

 

I did some measurements and determined that the alignment of the transmission and differential are exactly in spec and the lift kit did not change that alignment. (the differential is 1 degree lower that the transmission to account for axle wrap). If I put the shims in then I would be 2 degrees over compensated and cause yet another problem that would destroy the u-joints.

Here is what I have concluded: The vibration at 60 mph was there all the time. Addition of the extra spring in the lift kit did two things: 1) it stiffened the rear suspension and amplified the vibration, and 2) it caused too great an angle for the drive shaft on the differential, causing the grinding noise when coasting.

What I decided to do was to keep the lift kit but (this sounds ridiculous but it works) I bought a device called a traction bag, its a large bladder you fill with water to apply weight in the back of pickups to give traction (see truck bed accessories at autoanything.com ). I have about 300 pounds (also added a bed mat to keep things put) back there and that mashes the springs down to that the truck sits level. The plus side is that it rides and handles like a sports car. The vibration is still there but I just ignore it. The grinding noise is gone though. Took a hit on mpg but I am addicted to the smooth ride. The truck handles fantastic on bumpy dirt roads and floats over RR crossings and rough interstate lanes.

My other option is to remove the rear add-a-leaf and return the rear back to the factory height, which will make it level with the front but I will get the "bro lean" if I haul anything and the ride will go to hell compared to what it is now.

I'm keeping it the way it is for the winter but the lesion here is that the Regular Cab will have problems if you lift it due to it's geometry. Maybe that's why Toyota doesn't offer the TRD package on the Regular Cab model.

 

My regular cab is suffering from the same grind. Can you explain which angles you're referring to in your two statements above? On the surface it seems like the first statement is referring to the vertical offset between the trans and the diff, while your second statement refers to the driveshaft angle at the rear u joint. Is that correct?

Your temporary fix for this also seems to co-support my own hypothesis that the grind is being caused by a slight overextension of the slip yoke. I recently took mine apart and filled the annular space with a thicker teflon grease because it had very slight play. The grease completely eliminated the grind for about 100 miles, then it came back I suspect due to the grease migration. If the slip yoke were to be moved in further by adding a spacer between the DS flange and the rear diff, it seems like there would be less leverage for the slight imbalances in the driveshaft to act on the slip yoke's up/down/left/right movement, thereby eliminating the vibes/grind. However, if the spacer is too thick, it might cause the slip yoke to bottom out and potentially damage transmission and differential components.

I may try to replace my u joints today, so I'm going to try to take some measurements to see how much the rear can be compressed before the slip yoke bottoms out.

 

@ ECOTERRA - I measured from flange to flange, top and bottom. The flange disk on both the trans and diff are identical, both are 4 inched in diameter. If the alignment is perfect between trans and diff then the distance from the top of the trans flange to top of diff flange is the same as the distance from bottom of trans flange to bottom of diff flange. According to some other information I found on the web, the bottom measurement should be about 1/8 inch longer than the top measurement (about 1 degree) to account for axle wrap when accelerating. That is exactly what I get when I measure mine, even after installing the 3 inch lift kit. So that's why I don't want to use the shims. I noticed some play in my driveshaft too. What you said makes sense as to the source of the grinding noise. It sounded to me like it was coming from the differential but why would it? Anyway, I am satisfied for now till I can learn more about what's really going on. My next step is to get some bigger tires mounted but wanted to take it one step at a time.

Hope this helps!

 

on mine i really dont get a vibration its just a humming sound and i get the grinding when coasting though. but my question is will it eventually cause damage to the trans and diff i can live with the noise i just dont want to cause dammage with the lift

 

If it turns out to be the driveshaft making the noise like described in the post above then it may not affect the trans/diff. I sure wish I could determine for sure that that grinding noise is when coasting through. If I know for sure it was the shaft making the noise then I would feel a little better. Till we figure it out I want to prevent it from happening as much as I can.

 

would getting these products solve this problem at all?

 

Flux capacitor rubbing the springs

 

Maybe try swapping with Double cardan shaft ???

 

That dealership should have looked that lift and said... "Your serious?" That should have voided your warranty flat out. I cant believe they were actually stupid enough to replace all that... Because you installed a second-grade lift. Yet i have to fight with my dealership just to do TSBs on my over mileage truck, I thought it was hard convincing them to do that... Kind of ridiculous they took it upon themselves to do so much unnecessary work.

 

I replaced my original Spicer u-joints this past weekend. For some reason the old u-joints were both very stiff . . . like if you moved the flanges they would stay in position when you let go. The oddest thing is that the u-joints showed absolutely no signs of wear inside.

Anyway, I made sure to center the new u-joints properly to avoid stiffness and threw the driveshaft back on. The grinding noise has been reduced by about 50%, but it's still there.

I'm completely convinced that this is an issue with the slip yoke having play in it (mine does), which means that the only fix is a new driveshaft.