Just finished my OME lift install. Need help diagnosing new vibration (1 Viewer)

[NYFJ62]

Managed to install my OME medium lift a few months back. Took two days but it worked out great, with one exception. I now have a strange vibration that kicks in around 20 mph and goes away around 35-40. It does not seem to correlate to rpm's, but is exacerbated under acceleration. The vibration was present with the old tires as well as the new, balanced ko2's and is still present after the alignment.

My limited knowledge is pointing toward a drive shaft angle change as the cause? Does that theory make any sense? How would one address such an issue?

Anyone else have a similar experience after a standard OME lift?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[FishTown]

You could maybe test that theory by driving with a lot of weight in the back of your truck. It would have to be a pretty significant amount of weight to work though. Or maybe it wouldn't even work. Just the first thought that cropped up in the ol' noggin .

 

[Code Red]

That's a classic description of a u-joint going bad. I would start looking there.

You may need to drop the drive shaft to be sure. I have had them give me the symptoms you describe and still feel tight when they are hooked up, but fall apart in your hands as soon as you took them off the yokes.

 

[zebrabeefj40]

You can remove the rear driveshaft and drive around with the front driveshaft (using 4x4 of course - don't forget to lock the hubs too). If the noise is gone then you might have found the problem - the u-joints need changed in the rear driveshaft.

Nick

 

[OGBeno]

I would recommend you contact whomever sold you the kit. That would make sense to me.

A simple phone call usually works wonders.

 

[Rock40]

2x for the U-joint issue. With your drivetrain in neutral and the wheels sufficiently chocked so you don't get run over...try to shake/wiggle the rear driveshaft at both the output and axle flange to see if there is any obvious play. There should be NONE at the U-joint itself.

 

[roscoFJ73]

x3 on the u joint. It was probably on its way out and a bit of angle finished it off.

 

[NYFJ62]

Thanks everyone. The u-joints themselves seem to be tight, but I do have quite a bit of play in my driveshaft between the transfer case and the diff. Maybe thats where my "clunk" from drive to reverse is coming from. How much play should the shaft have? I hope tightening it up isn't to big a job. Thanks for all the advice fellas.

Going to go ahead and order new u-joints now despite them feeling pretty tight.

 

[EyeCruzr]

When I installed my OME suspension, had the exact same symptoms of drive shaft whining you are having. My rear was a bit higher than I wanted with an extreme stinkbug effect. I removed one leaf from the rear thus lowering and decreasing the angle and whine disappeared.

If you like your current height, you can get rid of the whine by correcting the drive shaft angle with a rear axle 4-6 degree angled shims.

Good Luck.

T

 

[NYFJ62]

Im not getting a whine per say. Rather a vibration that really reverberates throughout the truck between 25 and 35 mph and is more extreme under acceleration. But I do have a stinkbug effect going on. The rear is at least 2 inches higher that the front and this phenomenon didn't happen at all with the stock springs in place. I sure would rather spend a few bucks on shims than $200 per u-joint though.

 

[EyeCruzr]

I guess it was a vibration/whine. My research (3 yrs ago) showed that this phenomenon occurs when the ujoints have been in one position for so long, a small change causes instability especially at small rotations, but goes away in faster rotations.

T

 

[NYFJ62]

Very interesting. So if that is the case, I guess a new set of u joints would be in order for me anyway.

 

[EyeCruzr]

i'd try the cheapest option first! get some shims!

 

[Crimson Cruiser]

Yup. My 60 did the same. 3deg shims and new U-Joints did the trick. FWIW, if its bad you run the risk of damaging your pinion seal pretty quick... among other things.

 

[NYFJ62]

So, I decided to bring the FJ62 to my closest LC specialist shop (K&H Imports near LA) to get their opinion and potentially install new U-joints or shims if neccessary. Just heard back from them and they said that with my lift, my driveshaft is too long and needs to be shortened. Does this make any sense at all to anyone? Seems to me a lift would call for a longer driveshaft length if anything. I'm quite confused. Any thoughts?

While installing the lift I did have trouble getting the axle to seat into both leaf springs properly. Applied a little leverage with a ratchet strap and the pins popped right in place. Could this be the source of my "tight" driveshaft? Not sure why I'd be having this issue with a standard 60 series Dakar lift kit. They were used springs but I don't see why that would matter at all.

PLEASE HELP! I obviously dont want them to shorten my driveshaft if something more simple can be done. FYI, my pinion angle SEEMS to be pretty much parallel to the transfer case.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Don't let them do any of that. Sounds very off. Bring it home and figure it out yourself!

 

[bhk]

Don't let them do any of that. Sounds very off. Bring it home and figure it out yourself!

Yeah, x2 on this. I'm not a suspension expert but doubt that anyone has ever had to modify drive shaft length because of a vanilla OME lift.

When you installed the springs, did you remove the drive shaft or leave it in place? Did you remove the grease zirk to let out any pressure and let the slip joint move easily? Your description of having to use a ratchet strap to get the pins to line up sounds like you might have compressed the grease in the slip joint. That can definitely give the impression of the shaft being too long. Too much grease pressure in the slip joint and the drive shaft can't be removed. Seems like an obvious thing that an LC shop would know to check. If it turns out that there is excessive pressure in the slip joint, the underlying problem may be u-joints that are unhappy with the added compressive stress.

I'd get it home, remove the zirk, unbolt the shaft from the t-case and try to compress it. That should tell you right away if the shaft is too long. U-joints aren't hard to do yourself. If you can install springs, you should be comfortable doing this too.

 

[woytovich]

Did you make sure the driveshafts are aligned properly?

 

[NYFJ62]

Yes bhk, you are correct. I did leave the driveshaft in place when replacing the springs. Didn't touch the thing. Must be grease compression in the slip joint.

 

[NYFJ62]

Woytovich, I'll make sure of it when I pick the truck up. Thanks for the visual!