2005 Tundra drive train vs U joint replacement

I just fixed it lol sorry
Hopeing you didn't catch it hahahaha

 

Oh, IDGAF, I'm just giving you hell.

 

Here's a better pic. These are the bolts in question.

 

I got to them and they were slightly loose. I'm going to drive it around and see if the clunk is there

 

If the clunk is gone go back and put some blue loctite on them.

 

Well it looks like I tightened the screws the wrong way and the whole mount fell off...........
Jk.
The thud seems to have been reduced dramatically but there is a still a slight acceptable thud. It definitely feels like a normal gear change, maybe.
I'm not ready to close the book on this one. I plan to drive it for a whole tomorrow to see if I notice the same thud as before.

 

Did you inspect the crossmember closely for cracks in the steel? The replacement crossmember isn't exactly inexpensive, but if yours is cracked, you will want to replace. It may just be that the thing is cracked, and giving a little bit of play on shifts. It's holding quite a bit of weight, if x-member is cracked, you'd still get a tiny bit of movement.

 

I did inspect it. it looked good.

 

OP, have you had any issues after this? I have a similar situation going on in my 2003 2WD.
Does anyone happen to know the torque spec for these bolts?

 

Look at post 25 above. It has a link to a thread about this. Follow that link an look at post 17, it has a PDF of the TSB about this problem. Torque specs for all the fasteners are included in that.

 

22 ft lb



edit….also follow what @tvpierce suggested

 

@sugar pants actually ... to both their points, read the friggin TSB document. Seriously. There's a lot more than torque specs you need to know inside that doc.

And don't hesitate to check out our community 1st gen info thread for more TSBs and other common issues. We assembled it for folks just like you who need quick access to important info and warnings on our trucks. There's also links to the cracks and stuff you'll need to be looking out for if those bolts are loose. If the crossmember is cracked, they're just going to loosen up again.

 

Thank you all! I read through the document. I found two of the four bolts slightly loose and tightened them up. And there was no visible cracking or other issues in the general area.

Sadly, this didn’t fix the issue for me. And, as I have a 2WD, there are no grease fittings to lubricate on my propeller shaft. I’m long overdue on new drum brakes (estimated 282k miles on original set). I’m hoping that a brake refresh, new brake fluid, and a transmission & differential drain & fill will make the issue will go away. Otherwise I’ll have to look at swapping in a new shaft down the road.

 

At 282k, you've:

• Exceeded the lifespan of your lower balljoints twice, LBJ failure will cost you hundreds or thousands in repair, or total the truck, potentially taking you with it. Note: Only use genuine OEM lower balljoints, and new hardware to avoid THIS, the hype is real.
• Exceeded the lifespan of your carrier bearing more than twice over
• Exceeded the lifespan of your u-joints, Id say 180k-220k is pretty standard for a sealed joint in normal conditions

Highly recommend going to any reputable driveshaft shop local to you with 4.5 or higher rating - note: there are two major cases when you want to use a specialty shop to save money and get it done right, A/C work and driveline (trans/driveshaft) work are the primary two - most in my area will check your u-joints and carrier bearing for free.

My most-local shop that's got a 4.8 rating on Yelp/Google reviews will replace any u-joints in your driveline with Spicer/Dana product, which is what Toyota uses and the best on the market, for $25/u-joint and $85/carrier bearing, billed at $85/hr on labor, and that usually boils down to 15min/u-joint, and if doing the carrier, they will roll it in if doint multiple u-joints due to collateral labor. You can request zerk'd u-joints too, price is comparable, but you need to grease every oil change if you go that route.

I implore you:

• Only use OEM LBJ from a verified source, we can help guide you to getting OEM parts cheaper than anywhere else, and always change out the bolts
• Stick with Spicer/Dana on parts for the driveline, OEM driveshafts and joints are Spicer/Dana as I mentioned
• This is not a place to cheap-out, and if you do the work yourself, mark positions to avoid imbalance
• You DO NOT need to replace the driveshaft(s) unless they're rusted to shit, but do check for obvious signs you're missing any balance weights on the shaft
• Avoid chain store locations like NTB, Meineke, Gemini/Goodyear, etc., only use a driveshaft/driveline specialty shop for this work.

Again, I've found a number of driveshaft shops who'll check your u-joints and carrier bearing free of charge during downtime just to get the business. Call in advance and ask, even if you hate using telephones. Again, if you stick with a driveshaft/driveline shop specifically, you should get it done right the first time, and cheaper than anywhere else.

 

@shifty` Thank you for the advice!

This past weekend I installed new, OEM LBJs with OEM bolt. I also replaced inner/outer tie rods, steering rack bushings, sway bar links, and sway bar bushings.

It was a lot of work. Got an alignment afterwards and the truck drives much better now. All of those components were shot. The drive shaft looks to be in good condition, minus those u-joints and the carrier bearing.

I’ll look into replacing those as you’ve recommended. And thank you for creating that “so you want to buy a first gen” thread. It has been EXTREMELY helpful.

 

Can't take all the credit on that one. Multiple people chipped in to make it happen. I was just the poor sucker who got to post it.

 

Great info here. I've just greased my driveshaft this weekend with the exception of 1 tricky double-cardan joint that I couldn't really get a good fit on(C on the diagram). Haven't had a chance to really drive to test yet until I get my rear brakes properly fixed and adjusted but hoping this fixed my vibration issues. Otherwise ill be looking to replace some U joints since about half are rusted up pretty bad.

 

Important to note, your 4WD driveline will be different from his. Not only due to transfer case, front diff, front driveshaft, CV axles, but other two major differences being, his 2WD doesn't use zerk'd u-joints, and the 4WD didn't have the crossmember-cracking/bolt loss problem the 2WD trucks did. There are other small differences but ...