About 5mo ago I started to notice the Ujoints in the rear shaft start to make
vibration, I put it off till I could get my fuel problem fixed, After that I only replaced the rear joint and found out 20 20 it was the frount one.
Now I just dicided to take it in and have them both done since it had taken me many hrs to do only one by myself, No vice and 240kmi on them made them hard to get out.

Picked up the runner and headed home, Going down the road it started to vibrate kinda nasty at 50, Pulled over and checked it out, They look good and are the real meaty kind unlike Autozones skimp bearings, So I headed home thinking maybe these need break in, 70MPH can make your hands and butt numb after a drive, Its 100x worst now.

66mi later no change, So I had taken it back in, They tried to blame anything else as the problem, Engine and trans mount, steering alignment, and tire ballance but all are good.
Now the guy who installed them says its the engine because it has so many miles on it and the vibration happens at a curtain rpm, But he went home before I could show him otherwise so monday I take him for a ride to prove him wrong.

The vibration accures at 50 and harmanizes really loud at 70, I know for a fact its not the engine, I can stick it in neutral or push the cluch in and idle the engine but the noise stays the same, Ive even shifted the Tcase to neutral and also the same, So that means it has nothing to do with the engine or trans.

At first when I had taken it in they tried to tell me that the whole shaft need to be replaced because Toy used non-removable U-joints in some of there trucks but I proved them wrong with the new one I put in it myself, With the shaft out the mechanic also was wondering why I was getting them redone, He wabbled the joints around and said they were smooth, I did it my self and noticed only the tinyest of click in the front one, Still had them both replaced.

I notice these new U=joints have the zurks on the outside of the bearing caps, Also the Mech installed them so that the zurks are on the shaft side of the yokes and not the mount bolt side of the yokes.
I noticed that the most minute click made the vibration before I had taken it into them and was wondering if those zurks being on the outside could cause a weight variation enough to be causing the horrid vibration I have now???.

I personaly have seen U-joints on other cars that were almost locked together or had major play in the bearings and had only the tiniest of noise from them, It would be hard to belive a zurk could cause that much noise and vibration on my runner.

They are a good business and jump right onto what ever problem I brought up, But is something else, Whats your opinion?

 

I can't answer all the questions you have, but definately the zerks position can make a difference. The FSM specifically shows where they must be placed, also stresses putting everything back exactly the way it came off. Meaning any variation will cause a vibration.

I have the same problem you have and think I have it narrowed down to tires by removing motion from each drive shaft. Removed rear shaft, vibration. Put rear back in. Removed front shaft, vibration. Put manual hubs on and freewheeled front shafts, vibration. Put front shaft back in, freewheeled front shafts, vibration. Nothing left but tires.

I would have your rear shaft checked for balance with current joints.

PS
I replaced my front joint also, replaced with GMB that matched one that came out. Marked everything and put it back exactly way it came out. Took me 4 hours, with breaks to get it out. 30 minutes to put new one in.

 

Did they take the slip joint apart when they did the work? If they did, they might have put it back together out of phase. When comparing both ends of the driveshaft, the yokes should line up the same on one end as they do on the other, if not, you'll have to take the driveshaft apart at the slip joint, rotate one end to line it up with the other, than put the driveshaft together again.

 

Does the 4runner have a 2 piece driveshaft? The center bearing is known to cause some serious vibration when it goes bad. Also, did you install the driveshaft EXACTLY the way it was removed? If you didn't, it may be "out of phase."

I ALWAYS use a punch and mark the relationship of the driveshaft and yoke before removal. I also have the driveshaft professionally balanced as well. It sounds like you need it professionally balanced.

 

Its a onepeace shaft, I hate to go through this if I had 4 ujoints to change.

I will check the spline lineup.
Thanks people

 

ck & see if its in phase.if so take it to a machine shop & have it balannced.yes you can get u-joints for them but as a toy dealer service manager i can tell you we will not rpl u-joints on a toy because sometimes you end up with what you have now.then some people think whoever put the joints in should buy them a new drive shaft because the joints didn't fix it.anyway as i said try having it balanced

 

Well, not quite a one piece, but yes everything needs to be lined up. You should check a FSM for correct placement of yokes and zerks. You could also remove the shaft and run with 4WD (effectively front wheel drive) and see if vibration is diminished or gone to isolate to that shaft. It will drive a little different front wheel drive only, but not dangerous.

 

No way am I trying the front end alone, I know it wont be damaged but With the slack I have and a locker it shims even worst then what I had.

Yup, Had, I got it fixed, It was the wrong size C clips on the rear, You almost could tell they were wrong size but it alowed the U joint to play about 1/16 of an inch.
I can still kinda feel a faint vibration but I think thats shaft ballance but that may be because the Mech turned the spline to line both ends of the shaft together when my book shows that you should align the fittings, But all mfg have there set up so, I may pull the spline later and put it back the way I know it was ballanced before.
So its all cool.

 

How did you know you had the wrong size c-clips? I'm having problems like you have described.

Frank

 

The Mech found them, He pulled it apart after seeing the play in the joint, He Nor I noticed it at first because the greese was holding it stiff to the touch but not the torque of the engine.
The C-clips should fit absolutly perfect, Almost hard to fit into the slot.