Stock Suspension problem?

Wheel spacers are a hot topic. Many of us have run them for years and hundred thousand miles or more with no issues. Be sure to buy the right ones. Hubcentric spacers help center the wheel like the factory hub does. Using an impact to tighten the wheel to the spacers prior to lowering the vehicle to the ground also helps keep the wheel centered when mounting (true whether you have spacers or not). Then torque once on the ground.

 

So, here's an update. I took it to my local dealer (where I take my Prius V) and they said the sound is coming from the drive-shaft bearings, and transmission (plate or something). The rear shocks are wrong for the truck and are traveling too far, so that's why it's hitting the bumper. They want to replace the drive shaft and flush the tranny. So looking at about $2200 bucks (1800~ for the shaft/tranny, 400~ for the rear shocks). SMH

 

Correction, it's the drive shaft center support bearings and transmission extension housing. Apparently bad enough that it's breaking down enough to come off when driving and cause some damage.

 

Get another opinion or two, thats an awful lot of money. I'm not sure why they would replace the shaft when the parts are serviceable. The center carrier bearing is about a $100 part and any shop can replace it in an hour, I would estimate $250 total. I did mine myself in about 2 hours without a lift.

Transmission extension housing I don't know about. If you can post some pics of that I'm sure somebody here can help.

 

Interesting...the drive shaft center support bearing (guibo in BMW speak) is a common "maintenance" item for older BMWs. In that application, it's a rubber donut mounted on the bottom of the car and holds up the middle of the driveshaft (it's 2 pieces) and when it's worn common symptoms are a clunking upon acceleration because the driveshaft flexes due to the torque. When you cruise, the clunking goes away because the driveshaft straightens out.

I don't know about Tundras but when guibos are replaced the driveshaft is often rebuilt because you may as well fix everything (worn u-joints) while the driveshaft is apart. It's a little labor intensive. The guibo itself is not that expensive.

 

Totally agree with Darkness. U-joints are serviceable, too. The only thing I can imagine with the 'trans housing breaking down' is the rear seal may leak due to driveshaft yoke wobble. Be sure to mark the driveshaft so it's correctly oriented when reinstalled. If the shocks were too long, wouldn't they bottom-out before the axle hit the bump stop??

 

Same thing for Tundras. When I replaced mine the basic steps I took were
1) mark the shaft and joints with paint so that I can't mess up the orientation on reassembly
2) remove the bolts holding the shaft to the rear diff, support the end
3)remove the 2 bolts holding the center bearing to the crossmember
4)unbolt the shaft at the trans, observed the seal for leakage
5) disconnect andremove th joint at the center
6) wrestle with the donut to get it off, use lots of foul language
Then reassembly in reverse order, use proper torque on bolts

 

Well, there it is, band new OEM drive shafts and center hanger. All out of money now. The first thing I noticed is that there's not backwards roll after I put it in park and take my foot off the brake.

 

if they replaced the whole shaft then you must of had a ujoint go out and destroy the yoke. which would also explain the excessive movement in park
and when that happens, you also get a nice ol clunk

 

The part about the rear shocks is a head scratcher. It's hitting the bumpers because it's so close to the frame. There is normally more like 4-5 inches minimum between the bumper and the frame. That is an aftermarket bumper, and it takes up a lot of the room for suspension travel with a big goofy looking mounting base. Shocks are there to slow or dampen the movement of the suspension to keep you from bouncing around on the springs. Not to limit up or down travel. Although the wrong ones could not allow for enough travel, they wouldn't be the reason you have "too much travel". Take the goofy bumper things off the rear leafs, and take everything else this shop told you with a grain of salt. The driveshaft may indeed be in need of service, but $2200 is ridiculous. An axle shop could replace all of the U-joints and the carrier bearing for much less. If it needs new shocks in the back, $100-200 for new ones depending on what route you choose.

 

I went ahead and paid the dealership premium since I wanted it fixed fast and was tired of the run around. She does ride much better. Now to the rear suspension: I noticed that there is a left lean to the rear and you can see the difference in clearance between the yellow bumpers. According to 1A Autoparts, it could be a broken spring [https://youtu.be/DPtydoXQZ00]. I also looked at KYB Gas-A-Just (dumb name) and these appear to the the right shocks.

Any thoughts on uneven springs? I know that Chevy is known for this.

 

Likely the springs are just worn. Band aid is some bolt on adjustable helpers to level it out. Fix is new spring packs.

 

Get rid of the yellow jounce bumpers and put some appropriate ones on. Cannot stress this enough.