Driveshaft with splines on the end...?

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here on TW. I have spent many hours combing through this place finding all sorts of helpful information as well as entertainment. But, now it is time to finally ask a question.

Long story short, I am trying to replace the driveshaft that is currently on my rig (2002 Tacoma extended cab, 3.4L, 5 speed MT, 4x4, stock). It has a "flat tow" driveshaft on it currently, but what ever previous owner had it, sort of hob-gobbled it together and I have basically been fighting it (replaced U-Joints twice within 8 months now and always had vibrations) for the last three years of ownership.

I bought a driveshaft off https://car-part.com/ that from the given info on the ad, as well as talking to the nice folks there, came off of a 2004 truck with my same setup. However, as I unveiled it today, I noticed that the diff end did not have a flange but rather a splined end.

My question is, what did this come off of (yes, I know I should call the place I bought it from, but they are closed and Ill have to wait till tomorrow, and I am being impatient..)? And can I still some how make it work?

Hopefully its not too dark under the truck to see what's going on.

Thank you all in advance for your time.

 

Re-use the flange end from your existing drive line. The splined end of that new drive shaft is the slip joint. Of course, compare measurements from the old drive shaft to new for confirmation.

Edit: should have looked at the pics better. Not sure if the slip joint from your existing drive line will work. May not even have the same spline count.

 

Ok, so that is part of the slip joint. Thank you for the information. I probably should have turned the flash light on that's in the picture, might have helped haha. I'll give the place I bought the new one from a call and see if they can send me the remaining yoke. And I should probably take some measurements too like you said just to verify.

 

The cat-part shaft is missing the slip yoke. If it was shipped with it, it came off in shipping. At the very least it should have been secured with stretch wrap.

IF (that's a big if) the existing slip yoke does interface (has the same number of splines, etc) with the OEM shaft you will need to take it to a drive line shop to have the drive shaft balanced. Typically the slip yoke has a balancing weight welded to it. It will need to be matched to the rest of the shaft. Also, be aware of phasing if you go this route. Here is the diagram from the FSM. Note the orientation of the flanges.


That all being said, I think your best bet is to take the car-part shaft to a shop and see if they can make a new slip yoke. Reusing one off another shaft isn't advisable.

 

Is the current driveshaft is installed backwards? Shouldn’t he slip yolk near the center bearing should be on the other end?

 

I think flat tow drive shafts usually have the disconnect at the rear pinion flange, so the slip yoke ends up at the carrier bearing.

 

So I got a hold of the guy that I spoke to last week and it turns out that the slip yoke was still attached to the truck they yanked the car-part-shaft off of. He's a cool dude though and said he'd ship it in the morning free of charge (like I was hoping).

Very helpful diagrams, thanks! Would you still recommend taking the complete car-part shaft to a driveline shop and have them balance it? Or should it be alright since its all from the same truck?

 

It's still really important to get the phasing correct. There is a chance that you'll be 180 degrees out- In which case, you'd need to flip it.

However, given that you have the shaft out- I would change out the carrier bearing and U-Joints. Suggest OEM U Joints and either OEM or spicer carrier bearing.

 

Gotchya. I'll make sure to pay close attention to the phasing. I've also got new OEM U-joints ready to pop in. I did notice that the U-joints in the double cardan is not the same as the ones at the end with the yokes/flanges. Ill have to search around and get those.

 

Don't search around too much- while it is possible to change the u joints in the double cardan (see this thread), it's not straightforward and is mainly considered a non-serviceable item. Most drive line shops will just chop them out and weld new ones in.