Tacoma Rear DC Shaft for FZJ80 Front - Length?

[Nay]

I've done the search and am actitvely hunting down the rear DC section of the Tacoma xtra cab 2 piece rear driveshaft as a bolt in for the 80 front. My question is length - one of the articles references a 30.5" length for the 80, but my flange to flange is 31 3/4" and I am hoping that is enough to avoid the shortening exercise. I can get it done at a local shop, just looking at total project budget including Taco driveshaft, shortening/balancing if needed, factory rubber replacing OME CC bushings in the arms, and "washer mod". I am thinking the whole thing may be doable for about $300 and I'll have some stuff to sell afterwards (stock driveshaft & OME CC bushings). $300 is about the cost of just a new custom DC driveshaft.

So if any of you measured, would appreciate the length.

Nay

 

[instigator]

yeah i though about this too, it might be way cheaper that $300.

 

[clownmidget]

Nay, I did this and regretted it. I found a "good" rear drive shaft for $75. The local shop I used re-tubed it to the length I wanted and put in new u-joints, then balanced it...for $200. Of course this involved quite a bit of leg work on my end to find an acceptable driveshaft and then I had to deal with transporting it to my driveshaft shop and picking it up. And it took a few days to get the driveshaft and then a couple more for the custom work at the shop. Bottom line in my experience, I would have been a whole lot happier if I would have just picked up the phone and called Christo and given him a credit card number and sat back and waited until the exact thing I needed showed up on my step. Then I could have casually installed it with no hassles while enjoying a beer.

BTW, the "exact" length you'll need will be determined by your set up. I believe I was told to park my truck on nice flat pavement with a typical load and measure from the xfer output flange to the diff flange. The driveshaft shop will know what to do with that measurement if they're worth doing business with. I also called Slee and asked him how long his were for the 6" lift springs. My measurements ended up within 1/2" of what he sold. For me, I'd have to get the used shaft for free and be on a really good basis with the driveshaft shop in order to get a better deal. Good luck though

 

[Montana Cruiser]

I just did this last week, so here's what I did for reference.

After talking with my guy at the local driveline shop, I sourced a 2000 Tacoma Pre-Runner shaft. He stated that there are other Tacoma shafts with the DC joint, but the Pre-Runner DC joint was actually a "nicer" joint. In any case, I figured I would try to get a Pre-Runner and if not, an extra cab or double cab shaft. I found the Pre-Runner for $125 off a truck with 40k on it, had it redone and balanced for about $85. Fully compressed it measures 30.5" flange to flange layed out flat. I'm running heavies with a 30mm spacer and it seems to fit well, but I have yet to drive around with it as I still need to add plates for castor correction. Mine was a shade over $200, so the savings was worth the hassle for me.

Hope this helps. - Nate

 

[Nay]

Nay, I did this and regretted it. I found a "good" rear drive shaft for $75. The local shop I used re-tubed it to the length I wanted and put in new u-joints, then balanced it...for $200. Of course this involved quite a bit of leg work on my end to find an acceptable driveshaft and then I had to deal with transporting it to my driveshaft shop and picking it up. And it took a few days to get the driveshaft and then a couple more for the custom work at the shop. Bottom line in my experience, I would have been a whole lot happier if I would have just picked up the phone and called Christo and given him a credit card number and sat back and waited until the exact thing I needed showed up on my step. Then I could have casually installed it with no hassles while enjoying a beer.

BTW, the "exact" length you'll need will be determined by your set up. I believe I was told to park my truck on nice flat pavement with a typical load and measure from the xfer output flange to the diff flange. The driveshaft shop will know what to do with that measurement if they're worth doing business with. I also called Slee and asked him how long his were for the 6" lift springs. My measurements ended up within 1/2" of what he sold. For me, I'd have to get the used shaft for free and be on a really good basis with the driveshaft shop in order to get a better deal. Good luck though

That's what I am toying with - I have an excellent local driveline shop that could build me a DC shaft for around $300. Slee would only be about $80 more plus shipping, so not a huge deal, but I like having a truly local shop if something doesn't work right - a direct relationship for my driveline needs is always something I have maintained.

I have to agree that it is probably not worth it since a brand new driveshaft has new joints, and there is value in that. Best case I could cut about $150 off of a new shaft and have old u-joints. Probably no corners worth cutting here...

Nay

 

[Nay]

I just did this last week, so here's what I did for reference.

After talking with my guy at the local driveline shop, I sourced a 2000 Tacoma Pre-Runner shaft. He stated that there are other Tacoma shafts with the DC joint, but the Pre-Runner DC joint was actually a "nicer" joint. In any case, I figured I would try to get a Pre-Runner and if not, an extra cab or double cab shaft. I found the Pre-Runner for $125 off a truck with 40k on it, had it redone and balanced for about $85. Fully compressed it measures 30.5" flange to flange layed out flat. I'm running heavies with a 30mm spacer and it seems to fit well, but I have yet to drive around with it as I still need to add plates for castor correction. Mine was a shade over $200, so the savings was worth the hassle for me.

