Double cardan joint make noise when bad??

[Whitson Metalworks]

for the longest time now i've heard a deep groan when the suspension is flexed even a little. pulling up into a driveway or crossing any sort of dip at an angle... it almost sounds like slow speed tire rub (but it isn't), but only metallic. i cant think of anything else near the area i swear i hear it from except the double cardan joint, sometimes i can feel it too. anyone have any insight?

 

[Drcoffee]

for the longest time now i've heard a deep groan when the suspension is flexed even a little. pulling up into a driveway or crossing any sort of dip at an angle... it almost sounds like slow speed tire rub (but it isn't), but only metallic. i cant think of anything else near the area i swear i hear it from except the double cardan joint, sometimes i can feel it too. anyone have any insight?

Check the tie rods and sway bar bushings.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

I'll check them but I'm 98 % sure its coming from the center and rear of the truck. It may be in my head but it seems to give additional rolling resistance when it happens.

 

[Dous]

Yours is 2 wheel drive correct?

If that is case you have no double cardan, instead, just two replaceable U-Joints.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

I have a 4wd Sr5, also sway bar bushings and control arm bushings look good.

 

[Dous]

I have a 4wd Sr5, also sway bar bushings and control arm bushings look good.

Oh I see now, I just glanced at your sig really quickly.

Is it lifted at all? When the driveshaft contacts the gas take during articulation you will feel/hear a grinding. It also causes the driveline to bind

 

[Carl_G]

for the longest time now i've heard a deep groan when the suspension is flexed even a little. pulling up into a driveway or crossing any sort of dip at an angle... it almost sounds like slow speed tire rub (but it isn't), but only metallic. i cant think of anything else near the area i swear i hear it from except the double cardan joint, sometimes i can feel it too. anyone have any insight?

Couldn't resist, my apologies.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

Not lifted but I'll double check for contact. It does it when I'm driving on the street too, just going over a mildly ridgy intersection or small speed bumps. I think I'm going to have wedge myself under there and ask my wife to drive around lol.

 

[NachoPitt]

Not lifted but I'll double check for contact. It does it when I'm driving on the street too, just going over a mildly ridgy intersection or small speed bumps. I think I'm going to have wedge myself under there and ask my wife to drive around lol.

I have the same noise in my truck, although it is seasonal - stock suspension with 194k. Mine likes to annoy me when I am backing out of the driveway - I just heard it for the first time the other day after not hearing it for months. I believe that it is the swaybar bushings.

 

[CdaleR4000si]

I just traced my mystery noise to the double cardan last week. It was driving me crazy that I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Since I could only hear it when driving, I wrapped my phone in some packing tape, put 4 magnets (use neodymium, and you won't have to worry about it falling off) and wrapped it again in more tape. I set the phone to record and stuck it to the frame rail. Went for a drive and listened to the recording. I had to move the phone to a few different spots before I was finally able to pinpoint the source. It was ridiculous how loud the noise was when the phone was near the cardan joint. I would recommend using a cheap digital recorder rather than an expensive phone, but at the time, I just didn't care, I just wanted to find the source of the noise. Good luck with it.

 

[AZTOY]

For me, best way to be sure is to grease all your joints, slip yoke and the carden ball. There should be 5 total zerks to grease. I did this and my sound away. That's how I knew it was my driveshaft. I recently had mine totally rebuilt. The double carden is a major pia to do yourself. And Toyota says to replace with new drive shaft, they won't rebuild it. Good luck.

 

[JoshKY]

The double cardan joint on my 4Runner was making a ratcheting sounds in 1st and 2nd around 19K-23K rpms. Using a chassis ear I mis-traced the sound to the transfer case which is the closest part to the driveshaft I could clip a mic to. I didn't figure out the DC joint was bad until my whole truck began shaking bad going above 60mph.

 

[TXLX1]

For me, best way to be sure is to grease all your joints, slip yoke and the carden ball. There should be 5 total zerks to grease. I did this and my sound away. That's how I knew it was my driveshaft. I recently had mine totally rebuilt. The double carden is a major pia to do yourself. And Toyota says to replace with new drive shaft, they won't rebuild it. Good luck.

I recently had a mystery noise and it went away after I greased just the center joint behind the transfer case. I've heard it's best to just take the job to a gear and axle shop for a rebuild.