Spence1016

So i replaced my rear axle seals and bearings today. The 4Runner has 130,000 miles on it and had been vibrating above 25mph, squeaking, and leaking badly from the back right. We took out both axles and attempted to remove everything but couldn't so we took them to a shop and picked it back up 2 hours later and theyve put everything on.

We put in the new inner seals, put everything back together, filled the diff, bled the brakes and drove it around the block and everything seemed fine. I got it back out on the highway and realized that it was still vibrating, not as badly as it was before but definitely too much. It only does this while under power, as soon as i let up off the gas it stops and rides how it should.

So any help on what could have gone wrong would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking maybe i should have applied grease to the bearings? Thanks for any suggestions.

rimpainter.com

Did you mark the driveline where it meets the flange and reassemble accordingly? Just trying to narrow it down through process of elimination...

All the issues I've ever had with vibration under power have been driveline-related, FWD and RWD.

Spence1016

i didnt remove the driveshaft

TOYOTA 1

sounds like a bad u joint.

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

X2 u-bolt, X2 possible D-line damage, X2 phase d-line these could have been masked by the axle bearings

Spence1016

ill check the ujoint for damage or play in the morning, doesnt seem like thats it though as replacing everything solved the squeaking, i guess i should hope that it is the problem though and not something worse like the diff or having put something together wrong. Should i have greased the area around the bearing and speed sensor?

Krylon

Check the ujoints in your driveshaft.. Get a long flathead screwdriver and try prying at different angles around the joint to see if you get any movement. Also check your slipjoint to see if there is any play..

Another area to check it you pinion and t-case outputs to see if there is play in those as well.

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Look for damage to shaft ie dents, check phase of shaft (http://www.4crawler.com/4Runner.shtml has information on phasing you sift/search through) check slip portion for play also.

stepside trd

Sounds to me like the problem you are experiencing is coming from the drive shaft. a quick and easy way to test u-joints is to place both hands on either side of the u- joints and twist in opp. directions.If you even have an inckling of play, it is a sign that they are toast. Also, if you have a two-piece drive shaft, you might want to check the center connecting bearing , those are commonly known to be the weak link and will cause vibrations. If everything still checks out ok, it's possible your drive shaft counter weight may have fallen off. That small little piece of metal may not look like much, but it sure does do a lot (much like tire weights do). And sometimes they are only held on with tack welds. As for greasing the bearing seals, that is usually done so you don't tear the new seal after you install the axles. When the axle is installed into a dry seal, the rubber seal sometimes will stick to metal, and with the weight of the vehicle applying pressure on the seal, the initial rotation will grab it and tear it off putting you back to square-one. If I remember correctly, rear axle bearings are sealed, so you can't grease them. Don't forget to try greasing your U-joints too. Hope that helps. After all that, if you still have the same problems, chances are you have a bent axle, but then the vib. would be constant... Good luck!

97ltd4x4

Sounds like either a drivshaft/u-joint problem or a rear diff problem to me...

Spence1016

thanks for all the advice everybody, i haven't had time to do much except for look over the u-joints. i tried twisting them opposite directions but i couldn't really detect any play. ill be looking it over with my friend who helped me do the work later today and keep you posted. i should add that it is a one-piece driveshaft. also i doubt this could be a problem but i noticed that the shop left a small scrap in the bearing retainer about 3/4" long by 1/8" wide and deep. could this cause such a noticeable vibration? Thanks for your help.

Spence1016

i just looked at it again and with it in neutral i could actually detect some play in the rear ujoint at least so that will probably be next on the to-do list. when i turn the drive shaft by hand real hard it kinda causes a clunk coming from the front of the 3rd member which hopefully explains the metallic clunk that i was sometimes hearing while going into gear.

Spence1016

and i am basically positive that none of the weights on the drive shaft came off because theres a build up of dried-on dirt from off-roading and if one were to fall off it would leave a clean square on the shaft. and i highly doubt the shaft is damaged because it wasnt something that popped up all of a sudden it had been getting progressively worse and i guess i just attributed it all to the bearings and seals. and its been a while since its been off the road in any harsh conditions.

Spence1016

and lastly for now (sorry to be a newb but) what is the slip-joint like krylon said or the slip portion like muddpig said? where is it? does a one-piece driveshaft have it? How would i check it?

stepside trd

A slip-joint drive shaft is simply a drive shaft with two pieces that slip/slide into one-another (much like the musical inst. trombone works). Commonly used for the front drive shaft. Rear slip shafts are commonly found on Jeeps, I've seen a few other vehicles use them, but mostly Jeeps. I've never seen them on Toyota's unless it was after-market. Toyota uses them for the front shaft. The slip is located in the middle of the shaft and has approx. 4"-6" of slide, to compensate for front end droop/flexibility. Rear Toy. shaft's are commonly one piece solid unless you have an xtra cab/quad cab,etc... Then you have a two piece solid to compensate for the bigger cab and extended chassis. Hope that helps!!

stepside trd

One more thing, slip shafts commonly have a zerk fitting located in the middle of the shaft so you could grease the slide. One side of the shaft will have teeth/splines, that appear to slide into the other side (trombone). Later!!!

Spence1016

thanks for the explanation stepside. i guessed thats what it was but dont have one on my 2wd 4runner. I ordered the rear ujoint from toyota and it should be there tuesday so we'll see if that fixes the problem. I was also going to replace the front one but couldnt order it because there was a mid-production year change in 2000. They say that there are 2 ujoints in the front for the 2wd and i got confused. And i think that the rear is the only one that was worn out so hopefully it will get the job done. How hard is replacing the rear ujoint?

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

They are very comon on Toyotas 1st and 2nd gen 4rnr and 1st, 2nd, 3rd gen trucks I know for a fact. You've got to have some means to compensate for suspension travel. Yes I'm talking rear. Factory is about 5" in length.

I don't have nor work on later models but the have to manage suspension travel and I doubt (could be wrong) that Toyota would go to a sliding t-case yoke like a domestic.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

All trucks have to have a slip yoke of some sort, be it in the driveline, or a slipyoke in the back of the Trans. When the suspension moves, the driveline moves with it. To keep it from jamming into the trans, or pulling away from the trans (both would result in breakage) there HAS to be a slip yoke in there.

So far, the only sliding trans yoke Toyota uses is on its 2WD Non-prerunner trucks, and 2WD 4Runners. 4WD and Prerunner Tacomas use a bolt on driveline, with a slipyoke in the driveline.

TOYOTA 1

all the Toyota's Ive ever seen have a slip yoke d-shaft front and rear.