The OFFICIAL clunk/thunk driveshaft thread (3 Viewers)

[RobRed]

"Turn and burn Mav"

I'll fire when I'm god damn good and ready!


I think this clunk is exacerbated by age of the of some of the support components such as control arms etc. I would bet if we refurb the rear end bushings etc it would make the clunk go away for the most part.

 

[bkgee]

I would bet if we refurb the rear end bushings etc it would make the clunk go away for the most part.

This is the basic approach for eliminating a similar clunk from the yota mini trucks... the clunk is a symptom, the root cause is wear and mis-adjustment of a few components... which produces axle wrap and a clunk in the diff housing.

Its possible that replacing rear end bushings etc in the LC will reduce some play, maybe thereby reducing the travel of the slip yolk, maybe thereby reducing the need to grease as often... pure speculation...

 

[RobRed]

Well like most things I do related to this truck, I will experiment. After all this DT header dyno stuff is done I will refresh the rear end and see the effects on the clunk. In the mean time I'm due for my 3500 mile lube.

 

[blkcruiser]

Slip Yoke

A hole of this type, although usually of a smaller diameter, is used by some other manufacturers like Dana Corp to allow for pressure relief in cold weather on some of their driveshafts. In the Dana lubrication manual linked earlier in this thread they recommend covering the hole with a finger tip while lubricating the drive-shaft.

I bet the previous owner drilled that hole after reading a bunch of "scare" threads in the 80s section about how excess lube was going to blow his transmission into the rear of the engine damaging both.





No such thing as too much grease in this system. It's designed to be filled with grease until it purges past the seal. I would look elsewhere for the cause of the vibration.

I have a 2000 land cruiser and got under yesterday and was greasing the slip yoke. I got a some movement out of the rear slip yoke and then noticed the grease started coming out of a hole in the back of the slip yoke. So it's obviously there by design.

 

[Layonnn]

Not sure what this means exactly, but my clunk almost 100% disappears in 4LO going from R-D or D-R.

I have tested this a few times on road and off.

 

[NMuzj100]

I have a 2000 land cruiser and got under yesterday and was greasing the slip yoke. I got a some movement out of the rear slip yoke and then noticed the grease started coming out of a hole in the back of the slip yoke. So it's obviously there by design.

Out of a hole or out of a seam in the yoke plug? A picture would be helpful.

Others have complained of this but usually said the leak point did not look intentional. Some manufacturers do drill relief holes into their driveshafts.

Not sure what this means exactly, but my clunk almost 100% disappears in 4LO going from R-D or D-R.

 

[goped]

I greased the zerk on the rear drive shaft. I thought I got some grease to ooze out the first time. 2 months later, I try to grease the drive shaft and I see the seal like this. What do I do now?

 

[lexi4darin]

Ouch, looks like it's time to take it off the truck and get the whole shaft assembly rebuilt.

 

[NMuzj100]

I greased the zerk on the rear drive shaft. I thought I got some grease to ooze out the first time. 2 months later, I try to grease the drive shaft and I see the seal like this. What do I do now?

In my FSM it looks like the seal is integrated into the dust cover. Dust cover replacement is in the FSM (PR-6) and seems pretty straight forward.

It would be fantastic if you did a complete forensic investigation of the shaft for us with pics so we could find out what causes a malfunctioning seal and settle a long running MUD controversy.

OTOH, you could try and hit it into place with a ball-peen hammer or just drive it. Chances are that the drive shaft will last the life of the truck as is.

Good to know that serious Hydrolock concerns are overblown. In a situation where real internal pressure is generated the seal or end plug will fail first.

 

[goped]

If I had the time, I would attempt to take it apart, but I'm not experienced so I was thinking just taking it to the stealership, I don't know if the gold warranty plan will cover it, but I'm going to try. I'll let you know what they say.

 

[goped]

I will take the LC to the dealer this Friday, anything recommendations in the meantime? I thought about taking to a driveline shop.

 

[NMuzj100]

I will take the LC to the dealer this Friday, anything recommendations in the meantime? I thought about taking to a driveline shop.

Get the part from beno and take it to a drive shaft shop.

Consider changing the U-joints when you have it out ?

 

[goped]

I have a 03 with 93k, haven't done any real off roading yet. Is it good have the u joints changed at this time?.

 

[pfran42]

I have a 03 with 93k, haven't done any real off roading yet. Is it good have the u joints changed at this time?.

What...when your cruiser is just now "broken in"? I read somewhere they were designed to go like 225k with minmal maintenance. Then a whole lot further after a trip to the shop. At 93k, I would make sure the 90k service is done. Get a new water pump if doing the 90k, change fluid in diffs and transfer case, clean throttle body and MAF, replace the O2 sensors up front if you have noticed a drop in MPG, re-torque the driveshaft bolts, grease the driveshafts and u-joints, do a walk-around and check your control arm and swaybar bushings, maybe do the 4 qt tranny semi-flush. I want to say change the sparkplugs but my truck has 95k and I have not done mine yet and I can't remember why.

Btw, most of this can be done in the driveway. I have the mechanical skills of a two year old girl and did everything except the 90k.

- Sent from a very small supercomputer.

 

[goped]

pfran42,
thanks for the info, I got the 90k service which was a nightmare. I wish I could of done the majority of the maintenance myself. Hopefully this driveline seal replacement will go smooth. How much should I be paying for this service. Anyone have any idea?

 

[goped]

Ok guys, I got my rear drive shaft seal replaced from the dealer. All looks good and seem to work fine. But I still feel a thud, so I regreased the rear so grease flow freely, no problem there. I tried to grease the front so grease could freely come out, but not much came out and I did not want to over do it. I took the lc for a spin and noticed hard vibrations and when I shift the transmission to drive the light would not engage. My gut feelings said the front driveline was over greased putting a lot of pressure on the tranny. Did I do any damage? I went back and took off the zero and let some grease ooze out. That took care of the vibrations and weird shifting issue. But now, how do I know I put in enough grease and is it important to have enough? I'm just frustrated. Help me.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

I noticed the same hole while greasing the drive shafts today. At a certain point the grease started coming out of a perfectly round hole on the inside of the u joint. You can see the hole in the schematic of this 4runner driveshaft: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/attac...ft-thump-bump-propeller-shaft-assembly-03.jpg

I couldn't fit the nozzle of my grease gun between the front ujoints to get to the zirk. Anyone have any tips or links to a lower profile zirk?

 

[NMuzj100]

I couldn't fit the nozzle of my grease gun between the front ujoints to get to the zirk. Anyone have any tips or links to a lower profile zirk?

Move the truck until the zerk is pointing directly at the ground. It's a tough fit but a standard grease gun nozzle will work if you move the car. Remember 4.xx/1 so 1/16 rotation of the tire = 1/4 turn on the driveshaft.

Can you get a picture of the hole near the U-joint? I wonder if Toyota added relief holes to the yoke plugs.

 

[NMuzj100]

I took the lc for a spin and noticed hard vibrations and when I shift the transmission to drive the light would not engage.

My guess is the rear shaft is the problem since it was the one R&R'd. Check the bolts and make sure the shaft is phased correctly.

What did the seal replacement cost?

What light are you talking about ? The "D" light in the dash for the transmission? Hard to imagine grease anywhere other than behind the instrument panel would effect that.

 

[goped]

It felt like the front drive shaft put lots of pressure on the transfer case and moved it so it was slightly off and caused a lot of vibration, so when I put the car in drive something did not line up right so the light on the dash for drive did not light up. I hope I didn't do any damage.