Driveline Vibration and Sporadic Clunk

I’ve read multiple threads on this topic in the forum. Here’s my problem

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a clunk when putting in drive and didn’t really pay it any attention. On Monday I heard it again and shortly afterward it began getting a vibration at 25mph, it’s pretty consistent up to 55 but does somewhat level out at higher speeds but does not completely go away. The clunk is sporadic but the vibration is repetitive.

Things I’ve checked after reading some of the posts here.
1. Tranny mounts and brackets all good
2. Fluids in rear differential all good
3. Emergency brake seems to be setting and releasing as it should. Front and rear brakes appear to be operating correcting. Rotated all the tires by hand and couldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary
4. No visible failure modes on the u-joints, no wobble on them. Raised the rearend, put tranny in neutral and could not find any noticeable “slop” in any of the components. Greased the u-joints after inspection, took a test drive, vibration still ther.
5. Carrier bearing inspection all looked good. From a couple of the videos I’ve seen the movement in the bearing looks to be acceptable

The next thing I’m going to do is drop the driveway and re-inspect the u-joints. Maybe there’s something there I can’t see with them in place.

Gonna replace u-joints and carrier bearing with spicer parts. I’ve located the spicer bearing part number here on the site but not the u-joints which I assume they manufacture also.

Anyone got any recommendations before I move forward. I just don’t want to start throwing parts at it but I figured since I’m going to drop the unit I may as well just replace all the wear items.

thanks in advance.

 

The symptoms you're describing for whirring/vibration sounds like a u-joint to me.

So all 4 bolts are intact and tight up under the tranny crossmember?

Does the vibration stay constant pitch, or does it increase/decrease with speed/RPM?

I think you may be on the right path with u-joint/carrier logic. But it also seems crazy to me to replace every u-joint on your driveline at the same time if some/all others are good.

 

Yes, all the mounts associated with the tranny are tight.

Yes, vibration is better as speed increases 25-55, the worst of it 25-35.

I think I will pull it tomorrow and thoroughly inspect the u-joints before just replacing all of them….ultimate goal is to actually find some faulty. Will inspect the carrier bearing and make a judgement call on it also.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Sounds like drivetrain lash. I replaced my u joints and it fixed it for a while but it's back. Next is replace them and the driveshaft with oem parts. I do have a 2wd truck that doesn't have the grease fittings that a 4wd truck has.

 

Even 4WD lacks zerks in a couple places I'd expect or want them. But y'all 2WD guys ... That problem with the tranny crossmember cracking, and the other problem with the bolts coming loose ... I don't envy y'all.

 

I’ll know more about it tomorrow. Will post my findings.

 

Hey Shifty, you got any manufacturer recommendations for the u-joints? I don’t mind spending a little extra on getting a good product.

TIA, griff04

 

I’m a fan of Spicer/Dana for anything driveline. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn the OEM u-joints are Spicer just as the center support/carrier bearing is.

But in general, you mentioned “don’t mind spending a little more for a good product …”, how long did OEM last you here? Seems like OEM (or whatever manuf’er Toyota picked for the OEM) is what you’re looking for based on that sentence alone.

 

Mark your driveline with a paint pen before removal. That way you can install it the same way it came off.

 

Found the issue, one the bearings was dry on one of the u-joints with the needle bearings blown out. Could not tell this yesterday while it was still installed and I was shaking it. All the u- joints have grease zerks which I grease every 2nd oil change at 10,000 miles.

I had to order the Spicer u-joints from Auto Zone today, should be here tomorrow. Will get everything cleaned up and back together and see how it goes.

Will report back.

Thanks for the input.

 

Awesome, and yup, driveline vibration (buzzing may be better term) constant, starting around 30mph... u-joint. I've seen cases where dry bearings will cause screeching also, but only with water penetration/corrosion.

I'm surprised to hear you've got zerks on your u-joints. I wonder if they've already been replaced? I haven't been up under a 2WD yet to check, but I swore I've seen a gaggle of 2WD owners on here report no zerks on their driveline, anywhere. Sealed u-joints.

Anyway, glad you found it. Thanks for letting us know what you found.

 

Could have been replaced by previous owner's…they had the non-zerks this morning at AutoZone, I believe they were Duralast but decided to wait on the Spicer unit.

 

Got the u-joint replaced yesterday and everything put back in this morning. Took her for a ride, “smooth as silk”. Gonna call this one a wrap!!!

thanks for all the input.

Happy Holidays,
Griff04.

 

The problem was resolved…bad u-joint.

 

Where can I find info on the tranny mounts and torques? I’ve checked the manuals I have and can’t find anything.

FWIW Im experience a slight clunk accelerating from a dead stop, sometimes after the truck rolls a couple of feet and sometimes from a complete stop. I have a 2021 4WD, so maintenance free u joints with 45k miles.

 

I don’t think anyone here in the 1st Gen forum will be able to help you with your 2.5th or 3rd gen…

 

I’ll show myself out

 

I’m going to guess Spicer joints aren’t made in Japan. I run spicer 1350’s in my Jeep, and the quality and seals are garbage compared to whoever makes these OEM joints.



The caps come pre greased with the proper amount of grease. And notice the seal has a different type of grease applied. And this joint was $41 at Toyota. Cheaper than Spicer.

 

I've never had an issue with any of their zerked joints, I've been using them the better part of 30 years. But I'm always open to better, if OEM is better and roughly the same cost.

Spicer is OEM for the carrier, or so others have shown on here. Not sure who OEM is on the u-joints.