Hope this helps. - Nate

It does, thanks. Sounds like about $100 saved best case for me so I probably will just go custom. 30.5" sounds right fully compressed since I have about the same lift as you and 31.75" flange to flange leaves 1.25" of spline movement to full compression.

Appreciate all the feedback

Nay

 

[Montana Cruiser]

It does, thanks. Sounds like about $100 saved best case for me so I probably will just go custom. 30.5" sounds right fully compressed since I have about the same lift as you and 31.75" flange to flange leaves 1.25" of spline movement to full compression.

Appreciate all the feedback

Nay

I should add that I DID see another shaft w/ a DC joint from a 99' 4x4 Tacoma and the Pre-Runner joint appeared to be more "stout" but I know nothing about joints so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[OGBeno]

Nate--

Why do you need a DC front shaft?

Just wondering considering you are not "that high" so to speak.

-onur
ATL

 

[Montana Cruiser]

Nate--

Why do you need a DC front shaft?

Just wondering considering you are not "that high" so to speak.

-onur
ATL

I think my truck was on the bottom end of the specified range for Castor from the factory, so once I lifted it, things got worse.

I started with the OME Castor Bushings and I was still at -0.9* on each side, and as you can imagine the truck "wandered" on the highway, especially in high winds. In anticipation of some custom plates, I have ditched the OME's and pressed new OEM bushings and got another castor sweep to see where I am, now at -3.2* Obviously I need a good amount of correction, so the new plates will get me the needed correction AND line me up for the DC shaft.

I know some people are fine at this height with off the shelf stuff, but it's not the case here ..... that being said, what is tolerable to people as far as on road handling varies greatly I suspect.

 

[Nay]

I'll chime in with the same experience. OME 2.5 is fairly low in caster even with the CC bushings. You go up another 1.5" with FOR springs or OME heavy plus spacers and you are out of spec.

Now, this is liveable from my perspective when your focus is offroad usage, but you are going to spend a lot more effort driving on long trips and at some point caster correction with a DC shaft is a good spend, and this post is about the way to do that cheaply as possible:

1) Tacoma rear shaft - $75-$100
2) Shorten and reblance - $75-$100 (assumes u-joints are in good shape)
3) "Washer mod" to rotate pinion - $60 (assumes you have access to a fab shop, close to free if you can do it yourself)
4) New rubber for the factory arms - $100???

Total = $300 - $350

Less sale of CC busings and factory driveshaft ~$150

Net cost could be as low as $150 for corrected caster with a DC shaft and you have new rubber bushings. The issue is whether those Tacoma joints are still good, and your time is worth money and you are going to put probably 6-8 total hours into this. I do favor the washer mod over caster plates, because you will set driveline angle exactly to your lift for the DC shaft - plates are not adjustable although probably close enough at 3.5" of lift to be in spec.

Nay

 

[sleeoffroad]

It does, thanks. Sounds like about $100 saved best case for me so I probably will just go custom. 30.5" sounds right fully compressed since I have about the same lift as you and 31.75" flange to flange leaves 1.25" of spline movement to full compression.

Appreciate all the feedback

Nay

FYI driveshaft on the front extend on full compression. The axle moves away from the transfercase.

Also, we have recently gone to a Spicer style double cardan. We had problems with the supplier of the Koyo style double cardan head assemblies. The quality kept on slipping until it was not acceptable anymore. We did a lot of searching and actually came up with a Spicer head assembly that is greasable and bolts to the 80 flanges without an adapter. Quality is better and the shafts run better.

If you can do the shaft with a genuine KOYO head assembly, that is the best, but for that you have to start with a Toyota used or new shaft.

 

[concretejungle]

My 2cent.....

I had a DC shaft built at a local shop. It was $250. I opted to have an entirely new shaft made for me. it has the spicer DC joint that is greaseable like what Christo is using now.

If i had to do it again, i would have taken my stock front shaft to the guy and let him add the DC joint to the stock shaft and been done with it. I had a new one made thinking that i would have a trail spare.

The problem i ran into was that one of the ends of the shaft that bolts to the tcase end wasn't a toyota end. It was another manufacturer and then the shaft shop drilled and ground it to make it fit. I don't like that part of it at all. It never really fits like it should. I did save some money in the long run, but i'm not 100% satisfied.

