Tacoma drive shaft vibrations.....at my wits end

[italynstylion]

Been working some driveline vibration issues for about a year. These were as a result of my Icon Stage 4 and Dakar lift. Long story short, I've tried everything. Carrier bearing drop, new carrier bearing, spacers with the new CB, axle shims and last but CERTAINLY not least; a single piece drive drive shaft from Tom Woods.

The single piece shaft (with a double cardan input joint) solved the issues for me. I was very pleased. However, this week I regeared to 4.56 gears and now the shaft is expected to spin a LOT faster to achieve a desired speed. And with that, I'm hitting the critical speed limitations of the shaft and it vibrates like hell over 50mph. I removed it and put my original two piece shaft back on and I have take off vibrations but the high speed vibrations are gone.

So now I'm back to square 1....I have to figure something out. The single piece steel shaft is too long and won't spin fast enough without acting like a jump rope. The two piece shaft introduces violent vibrations while starting off quickly from a stop.

Questions
Does anyone make a single piece shaft (maybe aluminum) that can spin faster but is still ok for offroading shenanigans?
Is it possible to weld on double cardan input joint to the stock two piece drive shaft? My gut feel is this will fix the take off vibrations.

 

[RichardB23]

in out of curiosity. have an inland one piece that vibrates over 80 and im about to regear to 4.10 so curious to see how that goes and what fixes are available

 

[italynstylion]

in out of curiosity. have an inland one piece that vibrates over 80 and im about to regear to 4.10 so curious to see how that goes and what fixes are available

I'm sure you've already done extensive research, but before you decide definitively on 4.10 give me a little while with these 4.56 gears and I'll be able to give you some solid data based on my exact tire size and setup. Happy to give you any and all info you might need to ensure 4.10 is right for you. I'm running 34" BFG KO2 tires that actually measure 33.25" in reality and my truck is an auto, not a manual (they have different final gear ratios).

 

[Oswego]

I had similar issues, but sadly they never bothered me badly so I never looked into fixing them. Just used less pedal when taking off from a red light, but the vibes are signifigant. Issues are non-existent off road or at speed.

I'd love to hear someones opinion on a fix though. My driveshaft would be happier with less bouncing around.

 

[italynstylion]

I'm pretty much in the exact same boat @Oswego . Mine is exactly as you described. My assessment is the double cardan input joint on the single piece shaft is what really smooths out the take off vibrations on that setup. So I'm thinking it MIGHT be possible to have one of these welded onto a stock shaft essentially giving you the best of both worlds. Did I explain that well?

 

[Oswego]

I was crossing my fingers and hoping a new CB would work for me because my ass is very high now & it is blown after 94k. At worst I was hoping some shims would correct it - Now I'm not so sure. Sadly I haven't touched my truck in over 2 years since the engine let go, nor have I looked into any of the fixes so I'm just here to listen to others recommendations so my fix goes better "when" I get to it.

 

[tx_shooter]

Did we ever replace the front u-joint? or do you think it is vibrations elsewhere?

 

[RichardB23]

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I'm sure you've already done extensive research, but before you decide definitively on 4.10 give me a little while with these 4.56 gears and I'll be able to give you some solid data based on my exact tire size and setup. Happy to give you any and all info you might need to ensure 4.10 is right for you. I'm running 34" BFG KO2 tires that actually measure 33.25" in reality and my truck is an auto, not a manual (they have different final gear ratios).

have stock gears right now and the vibes are after 65ish and the 4.10's I already bout because it came with a locker for a good price. Just hoping it doesn't make things worse. Goodluck man

 

[Silverback]

I had similar issues, but sadly they never bothered me badly so I never looked into fixing them. Just used less pedal when taking off from a red light, but the vibes are signifigant. Issues are non-existent off road or at speed.

I'd love to hear someones opinion on a fix though. My driveshaft would be happier with less bouncing around.

Yeah I'm sure your truck vibrates a lot these days.

 

[italynstylion]

Did we ever replace the front u-joint? or do you think it is vibrations elsewhere?

Good question. The single piece shaft obviously has all new U-Joints but the stock one I believe has one U-joint in it that has about 31k on it. I believe we didn't replace it because it had been done at 99k miles by Toyota.

 

[tx_shooter]

Could you rig up the gopro to watch the driveshaft again? Are you still running the axle shims after the regear?

 

[italynstylion]

Yeah the axle shims are still in there. I can throw the gopro under neath the truck again soon. Probably won't be till tomorrow though.

 

[Anathollo]

I'm sure you've already done extensive research, but before you decide definitively on 4.10 give me a little while with these 4.56 gears and I'll be able to give you some solid data based on my exact tire size and setup. Happy to give you any and all info you might need to ensure 4.10 is right for you. I'm running 34" BFG KO2 tires that actually measure 33.25" in reality and my truck is an auto, not a manual (they have different final gear ratios).

Please do.

 

[Anathollo]

Been working some driveline vibration issues for about a year. These were as a result of my Icon Stage 4 and Dakar lift. Long story short, I've tried everything. Carrier bearing drop, new carrier bearing, spacers with the new CB, axle shims and last but CERTAINLY not least; a single piece drive drive shaft from Tom Woods.

The single piece shaft (with a double cardan input joint) solved the issues for me. I was very pleased. However, this week I regeared to 4.56 gears and now the shaft is expected to spin a LOT faster to achieve a desired speed. And with that, I'm hitting the critical speed limitations of the shaft and it vibrates like hell over 50mph. I removed it and put my original two piece shaft back on and I have take off vibrations but the high speed vibrations are gone.

So now I'm back to square 1....I have to figure something out. The single piece steel shaft is too long and won't spin fast enough without acting like a jump rope. The two piece shaft introduces violent vibrations while starting off quickly from a stop.

