Driveline growl at slack throttle, SOLVED 11/12 update (1 Viewer)

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After the re-gear to 4.88's the u-joints died at around a 100 miles (they had black paint on them so I figured they were original 260K miles). I changed the u-joints this weekend and everything was happy, till this afternoon and the growl is back. Its sounds and feels exactly like when the u-joints went out last week.

I haven't changed the lift, tis been on there for 3 years.
Any idea why the deeper gears would cause the u-joints to die?

I can't just drop new u-joints in it, The Yota joints are $$$$ first I need to figure out what is killing them.
Any ideas what to look at?
 
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Basic questions first, no offence if you've already been there

Did you use Toyota uni joints?

Were they rotating freely all directions after you fitted them to yokes?
Did you add grease? What sort? How much?

It's possibly to distort the yoke and cause them to not rotate freely.

It's also possible you need different thickness C-clips so the caps fit correctly in the yoke without causing the spider/cross piece to bind. Toyota make several thickness C clips.
I've had to swap them out before, and have carefully sanded then down in pairs to a thickness that worked

Any binding will cause premature wear.
 
Basic questions first, no offence if you've already been there

Did you use Toyota uni joints?
Yes, and the local stealership was right proud of them too.
Were they rotating freely all directions after you fitted them to yokes?
Yes, very smooth. Went around each yoke with a brass knocker to settle the cups and the yokes after assembly.
Did you add grease? What sort? How much?
Lucas Red N' Tacky, added enough to replace the packing grease they were shipped with, then wiped the excess off the outside.
It's possibly to distort the yoke and cause them to not rotate freely.

It's also possible you need different thickness C-clips so the caps fit correctly in the yoke without causing the spider/cross piece to bind. Toyota make several thickness C clips.
I've had to swap them out before, and have carefully sanded then down in pairs to a thickness that worked
Good to know, but the new clips fit fine.
Any binding will cause premature wear.
 
Just for grins, go and check the preload on the front wheel bearings. Specifically that the nut+washer/locknut are appropriately tight.

cheers,
george.
 
The caster that your radius arms provide is probably making your front U-joints unhappy. You should look into a double cardan front driveshaft. A double cardan will likely make your slack throttle growling go away. No idea why a regear would cause joints to fail sooner other than the fact that your shafts are spinning a little faster with 4:88's than they were with 4:11's. You were probably on the ragged edge of needing a DC front shaft before the regear and the extra rpm's are exacerbating the problem. Tom Wood or Tattons have what you need.
 
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Dead certain it's u-joints? As in, you've checked 'em and there's play in one?
 
Are the outputs tights on your TC?
 
Tom Wood or Tattons have what you need.
Landtank is the route I took.

 
Landtank is the route I took.

Super nice DC shaft. Pricey at $715, but nice. Tattons or Tom Woods run about $450, but use Spicer joints and I don't believe the DC joint is rebuildable in those.
 
If the "growl" is only present in that sweet spot between acceleration and deceleration at highway speeds, then I would look at worn slip yokes rather than universal joints. There should be zero, none, nada rotational play between the halves of the shafts. Any play in the yokes will allow the 2 halves to "flog" around at speed with no load.
 
Super nice DC shaft. Pricey at $715, but nice. Tattons or Tom Woods run about $450, but use Spicer joints and I don't believe the DC joint is rebuildable in those.
I commissioned a new DC shaft from a reputable local to me shop (JE Reel) with genuine Matsuba joints, but still had noise at hwy speeds. I *think* they use Neapco shafts.

I went back to my trusty old landtank DC shaft with the hard to source Koyo joints --> back to zero noise/vibes. The only reason why I took a flyer on JE Reel is I dented the sleeve as I wasn't running a front sway bar drop bracket, and at the time, landtank's DC wasn't available.

My OCD got me to click on landtank's all new DC shaft so I'll be installing it here soon along with a new Toyota rear shaft due to said OCD.

I want no part of any Spicer joints, China+domestic parts for the front & rear shafts on my rig. I cannot stand fettling with superfluous drivetrain noise/vibes.
 
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Are the outputs tights on your TC?
They were properly torqued last weekend. I'll crawl under it and confirm they are tight when I pull the DS looking for bad bearings in the cups.
 
If the "growl" is only present in that sweet spot between acceleration and deceleration at highway speeds, then I would look at worn slip yokes rather than universal joints. There should be zero, none, nada rotational play between the halves of the shafts. Any play in the yokes will allow the 2 halves to "flog" around at speed with no load.
Front is dead smooth and tight.
Rear has a CH of radial tick tock, I noticed that Saturday when I changed the U-joints. I'll give the rear slip yoke a spot of grease tonight before I pull it down and see if the growl goes away or reduces.
 
Typically, the growl between acc and dec is going to be pinion related or transfer case output shaft bearing related. I know you recently had a gear change, you may want to check pinion clearances first.

If the noise was present prior to the gear change, then I would look at the transfer case.
 
If the "growl" is only present in that sweet spot between acceleration and deceleration at highway speeds, then I would look at worn slip yokes rather than universal joints. There should be zero, none, nada rotational play between the halves of the shafts. Any play in the yokes will allow the 2 halves to "flog" around at speed with no load.
could one check this on the vehicle by grabbing both sides of the drive shaft on either side of the yoke, and trying to rattle it around?
 
Typically, the growl between acc and dec is going to be pinion related or transfer case output shaft bearing related. I know you recently had a gear change, you may want to check pinion clearances first.

If the noise was present prior to the gear change, then I would look at the transfer case.
No noise before gear change.
I'm dreading that its pinion related, but that's because I REALLY don't want to go back in that rear 3rd.
Changing the universal joints out made the noise go away for about 200 miles.
I know there's a little bit of play in the rear slip yoke, its tactile and visible.
 
could one check this on the vehicle by grabbing both sides of the drive shaft on either side of the yoke, and trying to rattle it around?
Yes. its easier if you lift a wheel and put the T-Case in N.
 
My OCD got me to click on landtank's all new DC shaft so I'll be installing it here soon along with a new Toyota rear shaft due to said OCD.
I'm interested to see how this goes. I have replaced both my shafts with DC Tom Woods. I have a recurring problem in the rear where my TC output shaft/bearing keeps becoming loose and I have no idea why, this obviously leads to vibrations (mine does NOT have a nut to tighten). I thought something might be wrong with the housing so I just replaced the entire rear housing and all components, fixed it for a minute but it's coming back slowly but surely! :( Maybe I need one of these in the rear instead of Tom Woods?
 
I'm interested to see how this goes. I have replaced both my shafts with DC Tom Woods. I have a recurring problem in the rear where my TC output shaft/bearing keeps becoming loose and I have no idea why, this obviously leads to vibrations (mine does NOT have a nut to tighten). I thought something might be wrong with the housing so I just replaced the entire rear housing and all components, fixed it for a minute but it's coming back slowly but surely! :( Maybe I need one of these in the rear instead of Tom Woods?
It’s such a black hole the whole driveline vibes/noises and sht given variables from rig to rig.

Not sure he even makes one for the rear. I just posted up pics for the front landtank DC shaft FWIW.
 
could one check this on the vehicle by grabbing both sides of the drive shaft on either side of the yoke, and trying to rattle it around?
As long as there's no load on the driveline, you'll be able to feel it.
 

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