Driveline Vibration help

Hi All,
I have an 05 with 95K. I have some vibration going on at 65-70MPH on the E-way. I also have some intermittent clunking. I do grease the driveshaft regularly and that will eliminate the clunking for awhile. I have done some digging on here and it sounds like it’s rairly actually a driveline issue. Any other recommendations before I replace the entire rear driveshaft? I was going to do this because they are around $500 and it looks fairly easy to do on these trucks. Then the drive shaft, U Joints, and carrier bearing are new.

 

I had my driveshaft serviced it was about $375 (without parts) to remove, Balance, replace 3 u-joints and carrier.

They said my driveshaft was not balanced and they added a weight to the rear of it. It drives even better now. Maybe just have yours balanced before you replace it. If you just drop it off its way less.

You might have a stuck brake caliper or bad wheel bearing.

 

I'm not an expert diagnostic, but...just based on your line of reasoning my advice is to figure out what's causing the vibration before spending $500 on something that may or may not need to be replaced. I'd consider the driveshaft part of the driveline so if you've heard that's rarely the issue, then I wouldn't go throwing money before diagnosing. Do the u-joints have play?

Aside from massive damage from a rock or collision, there's really nothing that can go wrong with a driveshaft itself. It's the u-joints that wear out.

 

I would suggest:
- visual inspection of all four tires ( weights intact)/(tire pressure)
- inspect suspension and driveline for buildup of mud etc... i found mine can develope slight shake with too much mud on a rim. Good powerwashing will solve it.
- jack up truck and perform you 6' and 12 and 9'and 3' wiggle/play check.

Honestly its usually tire wear or a weight/tire balance issue since its limited to common highway speed (consistent wear application).

Also check front calipers for stuck piston. My front right caliper had a sticky " front inside wear issue" aswell. Solved with brakeclean and lube.

 

The one we just fixed? or was this a prior issue?

 

I had a similar issue…after visually inspecting everything and “hours” of frustration it wound up being one of the u-joints. The “ole” shaking the driveshaft for play in the u-joints did not detect the failure. It was only after I dropped the driveshaft for further inspection did I find it. I believe I started a post here on the forum with pics. It may or may not be your issue. Good luck on resolving your issue.

 

First off ... WHERE are you feeling the vibration? Steering wheel? Seat? Or other?

When was the last time the LBJ were replaced?

Rarely will you ever need to replace the driveshaft. It's quite often the U-joints that go bad from lack of grease (if 4WD) or end of life (if 2WD)

 

Check this thread out:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/driveline-vibration-and-sporadic-clunk.133859/#post-3400859

 

You feel it the most in the front passenger seat. I changed the lower ball joints with OEM in the spring. I grease the U-Joints regularly. I’m guessing the U-Joints are bad but instead of fighting with those I thought I would replace the whole driveshaft with u-joints that are greasable.

 

Did someone replace your u-joints with sealed bearings at some point? Otherwise they should be greasable, unless you're 2wd. Right?

 

I'm 2WD and my ujoints have zerks.

 

Huh. I remember reading a thread somewhere on here where 2wd non-greasable u-joints were declared a thing. Either way I've never heard of non-greasable OEM 4wd u-joints.

 

2WD have sealed joints from factory.
4WD have zerked joints from the factory.
If OP has sealed joints on his 4WD, they're not original.

Stupid question, but have you checked the bolts for the front passenger seat? I think it was @VR6T who recently found his seat wasn't bolted down, or it was one of the TX members I think. That would cause a clunk for sure.

But on the driveshaft thing. Dude, stick with the OEM shaft. Just replace the u-joints. Driveline shops around my neck of the woods charge as little as $80/joint to replace, parts and labor. Most expensive driveline shop I've found (big reputation shop) is $125 + parts. It's wildly variable. Just don't take it to a Midas or other chain store. Find a shop that specializes in drivelines, search for "driveshaft shop", something will pop up.

