Front Slee DC driveshaft

[beachboyy]

Quick question. I installed a dc front shaft from Slee when I did my lift. I have been getting a vibration on acceleration for a long time now and chased quite a few different possibilities to fix it (rear shaft new ujoints and balance, rebuild knuckles, wheels possibly bent, etc). The reason I didn’t even think of checking the front driveshaft is that it was less than 2 years old. Turns out the ujoints are shot.

So my question is, how much life are you guys getting out of your front shafts before having to rebuild them? Less than 2 years seems like a short life to me. But maybe it’s not? I have the Slee radius arms so my caster should be correct.

 

[nukegoat]

Did you grease it regularly? U joints when lifted have much shorter lifespans

 

[beachboyy]

Did you grease it regularly? U joints when lifted have much shorter lifespans

Yup I grease them. Probabaly not enough but I do. And I totally understand that I’m not going to get as much life out of them...and that’s fine. Just seemed extremely short life and wanted to compare with others that are running the same thing

 

[nukegoat]

Yup I grease them. Probabaly not enough but I do. And I totally understand that I’m not going to get as much life out of them...and that’s fine. Just seemed extremely short life and wanted to compare with others that are running the same thing

Theyre a wear part. Slee doesnt make them. Improper driveshaft angle will accelerate their demise too

 

[LINUS]

I grease mine every few times I'm under the 80, enough to poo some grease & IIRC Slee stated "grease well" when you got it. I want to say it had a tag hanging off one end to that effect.

I don't DD mine the last year, but I'm sure I've got well over 30K, it's quiet & smooth as day 1.

Slee 4" heavy springs lift, Landtank CC plates.

 

[OverLand Cruisers]

Weird that they wore out so quickly, especially on a DC. Strange.

That is unless you drive about 100K a year....

Did you let Christo know they went bad so quickly?

 

[beachboyy]

Theyre a wear part. Slee doesnt make them. Improper driveshaft angle will accelerate their demise too

That’s kind of what I’m wondering, if my driveline angle is not correct? I have the Slee arms that are made to correct the caster for 6” lift but wond ring if it’s still now enough?

Weird that they wore out so quickly, especially on a DC. Strange.

That is unless you drive about 100K a year....

Did you let Christo know they went bad so quickly?

I have drove maybe 10-12k miles in two years (that’s total not per year). I drive around town and then to the trail (which is also close to home).

I wrote Christo an email but and in no way blamed him for anything, just inquiring about how much life I should be getting out of them and never heard back. I know the company is in the middle of a move and they are probabaly busy. Just a bummer.

 

[nukegoat]

That’s kind of what I’m wondering, if my driveline angle is not correct? I have the Slee arms that are made to correct the caster for 6” lift but wond ring if it’s still now enough?



I have drove maybe 10-12k miles in two years (that’s total not per year). I drive around town and then to the trail (which is also close to home).

I wrote Christo an email but and in no way blamed him for anything, just inquiring about how much life I should be getting out of them and never heard back. I know the company is in the middle of a move and they are probabaly busy. Just a bummer.

The u joint at the diff should have as little misalignment as possible. I dont know what yours is but you can measure it

 

[Landseer]

Have you pulled the front driveshaft to confirm thats whats actually causing the problem?

 

[-Spike-]

My Slee DC shaft died fairly quickly. It got greased way more than a stock shaft needs, but apparently not enough. I have since gone through another DC shaft built with Spicer joints, which failed just as fast. Now I run a modded Tundra dc shaft which has lasted longer than the previous two.

 

[Jgunner]

Could it be clocked wrong?

 

[baldilocks]

@beachboyy Are you saying that all three Ujoints in the shaft wore out? Can you post a photo of the pinion yoke with shaft installed?

 

[beachboyy]

Have you pulled the front driveshaft to confirm thats whats actually causing the problem?

No I haven’t. I don’t have the center diff lock button installed yet (its sitting here). So in low range I can only top out about 30mph with the 5.29s. Is it true you can lock the diff in low, pull the fuse, and then go back to high range and the center diff will stay locked?