Questions
Does anyone make a single piece shaft (maybe aluminum) that can spin faster but is still ok for offroading shenanigans?
Is it possible to weld on double cardan input joint to the stock two piece drive shaft? My gut feel is this will fix the take off vibrations.

I talked to my local Driveshaft shop about building me a single piece but he couldn't do it based on the diameter of the driveshaft. He could've build me a single piece based off a 1/4 ton pickup's driveshaft but it wouldn't have cleared the transmission tunnel or be ideal for offroad.

When you put your Tom Woods shaft on, did you take your angle measurements to make sure you were still within spec?

 

[italynstylion]

I talked to my local Driveshaft shop about building me a single piece but he couldn't do it based on the diameter of the driveshaft. He could've build me a single piece based off a 1/4 ton pickup's driveshaft but it wouldn't have cleared the transmission tunnel or be ideal for offroad.

When you put your Tom Woods shaft on, did you take your angle measurements to make sure you were still within spec?

Definitely was still within spec by a large margin. My rear shims really help get that pinion pointed at the transfer case so it should be really good.

Exact specs and relevant info on my setup are as follows...

• 33.25" tires (measured)
• 67.5" flange to flange for total shaft length
• 4.56 gearing
• Icon Stage 4 front and rear 3" lift with the dakar leafs

I just called a local drive shaft shop and asked them if they could weld a double cardan input joint into my existing two piece shaft with the double cardan joint just after the carrier bearing. He said he certainly could do it. He is saying they'd weld that on, rebalance the shaft, and mount it and it should be about $430. That's still less than what I have in the single piece shaft from Tom Woods. I'm thinking I would go back to the OEM style carrier bearing during this exercise too. What do you guys think?

 

[RichardB23]

Definitely was still within spec by a large margin. My rear shims really help get that pinion pointed at the transfer case so it should be really good.

Exact specs and relevant info on my setup are as follows...

• 33.25" tires (measured)
• 67.5" flange to flange for total shaft length
• 4.56 gearing
• Icon Stage 4 front and rear 3" lift with the dakar leafs

I just called a local drive shaft shop and asked them if they could weld a double cardan input joint into my existing two piece shaft with the double cardan joint just after the carrier bearing. He said he certainly could do it. He is saying they'd weld that on, rebalance the shaft, and mount it and it should be about $430. That's still less than what I have in the single piece shaft from Tom Woods. I'm thinking I would go back to the OEM style carrier bearing during this exercise too. What do you guys think?

whatever fuckin works at this point. im on my 2nd drive shaft which i thought would fix the issue but im waiting to see solution that works. im on 3" lift bilstein 5100's and toytec an AAL with 265's. the 4.10's will be in hopefully by the end of april and im hoping to go back to 285's by the end of summer.

 

[Silverback]

I'm on 285/75-17's (34's) with Dakars with the extra leaf out back. TW one piece (new one I bought recently.. have 2 others as a spare).. no vibrations. One of my spares needs to be rebuilt as I know it has vibrations.

Eidt.. I also have 4.56 gears and with the old vibrating shaft I noticed it about 70 mph... new shaft I've had up to 85 or a little more and no vibs.

Have you looked at your tires?

 

[taco4x4rar]

Dumb question but have you checked the alignment of the joints? If they are even slightly out of phase either one spline off on the slip yoke or slightly off on the weld it will vibrate at varying speeds. Take off vibe is almost guaranteed to be axle wrap but there's no real way to fix this with leaf springs traction bar would help but without having the mounting point in the same plane as the driveshaft it will still move some. As for the shims, I'm not a big fan would prefer to cut and turn the perches, the trick is you need to be measuring your angles with the drive train under load which is mostly trial and error.

 

[italynstylion]

I'm on 285/75-17's (34's) with Dakars with the extra leaf out back. TW one piece (new one I bought recently.. have 2 others as a spare).. no vibrations. One of my spares needs to be rebuilt as I know it has vibrations.

Eidt.. I also have 4.56 gears and with the old vibrating shaft I noticed it about 70 mph... new shaft I've had up to 85 or a little more and no vibs.

Have you looked at your tires?

Tires are about a month old. Plus, as stated in the previous posts, the single piece shaft vibrates at nearly highway speeds and the dual piece shaft vibrates only on take off. So it's definitely not the tires.

And what do you mean by "the extra leaf" when you referred to the Dakars? Like, you added another leaf to the Dakars or they came that way? We didn't remove anything from mine so am I to assume I have the same thing as yours?

Dumb question but have you checked the alignment of the joints? If they are even slightly out of phase either one spline off on the slip yoke or slightly off on the weld it will vibrate at varying speeds. Take off vibe is almost guaranteed to be axle wrap but there's no real way to fix this with leaf springs traction bar would help but without having the mounting point in the same plane as the driveshaft it will still move some. As for the shims, I'm not a big fan would prefer to cut and turn the perches, the trick is you need to be measuring your angles with the drive train under load which is mostly trial and error.

Honestly, I've been wondering if Zech and I put the damn thing back together one spline off. I remember thinking to myself the markings were enough to get us close (within 30 degrees or so) but the multi spline rear shaft where the joint attaches isn't immediately obvious how to get it back together proper. I'd say I'm 75% sure we did it right but it still wouldn't surprise me if it was 1 tooth off in either direction. How can I be sure it is proper?

What exactly is axle wrap? I've heard the term but don't know that I fully understand what it is really.

 

[italynstylion]

Ok, after doing some reading and watching some videos I'm officially well versed on axle wrap and I can see exactly why it's a horrible horrible thing. Makes perfect sense. I'll be mounting up the GoPro soon so I can get a video of the vibes and so we can see the pinion angle and if it changes.