Will 01 rear driveshaft fit 99? YES!!

[drallan]

1999 4wd limited 240k

I have had a terrible squeak/squeal coming from my rear driveshaft where it meets up at the TC. I have ensured that everything underneath is extremely well lubed (changed out zerks I can get to) and hit all of them underneath. I don't see any obvious damage to the u-joints but my suspicion is that it is either a bad u-joint or the double cardan joint.

There is a semi-local guy with an 02 driveshaft for sale cheap. I was thinking as my 4runner is almost 20 years old with 240k that I would try for the cheap and easy route (I know you get what you pay for). It is my DD child mover and I am just hoping to get another couple of years out of it and didn't want to mess with changing out all the old rusted parts.

What year driveshafts will fit a 99 ltd? I know the TC changed in 99 so the 96-98 wont fit (too long), but will all of the 99 and up (assuming from a 4wd)? He took measurements and it looks like the one he has is about 44" long, which is about what mine is. Hard to get precise measurement with slip yoke slightly extended.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Depends on if both are multimode or not, but should be the same if the transfer cases are the same and transmissions are the same.

 

[AntleredRuin]

I think it should fit. The 99 LTD came with the multi-mode TC, which I think all 02s came with.

The problem is, you have no idea what maintenance (if any) was done on the 'new' driveshaft and u-joints, and they may fail soon too.

I did exactly that last year. I found a junkyard driveshaft with seemingly good u-joints for under $50, so I just installed that, vs fighting with mine. 4 months later, the front u-joint goes out completely, and I have to replace them anyways.


I just removed the driveshaft, took it to a shop, and they installed new sealed u-joints with a 3 year warranty for $150. Extremely easy.
I wish I had just done that first, vs going the junkyard route and wasting money.

 

[Tyler James Inc]

I also agree it should work- since both are multi-mode.
One is shifted manually, and the other is with a motor- but I believe that change didn't affect the actual case.

 

[drallan]

Thanks for the quick replies. I understand putting old parts on an old truck. According to the seller it has around 110k on the old shaft, so I figured that was probably in better shape from what I have. If it was the standard u-joint I would pull and replace or take to shop, but from what I have read the DC joint is a bit trickier to do.

I'm going to see if I can get some sort of warranty or fit guarantee. That way if it doesn't work i'm only out my time.

 

[pauldub]

Just look up the driveshaft part numbers for the two vehicles and see if they are the same.

 

[drallan]

Just look up the driveshaft part numbers for the two vehicles and see if they are the same.

That suggestion makes too much sense for me to have thought of!

Any idea where would I find the part # or would it be stamped on the driveshaft?

I'll see if I can crawl under and find it when I get home, but if someone knows off hand it would be great.

Thanks!

 

[drallan]

I found a sticker on my shaft with a long number 7242990112a129 but that doesn't match anything close to what the different Toyota parts sites are saying it should be 37110-3D250 or 37110-3D200. And nothing comes up on a google search for the numbers I found.

Any idea where to get the 37110 number without taking it off?

 

[pauldub]

I don't think that you'll find the Toyota part number on the driveshaft, same story with many other Toyota parts. Looking at the Camelback website, I see different part numbers for '99 and '02. That doesn't necessarily mean that they can't be interchanged. I'd measure the length of both of them to decide if the newer one is likely to work. Assuming the newer one is out of the vehicle, I'd compress it or extend it to the length it was nominally running at. You should be able to see by wear what the extension was where it nominally ran.

 

[drallan]

Update!!

TLR - Rear drive / propeller shaft from a 01-02 4wd 3.4L fit just fine on my 99 limited 4wd 3.4L.

So I got the junker rear drive shaft. It looked in really good shape, no real rust and all joints move easily and quiet so I went ahead and took a chance. I took mine off and compared the two before installing the new one. The only noticeable differences were that the double cardan joint in my old 99 appeared a little beefier. They were the same length, but it just looked thicker and bigger in general to that of the new one. Also, the DC joint only had 2 zerk fittings where as my old one had 3 zerks. On my old DS 2 of the zerks were on the outside of the u-joints and 1 inside the DC. The new one had both zerks more inside.

After a bit of finagling with the old one to get it off (tip- remove zerk for slip yoke and it compresses easily) I bolted the other one on with no problems at all. It fit just fine. I tightened everything up, fresh grease in all the zerks and took it for a test drive. No squeak, no clunk, no vibrations! So hopefully problem solved for a while.

I know it is just replacing one old part with another, but it is 2-3 years newer and with half the mileage (100k vs 200k) so if it last another 2-3 years I'm happy. And for $100 ($75 for the shaft and $25 shipping) and an hours work I can't really complain. No pressing old joints or messing with rebuilding a DC.

I did not buy new hardware, but everything looked in good shape. I wasn't' able to get the torque wrench on anything so I just tightened up as much as I could with putting my body weight into it. I might go and get new hardware, a bigger box wrench for more torque and slap some locktight on it when I get the chance. And I plan on periodically checking the bolts for the next few weeks.

All it took was a pair of 14mm box wrenches, 7mm socket (to remove zerk), BFH and prybar. I had sprayed everything with some Kano Kroil a few days ahead of time. Not sure if it helped, but getting old nuts off wasn't too bad. It was more the awkward position that limited leverage than anything.

Any idea what I should do with the old shaft? I typically save all my old parts, but they are starting to pile up in the garage and the wife is complaining.

Important safety bullet. Make sure to engage parking brake AND chock behind the wheels. My driveway is on a slight incline and I had been putting on the brake/chocking but had to bump it back a bit a few times to get access to last bolts in the rear. And of course I forgot to chock the last time, as soon as the shaft broke free from the rear diff the truck started to roll backwards. Fortunately it was a slow roll and I was able to get out. But definitely had my heart beating for a minute.