Could it be clocked wrong?

Possible but I don’t think so.

@beachboyy Are you saying that all three Ujoints in the shaft wore out? Can you post a photo of the pinion yoke with shaft installed?

Seems to me it’s the single ujoint at the pinion end that’s shot. The dc side does t seem bad (as bad). I can get a shot of it tomorrow.

 

[Landseer]

No I haven’t. I don’t have the center diff lock button installed yet (its sitting here). So in low range I can only top out about 30mph with the 5.29s. Is it true you can lock the diff in low, pull the fuse, and then go back to high range and the center diff will stay locked?

Exactly

 

[sleeoffroad]

I believe we are in email conversation now. I am sorry for the delay, but with the building nearing completion things are a little hectic, but we strive to answer all the emails in a timely manner.

As for the driveshaft, if you haven't removed it, how did you determine it is bad? Visually or does it have a lot of play?

We always suggest removing it and cycle the u-joints trough it's range of motion.

The front is a stock 80 front U-Joint if you need to replace it. When our drives are built, the front U-joint is replaced with a OE equivalent (Matsuaba) joint. Grease intervals are as per Toyota on every oil change.

Our kits are supplied with parts that attempt to put everything in the best possible orientation for the DC shaft to work. Obviously we can't guarantee that on every truck. If the angles are off, it could lead to premature wear on the U-Joints.

I would suggest you remove the shaft and inspect the joints.

Again, sorry if the original email to us was not answered in a timely manner.

 

[amgraham]

No I haven’t. I don’t have the center diff lock button installed yet (its sitting here). So in low range I can only top out about 30mph with the 5.29s. Is it true you can lock the diff in low, pull the fuse, and then go back to high range and the center diff will stay locked?

Honestly, it's almost quicker to go ahead and install the switch if you're going in the stock location. I think it took me all of 10 minutes (4 screws, pop panel off, pop out dummy plug, pop in new switch, unplug jumper, plug in switch, replace panel and screws).

 

[beachboyy]

I believe we are in email conversation now. I am sorry for the delay, but with the building nearing completion things are a little hectic, but we strive to answer all the emails in a timely manner.

As for the driveshaft, if you haven't removed it, how did you determine it is bad? Visually or does it have a lot of play?

We always suggest removing it and cycle the u-joints trough it's range of motion.

The front is a stock 80 front U-Joint if you need to replace it. When our drives are built, the front U-joint is replaced with a OE equivalent (Matsuaba) joint. Grease intervals are as per Toyota on every oil change.

Our kits are supplied with parts that attempt to put everything in the best possible orientation for the DC shaft to work. Obviously we can't guarantee that on every truck. If the angles are off, it could lead to premature wear on the U-Joints.

I would suggest you remove the shaft and inspect the joints.

Again, sorry if the original email to us was not answered in a timely manner.

I appreciate the email back and like i said in the post before i know you guys are slammed and moving and everything. No biggy.

Yes there is quit a bit of play in the front (pinion side) ujoint and that’s how i determines it was bad. I will I stall the CDL this week and pull the shaft to make 100% sure that’s the issue. Thanks for the response.

 

[nukegoat]

I appreciate the email back and like i said in the post before i know you guys are slammed and moving and everything. No biggy.

Yes there is quit a bit of play in the front (pinion side) ujoint and that’s how i determines it was bad. I will I stall the CDL this week and pull the shaft to make 100% sure that’s the issue. Thanks for the response.

Play? Thats usually not how u joints fail. What do you mean?

 

[amgraham]

Play? Thats usually not how u joints fail. What do you mean?

What do you mean? When u joints fail they either get too loose or too tight. Example of "play" (my front joint had enough play to break the cap):

 

[beachboyy]

What do you mean? When u joints fail they either get too loose or too tight. Example of "play" (my front joint had enough play to break the cap):

View attachment 1607063

Yes by “play” I mean the ujoint is getting too loose.