Buzzy Vibration at certain RPM's..read before buying!

That sounds like a different issue...

 

I agree. This isn't something you feel on deceleration in an MPH range. It corresponds to the tachometer being at 2,100-2,300 and 3,500 RPMS. Best I can describe it is to imagine those electric massagers that barbers put on their hands to massage your neck after a haircut. Strong, buzzy vib. Now take that and put it into the steering wheel, gas pedal, and floor bed when your engine is working in those RPM ranges.

I usually drive in the city and I always feel it briefly accelerating through the 2,100 range. It's not faint on mine when city driving. Its strong and, although brief, annoying. But today I had to travel through the mountains on a long trip for a work site visit: boy when on those hills and cruising in those RPMs, it's constant and you can only take so much before you do what you can to get the truck out of that range. Wow.

 

I've felt it from day 2 faintly, but with the driving I do I'm lucky if I get past 45 mph in general. But now it actually seems to be getting stronger. I do notice it below 2000 rpm.

 

Yes, WOW! I've been driving all in-town lately and not missing the issue; and, I had to get out on the highway and was stuck driving in 'the RPM range' and my arms get pretty numb. I can feel it for a few hours afterwards, too. Fortunately, I've learned to drive around it and constantly switch hands on the steering shwwl, flexing hands, etc; however, it is no.fun.at.all. Heck, I have less fatigued arms after driving my Harley 500 miles.

I have not yet heard from the Toyota Engineer who was supposed to call me and come to Flagstaff; however, I have heard some rumors that Toyota might have a fix coming (something about A/T programming....but not really sure how just some programming would eliminate the buzzy vibration) and they are delaying him coming out to see my truck. How I hope this is true; however, I shall not hold my breath....

 

I, too, notice it below 2000RPM; however, it is very faint and, to be honest with you, would not really be noticeable. It really comes on at that 2100RPM area, though..........that's where I can really feel it in the steering wheel and floorboard area. I had one of my employees in the vehicle with me and he felt it, too, in the passenger floorboard as I was driving across town. He felt it come and go as I accelerated through the gears...

 

I anxiously await resolution of this issue. Without a fix I'll be in a new vehicle by the 2017 model year.

Would be disappointing if there were a way for them to bandaid the issue by programming the trans to minimize time in these bands.

 

I, too, shall be in another vehicle if this issue doesn't get fixed.....I'm reading interesting rumors about the new Ford Ranger and their twin-turbo V6......

As to that band-aid, that's the first thing that I thought of...some jury-rigged programming to have it drive around the buzzy vibration range, which to me is not a fix at all.....now, if it is a fix that smooths out the acceleration and maybe drops the mileage, I could live with that....CR just posted that they are getting about 20 overall on their test Tacoma (and also said they were disappointed in the performance, as they thought it programmed for mileage at the expense of performance) , and if that dropped to 18 or 19 because they re-programmed it to get rid of the buzz, I could live with that, easily. Cheaper to pay for the extra gas than take the hit we'll all take by trading in...

 

I'm not a mechanical engineer, but it doesn't seem like something that can be addressed with the transmission. Maybe something with the engine mounts or some sort of dampening in the steering column, dunno. Its odd that some would have the issue and some wouldn't.

 

I also cannot see how transmission programming could "fix" the issue. Unfortunately it is probably related to angles and manufacturing tolerances. If so, I don't anticipate a true "fix".

 

I keep hearing different fixes....and so far, nothing makes enough sense to get too excited about. I'm hoping to get better information if/when the corporate engineer comes to visit and will post if anything comes out in our conversation. I was supposed to hear by today......sigh....

 

I notice it under power at 2100 - 2200 rpm.

I'm usually not in that band very often or for very long, but you can definitely feel and hear a resonance at that RPM under load....like going up a hill and it needing to shift.

For what it's worth, mine is a DCSB TRD OR 4x4 auto, which I've been reading most people say is not affected.

