2005 Tundra drive train vs U joint replacement

Hello Everyone,
I recently bought a 2005 first gen tundra 2x4 with 111k miles.
I been feeling a hard kick when going from the stop position to the first gear. I believe it's my u joints because my drive train has some give. The kick isn't terrible and from what I've read it's some what normal.

I was going to dyi it but looking at the labor to replace all u joints and the cost it seems better to just buy a Drive train. And plug it in.
My questions are these:
1. Does anyone else get a similar kick?
2. Am I wrong to think its much easier, cheaper, and efficent to dyi the complete drive train vs replacing the U joints?
3. Whats the best parts website for tundra parts?

Thank you all for your time.

 

Just to clear things up. Drivetrain is like engine, transmission (maybe a couple other things) as one. I'm assuming here you mean driveshaft. When you say going from the stop position to first gear do you mean going from park to drive or are you letting off the brake and stepping on the gas?

Are you getting a distinct clunk sound? Have you checked your transmission mount/mount bolts since you have a 2wd and there is a TSB or maybe recall for this.

If you really think you need to do every U-Joint then yes most would say it's easier to just replace the driveshaft the cost is just higher and I don't think you can get OEM anymore either.

 

Sorry, I did mean the drive shaft.
It happens when I'm letting off the break and stepping on the gas. It also happens when I break.
Would it not be worth replacing the drive shaft if its not oem?

 

Did you check the transmission mount? There's an issue which causes this exact condition, literally a Toyota TSB on it for 2WD trucks, the mount compresses, bolts loosen, and eventually fall out, but CLANK a lot until then. Check the 4 bolts where the trans mounts to its crossmember and confirm they're tight.

This is talked about quite a bit on the forum, there are links to the TSB which asks you to replace the crossmember. There are also details in the stick "so you wanna buy a 1st gen" thread on how to resolve it w/o replacing the crossmember.

Best website for parts is also in the sticky thread section: Buy direct from Toyota online and get a discount. Check the sticky threads section, all you need is there.

 

Sounds like classis dry slip yoke issue also. https://www.tundras.com/threads/grease-your-drive-shaft-you-lazy-sods.55067/

Try greasing the slip yoke before anything else.

I'd call a driveline shop and see how much they'd charge. I replaced them on my front driveshaft and it still wobbled a bit so I took it to a pro and they charged $100 for the u-joints (spicer which is OEM), labor and balancing.

 

Not possible on a 2WD. There are no zerks on the driveline of a 2WD, OP indicated 2x4 in 1st post.

 

I have not checked the transmission mount, I will be doing that next. I will check the threads thank you.

 

I will get quotes on u joints replacements. $100 to replace them is a great price.
I've been deterred from getting a quote because of how labor intensive the job looks when replacing all of them. But will look into it if it's not the tyranny mount. Thanks

 

I had a 2006 2wd with the exact same issue

i replaced all my u joints,replaced the carrier bearing and greased the slip yoke while it was apart. I also replaced the trans mount. It still did it.

Only 4x4’s have grease fittings on the slip yoke FYI

The final thing that made it go away was when I did a transmission drain and fill,and added an additional extra quart of fluid. It stopped cold turkey after that. Nothing else did it.

Apparently you are low on fluid,the input shaft doesn’t get to enough lubrication and can bind up under certain circumstances

i hope this helps you.

 

Thank you for your input. I did take in consideration the transmission. But I have read that my year doesn't have a transmission fluid plug. I need to look more into that as I could be wrong. Since you did have yours flushed and it's only a year older

 

It has a drain and a fill plug. Just have to follow correct procedure to check the level. Trans temp has to be at a certain point.

 

i did NOT do a flush. Never do those!!!

there is not a dipstick, only a fill plug and a check plug

i did a drain and fill. Whatever came out i put back in plus an extra quart. I used a temp gun on the drain pan to check temp/overflow. Some say you need a specific procedure but I’ve done it this way in my wife’s sequoia and it has 261,000 miles no issues.

 

There are lots of posts with pretty pictures but long story short...
0. Make sure you have a couple quarts of your preferred WS (world standard) ATF
1. Drive your truck around the block for a good 10-15 minutes.
2. Stop your truck on a nice level surface and shift through all the gears, pausing at each one for a 3 count. Keep your vehicle idling
3. Clean around the area and remove your fill plug (about the 2 o'clock position looking from the rear just forward of your driveshaft at the rear of the transmission, should be an 18mm(?) plug)
4. Open the check port on the trans pan
5. Add WS ATF to the fill port until it starts dribbling from the check port.
6. Close your plugs and enjoy your filled trans.

