1 piece driveshaft pros cons

Local drive line shop quoted me $320 on a new driveshaft. I'm having terrible vibes on my tacoma. I figured I'd go with a 1 piece rather than change my carrier bearing (which is going to crap) and u joints than need to be replaced.

Anyways, what are your thoughts on a 1 piece shaft for 2wd? I measured mine and it's ~71" and he's adding 1" because the lift is causing it to stick out the tranny a bit.

 

A 1 piece got rid of 95% of my vibes but not the wrap on take off. Best of both worlds would be the 1-piece & a trac bar

 

Two piece with a double cardan and slip joint is the way to go...but it'll be a bit more $$$. On my phone so I'm having trouble copying the picture, but it's in my gallery if you'd like to see what I'm taking about.

 

I've heard the same, but that's not a huge issue. The carrier drop I have didn't change my clearance too much

 

Did you have a local shop fabricate your 1-piece or order from someone like Tom Woods?

 

Nortwest Drivelines built it. PM me for more info.

OP, the reason I bring up this style driveshaft over a one peice is because of a possible "con" of one peice units. There has been some question if the added weight on the output shaft seal causes/or increases the failure rate of the seal (which already has a tendency to leak).

 

Local member bought a 1 piece that didn't fit his truck, I bought it off him.

 

That's what my concern was. I figured it'd put more stress on it. I asked him about an aluminum one to help with the weight, that'd be $600. Not even sure what I want to do!

 

Has worked very well for me.

 

I've had my tom woods 1-piece for 4 years now and I love it

 

2wd?

 

4x4

 

Damn

I really wish there was someone on here with a 2wd 1 piece shaft.

 

So here's what I'm thinking now. Get them to keep my front shaft, add a double cardan joint to the rear shaft and make the entire shaft an inch longer than what I have now due to the 4" lift.

 

If you go with a one-piece, make sure you pick a shop that can spin it to 3500 rpm. Some shops only balance them at 2300 rpm, and that won't cut it. The prior owner of my truck put the one piece on. When I bought it, it still had vibes at 75 to 80mph. I took the shaft in to a good shop here, and they basically ended up re-building it. Now it's smooth. Because the shaft is so long, it has to be larger in diameter. I think mine is 4" in diameter. That's a safety concern, so make sure the shop knows what its doing. FYI, to rebuild my single piece shaft cost about $180 (two new u joints, rebalance, re-weld endcap, repaint) and only took 24 hours. (I was shocked at how cheap that was, but that shop was good. Probably had 10 people working there doing nothing but driveshafts.)

But I wish I had the double cardan setup. It's "more" stock, so it hurts resale value less. Overall it's probably lighter, and gives a little better ground clearance. If you go double cardan, you should get spring shims and tilt the diff up, so the shaft to diff angle is only about 1 degree. The older forerunners and maybe tacoma's used a double cardan shaft. Some people have found those and rebuilt them to save some money. But the shop could also convert your existing shaft.

 

if you do this, make sure to read up on proper pinion angle when using a double cardian.

You have to make the angle of the back U joint (opposite of the double cardian) almost flat 0* for the harmonics to be right.

 

I'm not positive, but I would bet the vibrations from a two piece would cause a seal failure more often than the extra weight from the one-piece. I am buying a one piece here in a few months. Semi-local(Reno) very reputable driveline shop quoted me $445 w/ tax. They build so many they keep them one stock.

 

I am curious to see what people are doing to help with low speed drive shutter at take off. I have it and is annoying. If a two piece aftermarket driveshaft cures it that will be my route. The drive line issues suck on our trucks. Mine started after my lift. Tryed carrier bearing drop and axle shims with no luck.

 

I ended up installing the driveshaft spacer I posted on here for sale. Driveline vibes are gone. Just need to replace the bad u joint I have.

 

I completely agree, the shop that did mine a few weeks ago said they balanced it at 2500 rpm's. It's great, but vibes from 60-65 mph. I'm gonna take it out soon and have it redone at 3500. Hope that helps.