noise from drive-shaft

[macbass]

Hi,
I have a '94 3.0 litre Surf SSR-G, Japanese import. I bought the vehicle about 10months ago from an importer in Surrey. Mileage is pretty low for the age - @ 56000 on the clock when I bought it and the import company assured me this was km and not miles. It's had a Rancho suspension lift of about 6 inches , which was done previously and all done correctly as far as I can see. Generally speaking the vehicle is in great condition.
For the past month I've heard quite a loud 'grating' noise under the vehicle, particularly during motorway driving. For instance, if I'm travelling at say 70/80 mph( or it could be less) and lift off the accelerator this is when the noise occurs . It only lasts for a few seconds till the vehicle decelerates a bit but occurs again for a few seconds when accelerating back up to speed.
I'm wondering if this is drive-shaft related. I'd be grateful if anyone has any idea what this might be.

[openback]

do you know if the lift kit is definately from rancho? don't think their kit lowers the front diff. are the lower suspension arms fairly level or quite steeply sloping down (chassis to wheel).
does your surf have manul free wheel hubs or central disconect? if its man hubs check they are in free for road use. i believe that if you lift an IFS toyota to much without lowering the diff ( there are advantages to this) this can cause vibration and possibly noise at road speeds if the font drive train continues to turn as with a central disconect design, conversion to man hubs in't that straight forward. the above is what i have gleaned from reading US mags and web sites. hope there some thing useful here.

[macbass]

drive-shaft noise ?

do you know if the lift kit is definately from rancho? don't think their kit lowers the front diff. are the lower suspension arms fairly level or quite steeply sloping down (chassis to wheel).
does your surf have manul free wheel hubs or central disconect? if its man hubs check they are in free for road use. i believe that if you lift an IFS toyota to much without lowering the diff ( there are advantages to this) this can cause vibration and possibly noise at road speeds if the font drive train continues to turn as with a central disconect design, conversion to man hubs in't that straight forward. the above is what i have gleaned from reading US mags and web sites. hope there some thing useful here.

thanks for this... i can see the shocks are definitely rancho so i'm presuming the rest of the kit is as well. lower suspension arms are fairly level - certainly not sloping down steeply from chassis to wheel. it does have manual free wheel hubs which are set to free for road use. i'd say the vehicle's been lifted at least 6" over normal height - when u say there r advantages to lifting without lowering the diff what are these ? i'm not far from u - do u know of a mechanic who's got experience dealing with surfs and could help with this ? thanks again.

[openback]

thanks for this... i can see the shocks are definitely rancho so i'm presuming the rest of the kit is as well. lower suspension arms are fairly level - certainly not sloping down steeply from chassis to wheel. it does have manual free wheel hubs which are set to free for road use. i'd say the vehicle's been lifted at least 6" over normal height - when u say there r advantages to lifting without lowering the diff what are these ? i'm not far from u - do u know of a mechanic who's got experience dealing with surfs and could help with this ? thanks again.

advantages of lifting without lowering diff are increase in ground clearance, but has possible disadvantages of drive train wear. if hubs are set to free and the transfer case in 2wd high, get under the truck and you should be able to turn the front prop quite freely as it should be dissconected at both ends. if you can't turn it try and find where it's connected by jacking and turning the wheels. if it ts free to turn it mean any noise isn't coming from the front drive train, if the hubs are stuck engaged you will be back driving the diff etc which should be fine but may be the cause of your noise if there are any problems in it.
sorry don't now of any mechanic i could recomend localy.

[Tallyman]

It could well be rear propshaft UJ's. I got this on mine last year. Sorted it temporarily by pumping plenty of grease into the propshaft grease nipples. Did a UJ change on the propshaft last summer. The old one was was really rusted up and would hardly move when I took the propshaft off the car. Much much easier with the new one in. Still got one spare UJ for when the other end goes but at the time it was fairly smooth so too much hassle to do both at the same time.