There are also youtube videos showing how to do this. But I agree with everyone else, at least check your transmission mount bolts are tight before doing all this

 

I’d lean first towards a bad carrier bearing.

 

Is it ever the carrier bearing? It seems they are often in bad shape...but never seem to be the thing actually causing the problem.

U joints are EASY. Not a big deal to do yourself, or have a shop do. One of those standard, generic jobs, like replacing brakes etc.

 

U-joints are pretty easy after you've done one or two, but if OP isn't hearing any symptoms (squeaks, shrill sounds), and not getting lots of rapid vibration in the driveline, I'd be shocked if it was the U-joints. None of the symptoms match driveshaft, carrier bearing, U-joints in my opinion.

The symptoms do match exactly w/the 2WB TSB for loose trans mount issue on the '05 - '06. Which is a potentially free fix, and takes 2 minutes to check.

Late shift/hard kick could also be transmission related, that was a good observation.

But seriously, I'm shocked @jv13193 hasn't just checked the trans mount bolts yet. His truck year/model is 100% impacted by this. Dozen or more members have found their '05-'06 2WD impacted by this. Seems like a no-brainer, but what do I know?

I agree: Rarely seems like it's ever the carrier bearing, doubt that's what it is, because normally people complain about vibrations at varying speed ranges when the carrier bearing is toast, not a clunk. Replacing has reportedly helped a couple people. Somewhat spendy though.

 

My isolator boot on my carrier bearing was completely torn and you could grab and move the drive shaft in any direction.

It would thud when put in gear, and thud while down shifting while coming to a stop.

I replaced mine with a Timken Carrier Bearing as it was only $63 on Amazon at the time.

I guess it depends on our interpretation of a kick, thump or clunk

 

So was mine...but changing it did nothing. It was greasing my rear spindle the fixed the clunk, and replacing a U joint in the front that fixed the vibration.

I found it really remarkable how destroyed the center bearing could be without symptoms.

 

I feel more of a thud, its mostly when stopping and taking off from stopped.
I will check this out.

 

How are the transmission mount bolts?

Takes the least amount of time to check. 2 mins or less.

 

Thank you all for your advice and will be looking into all these different possibilities.

 

Here are some pics I took checking everything out. Let me know what you think. The drive shaft has some give btw
https://imgur.com/a/7zTl0F8

 

Give in what direction? being able to rotate it a half an inch or so is normal slack in the drive train.
ANY give up or down or side to side is a badly worn U-joint.

But you can't actually tell with the driveshaft connected, as often as not, the problem is not a driveshaft that is worn loose, but one that is binding tight.

 

It has the normal slack. Nothing like the second part.

 

You're looking in the wrong place. You need to look straight up from underneath the transmission cross member. You'll need a flashlight.In the middle of the cross member you'll see a recess with two bolts hiding inside. The known failure is that the cross member cracks, and the bolts loosen and eventually fall out.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/inspect-your-transmission-crossmember.74691/

 

Thanks for digging this up, I couldn't find the damn thing. I swore there's a fibrous pad of some sort in there that compresses also, and falls out, which leads to the steel cracking but maybe I'm remembering wrong thing on wrong vehicle.

Anyway, stealing a pic from the other person's post there, @jv13193 you'll want to look in the holes on the underside of this crossmember, up underneath right where the arrow is pointing. Check the 4 bolts there for tightness (some find them loose enough to spin with fingers), and look carefully for the crossmember cracks shown in the thread @w666 linked (pic1, pic2). This is a known TSB issue that causes clunks when driving from dead stop and turning.

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Oh boy, possibly another crossmember issue?

 

This was my first reaction too. But it's been days and I can't seem to get OP to look in the right place. I'm glad @w666 found your damn thread showing it, my search skills failed. OP's truck is in the year range affected, and 2WD...

 

Thank you for all your help Shifty. I'm sorry my response time is terrible.
I will check the right part this time. And update everyone. It's been touch and go with my post.

 

They don't call me swifty for nothing!