Drive Shaft question need info (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Threads
159
Messages
1,463
Location
PHX AZ
Place Paint marks on the flange yokes and the differential. case flanges so you can install the shafts back in the same manner.

So how important is this? What happens if you don't bolt the flanges backup the way they came off? Do I have to take my truck to the dealership in order to have them figure out how the drive shaft originally bolted to the differential and transfercase?

I really need advice about this.
 
I've never marked the flanges on the truck before.

The driveshaft is the key piece that must be balanced, so if you're not taking it to a shop for a high speed balance, make sure you mark all 4 pieces so that you put them back together correctly (assuming you are replacing the U joints).
 
Recommendation: Go to a shop specializing in drive shafts. Don't waste your time (and money) at the dealership since they will do the same thing. Paint marks are important; also note how the universals are mounted- 90 degrees off from each other, not in line.
Had mine done recently, and it made a big difference in the ride.
:cheers:Ned
 
The only important part is the phasing in the drive shaft itself.
The relationship between the flanges on the T-case and differentials is irrelevant.

Can't remember off the top of my head which is which, but one shaft is supposed have the yokes 90 degrees out of phase, the other is in phase.
 
X2 on a real driveline shop. I paid $20 per shaft to have new U-joints installed and the completed shaft balanced and painted. Well worth saving the hassles for me.

Front shaft is out-of-phase (shaft yokes are 90 off)
Rear shaft is in-phase (shaft yokes are parallel)
 
Place Paint marks on the flange yokes and the differential. case flanges so you can install the shafts back in the same manner.

So how important is this? What happens if you don't bolt the flanges backup the way they came off? Do I have to take my truck to the dealership in order to have them figure out how the drive shaft originally bolted to the differential and transfercase?

I really need advice about this.


It's a matter of balance. If your rig is running smooth and there are no vibrations thru the range of driving speeds, then you want to have the driveline put back in the truck in the same position you took it out.

Also note the front shaft on the 80 has the spline yoke 90deg out of phase with the rear yoke. Unusual for a driveline, but I checked with Toyota on this.

If you took them out without marking them then just put them back in after service at a good driveline shop, and see how it goes. I like to use some blue loctite on the flange bolts but this is optional.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Basically my big concern is that what I have done is causing a massive vibe in the drive train at 80mph and higher, actually it starts at like 77 mph but at 80 you can really feel it. I would like to note that the front shaft was never apart. I just the po replaced it him self before I bought it. The paint mark on the yoke and shaft are lined up so I don't think thats an issue. My concern is how bad can not marking the flanges be before you remove the shaft? If the entire shaft is going to stay together is it still bad that the flanges didn't get marked. So not only am I worried that the po did not mark anything when he bolted it back on but I am guilty of not marking the front flange when I unbolted the shat from the front diff when I dropped the front diff to reseal it. I wouldnt think that it really matters how the shaft bolts to the drive train as long as the marks on the shaft and yoke are aligned. Also I had one other question. Apparently when you need to get your drive shaft reinstalled in the factory position its called clocking. Is this right ? Do I need to tell the local drive shaft shop that I want my front drive shaft clocked back to original factory way it was bolted up?

Thanks again for all the help
 
IIIRC and assuming you did not split the propshafts from the sliding joints then they only go back one of two ways, if you removed the front propshaft then release it again and rotate the entire assembly by turning the wheels for example 180 degrees then bolt it back together.

Anything that rotates at speed should be marked before disasassembly inc road wheels if balanced on the car.

regards

Dave
 
I certainly don't know anything first-hand about balancing various bits and pieces, but I'm skeptical that the alignment between the drive flanges and the shaft are that meaningful. I've never paid attention to that alignment, and my drive shafts have been off more than a few times. Maybe I've just been lucky and they've bolted back up exactly as they came off :D

I guess you could try pulling the shaft, spin it 180 degrees and remount it.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Basically my big concern is that what I have done is causing a massive vibe in the drive train at 80mph and higher, actually it starts at like 77 mph but at 80 you can really feel it. I would like to note that the front shaft was never apart. I just the po replaced it him self before I bought it. The paint mark on the yoke and shaft are lined up so I don't think thats an issue. My concern is how bad can not marking the flanges be before you remove the shaft? If the entire shaft is going to stay together is it still bad that the flanges didn't get marked. So not only am I worried that the po did not mark anything when he bolted it back on but I am guilty of not marking the front flange when I unbolted the shat from the front diff when I dropped the front diff to reseal it. I wouldnt think that it really matters how the shaft bolts to the drive train as long as the marks on the shaft and yoke are aligned. Also I had one other question. Apparently when you need to get your drive shaft reinstalled in the factory position its called clocking. Is this right ? Do I need to tell the local drive shaft shop that I want my front drive shaft clocked back to original factory way it was bolted up?