 

[clownmidget]

Another point in considering the "total" expense - and I'm surprised Christo didn't mention it - is the tube wall thickness. I had mine re-tubed because of this to a thicker walled tubing and I'm pretty sure Slee's are thicker than what came on Toyota's too. The wall thickness on the Toyota oem shafts I've had leave a lot to be desired when it comes to rocks. That's why my shaft build came a lot closer to $300 than what others are calculating.

 

[Nay]

FYI driveshaft on the front extend on full compression. The axle moves away from the transfercase.

Also, we have recently gone to a Spicer style double cardan. We had problems with the supplier of the Koyo style double cardan head assemblies. The quality kept on slipping until it was not acceptable anymore. We did a lot of searching and actually came up with a Spicer head assembly that is greasable and bolts to the 80 flanges without an adapter. Quality is better and the shafts run better.

If you can do the shaft with a genuine KOYO head assembly, that is the best, but for that you have to start with a Toyota used or new shaft.

I was wondering about this - I would have no problems with a Spicer setup as I have had excellent results in the past. The issue of driveshaft extension on full compression is a vote to a custom shaft so you can do a long spline setup.

Thanks for the info.

 

[sleeoffroad]

The movement on the front shaft is very limited.

 

[concretejungle]

The movement on the front shaft is very limited.

Correct. I have typed this up before, but i had a concern about the shaft i had built for me coming apart at full flex. The guy who built it guaranteed me it would not come apart, and to prove it we marked where the slip yoke was while at rest, then took the fork-lift and lifted a front tire. The yoke only slid out about 1/4 inch at full flex. so there was no way that shaft would come apart on the road/trail.

 

[Nay]

The movement on the front shaft is very limited.

It should be practically nil given the shaft is almost the same length as the radius arms and they all move on the same arc. Front shaft can't move much more than radius arm bushing compression allows.

BTW, by "custom" I don't mean you have to go to a shop and have it built. I simply mean a brand new DC driveshaft built for the application.

 

[landtank]

I ended up putting on my new Toyo ATs yesterday. The tires are so smooth that what I thought was a vib free truck isn't by a long shot.

The truck was vib free at one time but when the original DC shaft failed it's been an issue ever since. So it's time for me to find a different solution. I started looking on line for a rear Tacoma shaft but I'm not sure which trucks apply.

Does anyone know the configurations to look for. 4x2, 4x4, pre runner, AT , MT extra cab ..... the list seems to go on and on.

I'm also going to contact Dan and might just go new and have it cut and balanced.

 

[landtank]

I just went through this and thought I'd update this thread with my findings.

First, going with a Tacoma shaft IMO is the only way to go. My truck has never drove so smooth and when I had the shop look over what I had in there I was really disappointed in how it was built.


Sourcing a shaft:

Any drive shaft from an extended frame can be used. So any motor, tranny, 4x2 or 4x4 combination is fine as long as it's an extended cab or double cab. The stock shaft is a two piece job and the only difference is the front extension piece between the configurations and we don't use that.

Also, late model shafts will likely have a damaged Yoke assembly. Since the total value is high on these trucks the ones in the yards have taken one hell of a beating before getting there and the yoke is one of the failure items and a few yards sent me a shaft with out it thinking it was complete. So be sure to ask that the yoke is present if ordering on line.

At some point there was a change in the CV design.

The older design has zirks located on one of the cups for the u-joint and a right angled one inside the joint for the centering section.

I got a 2002 shaft from a 4x4 4 cylinder that the u-joint jirks are located in the center of the spider and the centering section zirk is straight out of the joint. This is a real nice setup for greasing. With the shaft rotated with all three zirks at 10:00 the joint is actually opened up for access. The attached picture shows the three zirks.

Re-working the shaft:

The shaft needs to be shortened and because of the balloon tube used in the factory setup it needs to be re-tubed as well.

The distance from flange to flange fully compressed is 31" and this leaves about an inch expanded when installed.

The shop I used spins the shafts up to 3300 RPM when balancing. My understanding is that most shops only go up to 600 RPMs. The higher the RPMs used during balancing the better the out come.

In the end I actually bought two shafts. I had gotten an older style shaft that has been modified and is the one that I'm currently running. Unsure of how things were going to turn out with the first shaft as it has 110k on it, I found the 2002 shaft during my weekly travels for 100.00 so I picked that up for a spare if needed.

This was a lot of work and took about 6 weeks to get done as the repeated yoke issue wasted some time. But with a good shaft and the right shop, you'll have what I consider the best solution for our truck short of buying a new Tacoma shaft from CDan and modding that at over 600.00 just for the shaft.

 

[OGBeno]

God, look at that rust!

I think you should have sourced a DS from a southwestern state!



Another option might be the rear drive shaft from a Tundra (it has a carrier bearing as well as a double cardan. It is also a much beefier drive shaft (it's pretty huge diameter wise).

-o-