Centering Front Axle

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C

coues7

10 Year
Joined
Sep 8, 2013
Threads
22
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140
Location
Middle of Nowhere Wyoming
1997 LX450. I recently swapped from Dobinson C59-146VT & 147VT's to C97-145VTB and C97-144VTB. I'm having front driveline vibes. I have the DeltaVS 3L arms. After talking with Rich (LandTank), I bought the double cardan front driveline. I'm still having bad vibrations. He suggested I make sure I "center the axle". So I purchased a Dobinson adjustable front Panhard bar. What I did was drop plumb bobs off the front and rear of the frame from frame centerline. I then got a measurement from the centerline of the vehicle to the center of the transfer case output flange. I measured 6-1/4". I then used the adjustable front Panhard bar to make sure the input flange of the front axle and the output of the transfer case were perfectly in alignment. The tire on the drivers side sticks out more than on the passenger side. Is this how Toyota centered these from factory or is it center of axle to center of frame? My vibrations still aren't fixed....but we can discuss that more once we figure out how the axle is supposed to be centered.

Thanks in advance.
 
I really doubt that’s the vibe problem.
Lock your center diff remove the front drive shaft and go for a spin. If the Vibs stops then you know it’s the front DS.
To center the front axle I measure from the frame to the front control arm mounts. Left frame to right mount and vice versa.
 
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It could also be the rear. Do what @Broski said but reinstall the front and then remove the rear drive shaft. Go for a drive. Vibs after a suspension change point to drive line. It could be rear flange angles.
 
coues7 said:
I recentered the axle last night. I removed the front driveline and drove it. It is absolutely smooth....no vibrations.
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Wow you ,Must have been way off To cause a dble cardon shaft to vibrate.
 
I need to be clearer. Even with the axle centered, the original driveshaft was vibrating post spring swap (taller ones). The double cardan was supposed to be the fix. It did not fix the issue....so then I aligned the front axle input flange with the transfer case output shaft. Vibration got better, but still not fixed. That's what started this post. I'm still having vibration issues and it is only up front.
 
coues7 said:
I recentered the axle last night. I removed the front driveline and drove it. It is absolutely smooth....no vibrations.
Click to expand...
Take it to a tire shop and get your caster numbers.

How much lift did those spring give you

On flat level ground measure to the center of both the bolts on the panhard figure the difference then subtract 1 inch that your lift

Are your delta arms used ?
 
Broski said:
Take it to a tire shop and get your caster numbers.

How much lift did those spring give you

On flat level ground measure to the center of both the bolts on the panhard figure the difference then subtract 1 inch that your lift

Are your delta arms used ?
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Broski, yes I have the DeltaVS 3L arms. Are you suggesting I measure like Dave (DeltaVS) suggests? I can do that.
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If you've got a DC front shaft, the pinion on the front diff needs to point directly at the TC output flange. If you were fine with the old springs and the DVS3's then got new springs with a higher lift, you likely will find you need more caster correction than the DVS3's are providing. Take a look at the front DS angle in relation to the diff and TC flanges. You might want to hop on Tom Woods website and watch some of their vids that explain these angles for DC shafts.

For reference, I'm running your old VT-146 springs up front coupled with DVS 4's and a Landtank DC shaft. I sit at 23.9" up front (no flares) and my diff flange is correct in relation to the TC flange. If I was on the VT-144's with more lift, I would need to change my DVS arms for more correction.
 
Front diff flange angle: 81.6°
TC output flange angle: 87.8°
I don't remember fully when I took the angle measurement yesterday but I thought the driveline angle was 2.4°.....don't latch onto that number too hard becasue I could be off.
 
coues7 said:
I was afraid someone was going to say that.....sadly mine is the year that requires the axles to be machined for the c-clip.
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I "machined" my front axles for the c clip using a cut off wheel and an angle grinder. But, this was done before I had coffee so that the jitters didn't mess me up :rofl: . On a serious note, if you're tired of chasing front driveline vibes, going part time is a very expensive band aid with other benefits, mainly doing donuts on dirt. It did nothing for mpg, but doing a rear dig to level out the rig for a level sleeping arrangement was also super cool. :hillbilly:I went part time right after purchasing the 80 before part time was cool, and haven't looked back since. So, this was back in 2005/2006 time frame.
 
Is your original driveshaft in phase?

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