Sorry mods, I thought my previous post would belong here because I had the question of the weird noise...

Anyways, I finally flexed the crap out of my rear suspension today and heard a horrible lound groaning metal noise.

So, I looked under the truck tonight to see what the hell it was. I can see a nice big dent and scrape marks on the gas tank skid plate, and a few gouges in my drive shaft.

Sooo... I've heard of this problem before. What do you do to fix it? Do you grind off the skid plate around the contact? Limiting straps?

I did a search, but, couldnt find anything, I know there is info on it.

Why does this happen anyways? Does it happen to Tacoma's as well?

 

A panhard drop will help. I installed one on mine, but when I put my cruiser coils on my driveshaft will still ocasionally hit my skid. I have a 2nd gen, but the concept is the same.

 

he's got one... a biiiiig one

 

I see it now...didnt make sense that he didnt have something. What side is the gas tank on a 3rd gen?? His truck leans a little to the passenger side.

Mine gas tank is on the pass side, and when my tank is low, the truck leans away from it.

 

How much longer is the straight line distance from eye to eye than the stock panhard?

Did the scraping happen when you had the rear driver side compressed? If so, it looks like the panhard is too long. It would force the axle to shift toward the driver side when compressed.

 

Hi,

Yeah, its a 7" drop bar. Im running about 6.5" of lift right now. The axle is now centered very well underneath the truck.

Yes, it was the drivers side that was compressed, I'm pretty sure, but I can't remember very well.

So I'm thinking about cutting out the skid plate...

 

Well, like I said in one of your other threads, the drop (bend) doesn't do anything. It's the straight line distance from eye to eye that affects the travel arc. It could be bent into a figure 8 and it wouldn't matter if the eye-eye distance is the same.

Cutting the skid plate sounds the easiest.

 

Yeah, I know the bend doesn't do anything...

Anyways, I guess I'll try with cutting for the time being.

Im in the process of researching and pricing the parts needed to do a leaf swap in the rear anyways. I want a project to do, and I feel leafs will give me the height and flex that I desire

 

Yeah, it sounds like leaves are the way to go.

 

I had this problem on my 3rd gen recently, and the only solution that I found was to grind off the gas tank skid plate just enough to clear the driveshaft.

Mine hits when the DS rear wheel is stuffed, thus making the rear end shift to the left. If I were to install a panhard drop bracket or a drop bar, it will only lengthen the panhard rod, thus making the driveshaft hit the skid plate.

I've come to the conclusion that a panhard drop bracket or installing the drop bar will not solve the problem in my case. Either shortening or having an adjustable panhard rod will probably fix the problem.

 

uhhggg. Yeah, I see.

So basically the lengthened panhard bar is causing the problems now for me... great!

Just found out that one of my zirks on the driveshaft snapped off from nailing the skidplate.

 

Okay, so now I realize that the driveshaft hit the gas tank in two spots... Once near the pinion u-joint, and once where the driveshaft goes large to small.

The zirk that was ripped clean off... What do I do to get that out? Does it just screw out?

 

Yeah, the zerk should just screw out.

 

This is not necessarily true. A longer panhard rod and a panhard drop bracket do very different things to the arc that the axle will travel when flexed. If you're not sure, try it with a pencil, a piece of paper, and a compass.

A longer panhard bar changes the size of the arc. A drop bracket changes the location of the arc.

 

I beat the crap out of mine with a BFH and then greased the side of the tank skid so it glides smoothly when it does hit...I also put a piece of 1/4 foam rubber between the tank and the skid (including up the sides) to help mitigate the risk of damaging the tank itself upon impact while wheelin'...

 

Hmmm.... Now that's starting to make sense again.

Originally, I thought the same thing, but since the panhard rod on my Runner is not more than 10-12 degrees off from being level, I thought the drop bracket or drop bar would not make a difference.

Anyway, here is the temporary fix that we've done for now. I won't know until I take the truck out again if it's still hitting.

 

Thanks guys, Imma try something this week.

Hey 994runner...thats a purty dog, what kind is it?

 

Them there are Vizslas, otherwise known as "Hungarian Pointers." Bird dogs.

There's another one in the back hiding somewhere.

 

I can't wait to move into a place with a nice big yard so I can get a dog. I am the biggest animal freak and I dont have any cause my place is too small, and they wouldn't be happy!