Newbie Questions

Hi- I just got my first tacoma in August and I'm having some vibration while driving. If anyone can give me some pointers for troubleshooting this I would greatly appreciate it! I'll list some info on the truck and what I've done.

2002 Doublecab, SR5, V6, Auto transmission, 4WD

85K Miles

Stock suspension and stock throughout

New 265 70 16 Grabber A/T 2

New Rear Shocks- Monroe

Frame was treated/sprayed in 2009 and looks to be in good condition with only some surface rust

When I bought the truck it had 80k miles on it. The previous owner only drove the car about 1500 miles in the last 2 years before I bought it. They bought the truck with 69k in 2009 and only made it to 80k by August of 2014. It sat a lot, outside in the elements, in a coastal Maine location.

I recently drained and filled the front and rear differentials (mobil 1) and transmission ( MaxLife DEX/MERC ATF) and engine oil (mobil 1). There are no visible fluid leaks anywhere that I have seen.

A few weeks ago the truck started shaking / vibrating at over 50mph. It didn't happen every time I drove and seemed to be dependent on the amount of time I drove. My commute is about 20min and it doesn't always do it. One the vibration / shake starts, if I hit the brakes they pulse really, really bad and I feel like I have a lot of play in the steering. Once I come to a complete stop and start driving again the vibration is gone and I don't feel any pulse in the brakes until I get up to around 50. While this is happening I don't notice and difference in the engine power. I also don't hear anything different or anything that sounds out of place.

It has been doing this for about 3 weeks. In that time I had my truck inspected and they didn't notice anything and said my brakes looked fine. I ended up failing for my parking brake and rear bumper. I replaced the bumper and lubed my parking brake and started using is regularly for a week and it passed and I got a new sticker. When it was getting inspected I had my tires rebalanced.

Initially the balancing seemed to make the problem go away. About a week went by and I didn't get the vibration. So I decided to buy new tires because they weren't cutting it in the snow which we get a lot of in Maine. I ended up just buying new Grabber A/T2 in 265 70 16. Again, the vibration seemed to be gone and I figures the balance was bad and the tires were cupped really badly and that is what was causing the problem.

Yesterday driving home I got the vibration again. I was only driving for about 10 minutes when it started. I stopped at my mechanics on the way home and he drove with me for a few miles until we felt the vibration. He didn't really feel the vibration but as soon as I hit the brakes he felt it and said that I have a front brake problem. When we got back he took the temp of both rotors. Front drivers was over 400F and front passenger was 280F. He suggested that the problem was a warper rotor or a caliper issue on the drivers side.

Can anyone please give me their 2-cents on how they would approach this? Apologies for the long post I just wanted to make sure that I gave as much info as I could!

 

maine is awesome I lived in scarborough for several years before moving to Montana , I would suggest investing in some high grade rotors and brakes , hopefully that will solve your issue, where in Maine are you from ?

 

You need new rotors. 99% of break "pulsing" is caused by warped or worn rotors. @15 years old your over due for them anyway.

 

As for the front rotors. If they're warped you can either get them turned (shaved down), or just replace them. That will fix the brake vibration.

Internals of the calipers could be corroded a bit causing one side to have more pressure, in turn causing one side to heat up more. I would flush the entire brake fluid system. If you have the calipers off for replacing or turning the rotors, the caliper pistons should smoothly slide back with the use of a C clamp. Shouldn't bind or grind. If they do, they should be rebuilt or replaced.

I would recheck the tire balance if the driving vibes just started again.

 

Scarborough, I spend some time around there fishing for stripped bass in the summer! Just moved Yarmouth about a year ago, before that we were in Cumberland. I went to school in Bozeman, Mt. from 94-98, loved it out there!

I'll start pricing out rotors, pads and a rebuild kit for the calipers,

Thanks for the reply.

 

Thanks for the responses. I ended up pulling off the calipers today to check the pistons and my drivers side, which had the rotor that was quite a bit hotter, and it seemed like there were 2 pistons that were not moving and would stick. The passenger side was better but one also seemed like it was not moving as freely as the rest. I ended up replacing both calipers, rotors and pads. Drove it for about 30 miles and, knock on wood, everything seems fine now. I didn't get any vibration or brake pulse. Thanks again for the help.

 

^^Useful info. Glad you got it figured out & repaired.