I haven't had it on the express way yet though, we'll see what it feels like then.

I honestly probably would not have even noticed it if it weren't for this forum.

 

I have had very few people who have an O/R say they feel the vibration. There is one toyota engineer who said he could feel it; however he said it was 10% or so of what he felt in the sport/limited/SR5.

 

I'm sure I feel this vibration in my OR but, its not enough to really bother and either in town or on the highway (I've done probably 2500 highway miles) I don't hang out in that rev range. I can see why this would be an issue if the vibes were worse.

 

I found this while posting on another thread a few weeks ago and was meaning to post here. Got this on mine too and the dealer told me "already known issue if we hear more we'll let you know" when I called them about it. I called again yesterday and they hadn't heard anything. I really hope they fix this. Seems like there is hope?

 

Just got a call from Toyota. They are sending a 3 person engineering team to go over the truck on 1/13/16 and will need the truck for the day. He stated they were sending an A team as they consider this a safety issue, based on my complaint. Apparently I'm not the only one who gets numb hands/lower arms from the vibration.....he didn't say that specifically; however, the implication was there....

 

Wow that's awesome. I kinda wonder tho why they couldn't have this A team out at the factory way before then trying to pull models to figure this out or at least get their hands on some test trucks when it's a saftey issue? Seems like a lot of trucks will keep coming off the lots with this...

 

Well, I read on another forum that Toyota is testing the trucks coming off the line and not shipping them if they have the vibration...not sure how true that is; however, that may be why the Tacomas are in sudden short supply. My friend, who is the dealer's fleet manager, is saying the Tacoma supply suddenly dried up a few weeks ago. He is having trouble getting any in at this point and has many orders in the pipeline that are not being filled...and has many upset customers. The delivery dates are now just showing as 'pending', instead of giving him a date and ones that had a delivery date are now showing 'pending', too....

Interesting....

 

I was on the fence between auto or manual... I'm on the ground now.

I scoffed at numb hands when I first read it. Thought you just cleverly used that to escalate the situation; it certainly was the critical factor that got corporate involved. Potential legal repercussions for death's behind the wheel of a brand new Tacoma due to manufacturing defects = send out the A team, lol

 

I certainly do wish it was just me being clever. Unfortunately, it took several hours after I finished that first long trip (when I truly discovered the issue) for my arms to stop tingling. I have since learned to change my driving habits to minimize the discomfort by changing the position of the steering wheel, switching hands and positions on the wheel, trying to stay out of the vibration range, etc. etc. (not to mention just driving my wife's Avalon on longer trips...).

I did reiterate to the Engineer that, in my humble opinion, the numbness could certainly cause someone to possibly fail to properly respond to an emergency avoidance situation and that changing how one holds the steering wheel to avoid the vibration causing this problem was also not smart as it could, again, cause you to lose precious time in an emergency as you had to adjust your hands back to a 10/2 position to control steering in a more efficient fashion. I think these are all valid concerns.

As a side note, the buzzy vibration is also there in the floorboard area; however, there it is just an annoyance at this point, primarily; however, once again, my issue to Toyota was: Does this vibration (which is obviously the same as the one felt in the steering wheel and not a separate issue) cause reliability or safety issues? What will the effect of this vibration be, long term, on the vehicle? What critical parts of this truck are being subject to a stress factor which will cause them to prematurely fail? And, again back to safety, could that critical failure cause death and/or injury?

I need answers before I can decide to keep the truck.

 

I have owned my 2006 Tacoma for eight years and after all this vibration talk I noticed that between 2000 and 3000 RPMs I also have this slight vibration in the wheel and pedal… It could just be because I have 370,000 km on it… But it was my first truck I ever bought and never really figured anything was abnormal until all this talk....but it doesn't really bother me and it never dead I hope my new one I ordered yesterday does not have this problem but I ordered a TRD off-road so fingers crossed