Driveline vibration after U-joint renewal (1 Viewer)

[BonS]

I just replaced my rear drive shaft U-joints and they are now smooth are move easily. The splines were marked and reinstalled in their original orientation. The U-joints are in phase. But now I have a bad vibration.

I should add that I also removed the front drive shaft and greased both the U-joints and the splines. The U-joints were perfectly smooth and tight so I just reinstalled it - in phase - as it was originally.

So, I'm head scratching about the source of the vibration. Question: Does it matter if the front and rear drive shafts are "in phase" together?

 

[ed94r]

Did you use Toyota U joints?

 

[hoser]

Rebalance the driveshafts?

 

[BonS]

Did you use Toyota U joints?

Sadly, no. I tried to source them locally but they are days out. I used Moog. At this point I can only blame them. Or me, if I did something wrong but after going back over everything I can't identify it.

 

[ed94r]

In my limited experience (sample size=1) when I had my DS rebuilt by a local, it did fix the chirping Toyota UJ that had 260K on it. Toyota UJ's were not used in the rebuild. Unfortunately, the "rebuilt" DS did not cure a drive line NVH issue that occurred at 63mph (yes 63, not at 61 or 62 mph) and above. In fact, i think it made it worse. What fixed it all was a shiny new DS from Mr. T for the front and rear that I purchased in a F-it moment. I have a feeling that new DS's will become maintenance items much like CV's in older trucks where owners still care for a silky smooth drive line.

 

[Porter]

In my limited experience (sample size=1) when I had my DS rebuilt by a local, it did fix the chirping Toyota UJ that had 260K on it. Toyota UJ's were not used in the rebuild. Unfortunately, the "rebuilt" DS did not cure a drive line NVH issue that occurred at 63mph (yes 63, not at 61 or 62 mph) and above. In fact, i think it made it worse. What fixed it all was a shiny new DS from Mr. T for the front and rear that I purchased in a F-it moment. I have a feeling that new DS's will become maintenance items much like CV's in older trucks where owners still care for a silky smooth drive line.

same. had shop install Toyota ujoints I purchased, as I hacked it in my attempt. Was not satisfied in driveline feel after this install. New Toyota shafts solved the problem.
At 400k, heck, who can complain that the rig wants new shafts. Agreed, just call it a maintenance item and don't sweat it. And furthermore, don't put anything Moog on your rig, if you plan on keeping it more than six months. smh.

 

[Bisho]

same. had shop install Toyota ujoints I purchased, as I hacked it in my attempt. Was not satisfied in driveline feel after this install. New Toyota shafts solved the problem.
At 400k, heck, who can complain that the rig wants new shafts. Agreed, just call it a maintenance item and don't sweat it. And furthermore, don't put anything Moog on your rig, if you plan on keeping it more than six months. smh.

Moog used to be premier aftermarket, but it’s definitely hit and miss now. In a pinch I bought Moog LCA bushings a few years ago, and they showed up with Toyota part numbers.

 

[BonS]

Rebalance the driveshafts?

That may be next. If I'm going to do that then I'll replace the aftermarket spiders with OEM first.

 

[BonS]

Being frustrated I ordered a $100 Chinese driveshaft from Amazon. It arrived today. What a piece of cr*p! It can't be lubricated, doesn't have balance weights, and half the U-joints are loose and half are way too tight. Back it goes. I gave up and have ordered a new OEM driveshaft from Bell Lexus. Saved about a hundred bucks from their usual discounted price, no sales tax, free shipping, and OEM! Yeah, I know, I should have done this in the first place. Lesson learned - again.

 

[hoser]

I once had vibrations on deceleration/coasting. I changed the u-joints (OE) in the driveshaft and the vibrations became worse. The slack in the U-joints was masking the fact the driveshaft was unbalanced. Balanced the driveshaft and all was smooth.

 

[BonS]

I installed a new OEM rear driveshaft today and it's smooth as silk. I carefully inspected the old driveshaft with the Moog replacement u-joints and found that one of the u-joints spiders has side-to-side play within one of the endcaps. The other u-joints feel great and are without end play. That said, the loose one has its endcaps pressed in flush to the yoke and the retaining clips are in place. I'm thinking that this is the culprit of the driveshaft imbalance. Simply pressing in the endcaps will eliminate the endplay but may well leave the end of the drive line off center resulting in continuing vibrations. Thoughts??