Thanks again for all the help

I don't know how important it is to have the spline yoke 90deg out on the front shaft. I'm sure plenty of people are driving around with them in phase.

My own 70+ MPH vibration problem was not eliminated until I replaced the rear rotors.
 
Place Paint marks on the flange yokes and the differential. case flanges so you can install the shafts back in the same manner.

So how important is this? What happens if you don't bolt the flanges backup the way they came off? Do I have to take my truck to the dealership in order to have them figure out how the drive shaft originally bolted to the differential and transfercase?

I really need advice about this.


If you're worried about putting a shaft together w/o marks, or you lost yours... You've only got a 50/50 chance of putting it in wrong...

IF there is any vibs, just mark what you have and do it again. But this time DO NOT line the marks up:D


I just did one, and w/o thinking I was cleaning it off...

Thankfully, when I shot a little brake parts cleaner on it, the tiny dot I made came out... whew!
 
That is a good point guys. I guess you can only bolt the flanges up 2 ways so its a 50 50 shot. Well I will sort this issue out this weekend. On a side note. Would bad carrier bearings or a bad bearing in the transfercase cause a bad drive line vibe. The vibe feels like it is in the rear of the truck. I know its not my brakes because I have replaced all the components at every wheel. My rear pinion seal is bad so I leak a lot of diff fluid but I top it off every week. My transfercase was low on fluid last time I changed the fluid. Plus the fluid that came out had those little metallic swirls in it which is not great but at 213000 miles I would expect some wear. I should check my transfercase fluid again to see if its low but how the heck does a transfercase leak fluid? There is no obvious sign of leakage so I am wonder if it leaked the fluid in to the transmission? The vibe only happen st about 80 mph and above. So I would think if it was my transfercase it would have a vibe all the time even at lower speeds. Also all my tires are new and balanced and the alignment on the truck is also good.
 
If you're worried about putting a shaft together w/o marks, or you lost yours... You've only got a 50/50 chance of putting it in wrong...

IF there is any vibs, just mark what you have and do it again. But this time DO NOT line the marks up:D


I just did one, and w/o thinking I was cleaning it off...

Thankfully, when I shot a little brake parts cleaner on it, the tiny dot I made came out... whew!

Wot I said in #8?

regards

Dave
 
Dam i just took both mine off and didnt mark them!!! Oh well 50/50 chance is good for me as they arent hard to pull back off.
Dam i love this site!! Everyone is so much more helpful than the aussie forums!!!
 
50/50 is with one...


You've got a 1 in 4 chance of putting that thing back right,
 
Last edited:
Or instead of cleaning everything up i will leave it all dirty and match up the clean marks. : )
 
That is a good point guys. I guess you can only bolt the flanges up 2 ways so its a 50 50 shot. Well I will sort this issue out this weekend. On a side note. Would bad carrier bearings or a bad bearing in the transfercase cause a bad drive line vibe. The vibe feels like it is in the rear of the truck. I know its not my brakes because I have replaced all the components at every wheel. My rear pinion seal is bad so I leak a lot of diff fluid but I top it off every week. My transfercase was low on fluid last time I changed the fluid. Plus the fluid that came out had those little metallic swirls in it which is not great but at 213000 miles I would expect some wear. I should check my transfercase fluid again to see if its low but how the heck does a transfercase leak fluid? There is no obvious sign of leakage so I am wonder if it leaked the fluid in to the transmission? The vibe only happen st about 80 mph and above. So I would think if it was my transfercase it would have a vibe all the time even at lower speeds. Also all my tires are new and balanced and the alignment on the truck is also good.

Hello , im from Kuwait and just about 3 months ago i bought an fzj80 1996 manual gear, for about 2700$ and i faced the same and exact problem which u described for like a month and couldnt find the cause. The problem is: bad car vibration around 50 to 80 mph, but the vibration almost disappear after 90mph & i barely i can feel it. I have changed the engine and transmission mounts which i thought would be the cause but they arent, disconnected the front shaft for the front axles, still didnt go, changed the drive shaft for a used one on junkyard, but still the problem is still there, just yesterday a pro toyota mechanic took a quick look under the car and he said thr transfercase is thr cause change it or fix it , and it is actually leaking some oil, i guess bad bearing of the transfercase might be the cause , or the right alignment of the driveshaft might be another cause which is said here to be 50/50 chance of getting it right, any replay packetstormin would help me really to what did u find was the cause of ur vibration .. i wud really appreciate it . Thanks
 
... any replay packetstormin would help me really to what did u find was the cause of ur vibration .. i wud really appreciate it . Thanks

He solved the Cruiser problem with something called a Rubicon, then traded that for a rover.
 
He solved the Cruiser problem with something called a Rubicon, then traded that for a rover.
Ironically , i used to have a land rover 2006 discovery LR3 and i sold it and swtiched to the fzj80 land cruiser which is more reliable than the LR3
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom