Advice on Driveshaft R&R

[cc93cruiser]

I have been trying to troubleshoot a grr sound coming from what I thought was my front driveshaft, but still have not found the culprit. The grrr started after I took apart both my front and rear driveshafts to clean and repack fresh grease in the inner splines. I then installed new toyota U-joints in both driveshafts.. Well, after installing everything back together and taking out for a test drive, I started to get a grr sound from 65-70mph only. The noise was coming from the front end, so right away I took the front driveshaft off and took it to a driveshaft shop to get it fully balanced and make sure everything was put back together correctly. I drove the car for about 1 week with the driveshaft off, and the grr noise was completely gone... Eureka! I knew I had found the problem. Wrong! After getting the DS back from the shop, I noticed that the driveshaft was installed in phase instead of out phase like everyone here says the front DS should be installed. The guy in the shop told me that DS is ready to run, completely balanced. So I installed the DS back in the truck, and the grrr is back again... Now I am thinking 2 things, either the grr is back because the front DS was put back (by shop)-in phase, or the rear driveshaft is the one that needs to be balanced and checked..? What do you guys think? I am going to pull the rear driveshaft out tomorrow and drive to see if the grrr is gone.... Anyone have any advice, maybe take the front DS apart and install back out phase?

 

[landtank]

you have a 4" lift so the front shaft should be a DC shaft and it should be in phase. It's the stock front shaft that is run out of phase.

I've replaced something like 4 rear shafts now for vibrations like you mentioned. A brand new rear shaft from Toyota is something like $385.00. Start adding up u-joints and balancing and it quickly becomes a viable option.

On the shafts that were bad they were worn at the slip yoke.

 

[cc93cruiser]

Rick, I know that I should be running a DC FR DS, but I am running slee bushings for my caster correction(minimal caster correction) and I never had this problem before I took these damn driveshafts apart.. Therefore, I have stuck with my stock toyota DS.. I am trying to deal with these stock driveshafts first, if I need to get the DC, then I guess I gots to break bread then.

 

[landtank]

Sorry, I made an assumption there. Well the front shaft should be out of phase and to correct this you need to rotate the yoke and have it re balanced. But you could just try and rotate it and see if it helps.

Check the slip yoke on the rear shaft for play. As I posted earlier I've found a few that were bad and the cheapest option is a new one from Toyota.

 

[cc93cruiser]

Sorry, I made an assumption there. Well the front shaft should be out of phase and to correct this you need to rotate the yoke and have it re balanced. But you could just try and rotate it and see if it helps.

Check the slip yoke on the rear shaft for play. As I posted earlier I've found a few that were bad and the cheapest option is a new one from Toyota.

Will do.. I am taking the rear driveshaft off today and going to be driving it to see if the grr is still there.. If it is, then I know it is the front DS. As mentioned before, the grr totally went away with front DS pulled... Thanks again.

 

[cc93cruiser]

Took the rear driveshaft out this morning and went for a ride, the grr is still there, although I noticed it was more of a faint grr... Still there though. It has to be the front DS. I am going to take the front driveshaft off for the 20 millionth time and pput in back outphase...If this does not cure the problem, I will have to call Christo up tom for a DC DS... Will report back.

 

[cc93cruiser]

Hey guys, I am leaning towards a DC fr DS. My Fender to center of hub measurement is right at 23.5" (that's with Slee 4" springs) but I do have minimal caster correction, Slee bushings.. I can post up pics of the front pinion angle, can anyone help... Should I go for the DC driveshaft and get a little more caster correction? Thoughts?

 

[Nay]

You need to measure your front driveshaft axle end u-joint operating angle. Do you know how to do this? A picture probably won't help if the angles are within 2 degrees.

I had Slee blues align a DC shaft nicely at a bit less lift than you have - my guess is you will need more correction to align for the DC, but plates may be too much depending on your choice.

I have a zero degree axle end operating angle on my DC by using an OME bushing in the rear axle mount to reduce caster after installing plates as the plates left the DC 3 degrees down in operating angle. Caster feel is outstanding on 37's (my wife drove back from Moab for 4 hours commenting that "it drives like a dream at high speed"), but I haven't spec'd it yet. So you could have Landtank do some plates with pilot holes that aren't max caster correction for that lift height.

I also had a spare rear driveshaft I had installed because mine had sticky splines, and turns out the splines are bad on the spare so I was getting a grumble there as well on decel that was evident once I fixed the front angles.

Anyway, I initially found that Slee blues were just enough to make the stock shaft vibrate on decel, which is why I went to a DC shaft. I know a lot of people run max caster corrected 4" lifts on a stock front shaft - there is no way it isn't binding with the amount of unequal angle, whether you are sensitive to it or not (I am, personally), so for me a DC is a preferred solution and I was willing to mess with mine to get it there.

Good luck.

 

[Leroy]

i'm putting in a new Toyota rear driveshaft todday. Do i need to grease anything or is it good to go?

 

[MyCrush]

Just 2weeks ago I had perhaps that same noise from the front...trial and error proved to be the front propeller shaft needing replacing.
My lift is NOT the same..2.5OME heavy.

FWIW

Good Luck