 

Funny, first thing I thought of when he mentioned passenger seat was the wobble in my Tacoma's passenger seat. I don't remember whether I ever confirmed the bolts were tight, but I remember driving down the highway, the passenger seat always had a shimmy to it.

 

I have a 2011 CM 2WD that has a similar (could be driveline) vibration most noticeable between 55-65 mph and I haven't been able to track it down. You can feel it in both front seats, and you can see it in the liquid in any cups placed in the center console cupholders. Definitely not wheels or tires as I recently replaced those and balanced them with no change, and you don't see a shimmy in the steering wheel. I'm just over 188k miles and I've replaced both front wheel bearings with the last 4 k miles. Its been driving me nuts for the past 6 months, so going to follow this thread even it its for a Gen 1 truck. I do need an alignment so I plan to have the stealership check the driveline u-joints in the next couple of weeks and see if they can narrow the issue down.

 

06 2WD 4.7 DC here. Mine were sealed with no zerks from the factory.

if you're going to start replacing u-joints, I would highly recommend doing them all and your carrier bearing at the same time because the others will likely soon follow. That's what happened with me between 175,000 and about 220,000 miles

mine lasted at least 175,000 miles from the factory with the sealed versions. Unless you just really enjoy greasing u-joints regularly I would consider just sticking with sealed. My personal preference only but most things Toyota designed on these trucks were well done and done for a reason

I recently went through this and was forced to replace my driveshaft because one of the machine shops damaged the ds and therefore the u-joint could not be replaced. If you get a good comlete ds that doesn't seem to be a bad option for the money, but as others said strongly consider sticking with the factory ds. You can get all of the u-joints and the carrier bearing replaced for less than a full drive shaft

 

It’s almost certainly the u-joints based on symptoms but I don’t know the 2nd gens much at all. It’s very easy for you to check the u-joints.

 

my sub is grounded by one of the bolts for the seats. Then randomly one day my sun turned off. That bolt had loosened. They now get blue loctite

 

Wow. Well hopefully the new owner of my Tacoma has checked those seat bolts!

I have to figure I thought to check them after noticing how much it wobbled...but I don't remember.

 

Caliper i noticed first time inspecting pads, but was also warned to look out for stuck frozen piston. Truck seems to be driving fine since we " moved" the one piston lol. I rotated tires and popped off calipers and cleaned behind boots/lubed last week. Brakes are good improvement for price, not quite as smooth at light braking, but no comparison with hard braking performance from say 50 mph up.

- i also noticed driveline and wheel sensitivity to balance issues after 4 months of ownership id say. A lil caked mud on driveshaft or wheel hub would cause minor vibrations. So i give it a good fresh water rinse weekly. Honestly trucks been pretty good as far as tire wear and vibrations. For a leaf spring truck its very comfy.

 

I dont know if you guys get this too...but when greasing/lubing driveline i find I have to pay attention to make sure im not just lubing the one side of u-joints/cardon. Extra pumping required to get both seals. Also, i replaced my slip yoke zirk ( my fault) and i found out it failed after two month ( would not hold grease. But, my truck will develope a slight vibration after a few "off road events/water foarding" (sp?) If I dont wash and lube after some time. Cleaning mud off always gets rid of it. A small amount of weight will throw the balance off
Out of all the 4x4 i have owned this is most sensitive. But super easy to resolve, if you had a shop mount your tires....its worth a shot to remove and tq down correctly. I have had that happen to
..

 

The u-joints seem to be OK, but the carrier bearing in the middle of the split driveshaft is shot (wobbly). I ordered quality replacement u-joints and a carrier bearing. I should get those tomorrow, and going to replace all 3 joints and the carrier bearing Thursday. Thanks for the tips!

 

Hope you ordered Spicer. Mark your driveshaft so you can properly clock everything.

 

I did order Spicer and have a paint pen for marking. I'm prolly also going to replace the belt tensioner and idler pulley this week. I've had the parts for months and been procrastinating.