Topic: General 4" 81 lift questions

[Alpendubber]

I just purchased a 4" lift for my 81 longbed.  I installed it....no problem.  I haven't tested it offroad because my brake lines haven't come in yet.  But, today I needed to use four wheel drive due to much snow.  I went to pull away and instantly noticed that my front drive shaft is binding, bad.  I figured this should not be a problem with such a mild lift (Previous truck 85 Samurai LWB 8", no problems).  So, here is what I have 4" front leaf packs, swaybar extenders, stock shackles, rear leaf packs...simple....can anybody give me any information on why this lift may have caused such a driveline pinion angle problem...is this normal on toyota's?

Alpendubber

[SolidAxle]

   i'm pretty sure its normal

[Alpendubber [OP]]

It can't be normal.  It doesn't even work.  The u joint will not turn at all, first quarter turn and it locks.

[kyle_22r]

ever pull the driveshaft off the diff and let it hang?  those CVs don't like a huge amount of angle.  i'm doing 3" springs on my truck, but i consider the front shaft to be temporary until i do dual cases.  when that happens, i'm going to have the drivelines reworked so the rear driveline is shortened, a long slip kit installed and put in the front, and the CV is lengthened and installed in the rear.  the non-cv driveline can take the more severe angles of the front better but may vibe a bit -- but this isn't my dd any more so it shouldn't matter much.

[Alpendubber [OP]]

The driveshaft did come apart, but not at the diff.  I had marked it and slipped it back together in the same location.  For some reason it is binding so bad that it is undriveable when the hubs are locked, the pinion angle does not look that extreme.  Thank you for the info

[TEXCRAWLER]

if you are running a cv drive line it could be possible that the ball on the inside of the cv is blown, and that would cause the drive line to bind up. the ball on the inside that i'm talking about is between the 2 u-joints and they pivit on the ball. if you remove the shaft and put the cv at the greatest angle you will see what i'm talking about. if there is no metal ball or needle bearings that is a big problem.

The driveshaft did come apart, but not at the diff.  I had marked it and slipped it back together in the same location.  For some reason it is binding so bad that it is undriveable when the hubs are locked, the pinion angle does not look that extreme. 

not able to pick up what your saying but when you lock your t-case in 4-low your d-line should turn automaticly without the hubs locked in. if it is undriveable when you lock in your hubs you might want to check your birfeilds. one could possible be broken.

[Bob Garrett]

As mentioned before the CV in the front shaft will bind up at a lesser angle than a standard u-joint. My 83 had a similar problem with a 4" lift, however it was ok on level ground. Would bind up when the right front was a full droop, tho.

You will probably need to replace the front shaft with a non-cv shaft. If you plan to wheel it hard, you should get one with a long slip kit.

[Alpendubber [OP]]

It doesn't have a cv front drive line though,  and binding at full droop with a 4" is what I expected, not driving on level ground.  It isn't any of the other listed possible problems i.e. birfields, everything was in working order before the lift.  I'm open for any other suggestions

[All_Set]

Probably not gonna be much help.  But here it goes.

Get under the truck and spin the d-line by hand and see what/ where it is binding.  If the yoke is hitting the yoke, the angle is too extreme.  (too much lift)

81 toy's have the short tranny, leading to a crappy u-joint/pinion angles for the front when lifted.

Possible solutions.

New driveline w/ newer yokes.  Newer yokes (84+) have a greater angle before binding.  (Call Jesse @ Highangle drive line) 

Drop (lower) the t-case x-member with spacers.  If done enough, might be able to relax the angle @ the yoke.  (although i have not seen anyone do this w/ a toy)

Swap in an 84+ manual tranny.  These are 4 or 6 inchs longer than the 79-83 trannies and will help your u-joint angles.

And my favorite..   Put in double t-case.  That's fix any/all binding d-line issues.      

[derek]

also could put in some shims to tip the pinion towards the t-case.
it should have a cv drive shaft if it is the stock one.
they all had a cv in front at the t-case end.

derek

[toynorcal]

It doesn't have a cv front drive line though, and binding at full droop with a 4" is what I expected, not driving on level ground. It isn't any of the other listed possible problems i.e. birfields, everything was in working order before the lift. I'm open for any other suggestions

If it is a stock drive shaft, then it does have a CV on the t-case end of the shaft. (Like Derek said)

To check whats binding, un-bolt the drive shaft at the third member and turn the shaft with the t-case in neutral while holding the shaft at a similar angle as the resting position. You should see your problem.

If it really does have u-joints on both ends and it is not binding, then jack up the front axle. Lock both hubs and spin the flange on your third member. If that is where you are binding, then unlock one of the hubs to see which side is giving you trouble(if you dont have it spooled/locked).

Did you turn the pinion up any? If everything was working fine before the lift, then you can pretty much count on this being an angle problem and you just need to crawl under there and find where.

Good luck bud.

[79coyotefrg]

i have 3-4 inches of lift and my front shaft binds with any droop,  but it sounds like some out of phase problem

[toybuilt]

Well lets see here on first generation toys they have a shorter transmition there for when you lift them you need to put a 4 degree or even a 6 degree shim in between the axle and the spring. This happened to me when I first lifted my 83 Toyota.

I hope this helps