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

Earlier this week I visited a local dealership to explore some options. The dealership wasn't busy, so the salesman and I took a few Off-Roads for a spin. One had the faintest vibration emanate from the steering wheel in the RPM ranges. It was barely noticeable. However, the other one was very prominent in the steering wheel. Yet neither had it come through the floodbed or pedals. But I don't know when those came off the assembly line.

 

I test drove a sr5 model ac 4x4 auto for 48 hrs. There is a sight buzz like you saying. There something is not right. Shouldn't have that at all

 

hmmm thanks for the info, I can't believe this issue has gone on this long without even a hopeful fix yet.

 

Wondering if potential buyers who have experienced this problem can call Toyota and make a complaint. Please try calling take 5 minutes and let them know it's keeping you from making purchase...

Toyota
1 800 331 4331

 

This is a good idea. Something tells me the Corporate Mothership will listen more to potential buyers who were scared off than those who already made a purchase. Although with waits on new trucks longer now than in October of last year I fear it will fall on deaf ears. Toyota is having no problems moving units.

 

Wish I saw this before I picked mine up 2-6-15.
I didn't notice the vibration till this morning. 45-55 mph. It feels like a driveline angle vibration but it surges,comes and goes at a constant rate.I can feel it in the steering wheel and floor . It is there even with the clutch in.
SR 4cyl , 5 speed access cab with under 150 miles so far.

 

That does not sound like an exhaust harmonic problem if it does it with you clutch pushed in, because your rpm and engine load would change. Yours I would lean toward tire balance since it is speed related, not rpm and load related. Could be drive line but I would get the tires balanced and go from there.

 

If it is indeed the same, I believe this would be the first report of the issue in a four cylinder.

 

And if that's the case, that changes everything....

 

The vibration in mine is road speed related, definitely not engine speed.

 

Could be out of balance tires on the 4cyl. It has happened already.

 

Definitely a different issue. The engineers I spoke with said that the issue they were looking at was strictly related to the new V6. Yours sounds relatively easy to figure out and resolve, compared to the V6 issue. Good luck!

 

Is your truck a 4x4 or 2wd?

 

4x4

 

If you're in 2wd and you feel that vibration, see if it goes away when put in 4wd.

 

If it's 4x4 it sounds like the front diff, drivers side CV shaft vibration.. Mine had it from day one and I said to hell with Toyota and put the ECGS bushing in and problem solved... Mine has the RPM vibration as well, I just didn't notice as bad until I fixed the diff.

 

I tried putting it in 4wd , it gets steady instead of surging.

 

Hey guys, haven't posted in awhile on this issue but have about 1300 miles on my 2016 DCSB Limited and the vibration in the steering wheel and gas pedal persists. No real improvement and the more highway trips I take, the more numb my right foot is becoming.

I called Customer Care to see if I could somehow get some intel on any fixes upcoming, etc. but to no avail. The rep this time around was passively rude and kept telling me theres nothing they can do other than me taking it to the dealer to get diagnosed.

On that note, I have an appt at the dealer tomorrow to get the trans fluid level checked and for them to look into this. Will keep everyone posted on any details that come out of the visit.

 

If I have learned anything about failure analysis over the last 30 years, it is this:
1. Without isolation of the root cause, nothing is definitive.
2. Asking the same engineers that designed a flawed component to formulate a solution is usually ineffective. They would be required to admit culpability. Self preservation precludes this.

Toyota has not offered a root cause. In fact, other than the two engineers involved in your unique situation, the official response from Toyota is that there isn't problem. That alone speaks volumes about what Toyota plans to do about the reported vibration issue. It appears that Toyota's policy is deny, deflect and divide.

Tacoma vibration complaints are not new, the 2016 has the same basic frame design and driveline components as the 2005-2015 models. And not surprisingly, the same mysterious vibration is present. Two of those components are suspect, the poorly engineered drive shaft carrier bearing support (looks like 10 gauge stamped steel) and the two piece drive shaft. Peripherals that probably exacerbate vibrations would be the motor mounts and transmission mount. Motor/trans mounts need to be rigid enough to contain the units, yet offer damping to isolate drive train vibrations from the frame.

So what does all this mean? Anecdotal evidence implies that the root cause is that the entire drive train, frame, and mountings were designed right at the threshold. If each component had been engineered to be slightly stiffer, the vibration problem would not exist. This is why Toyota will not offer a root cause or formulate an absolute solution. To do so would expose them to the possibility of a massive, highly expensive recall.

So far in the 500 miles I have driven my 2016, vibration has not been an issue. It isn't a Rolls Royce smooth engine/drive train, but it seems perfectly suitable to me. I do however recognize that there have been others who initially felt the same only to experience the phenom after a few thousand miles rack up on the odometer.

If and when this happens to me, I will not waste time begging Toyota for a solution. The largest rotating mass is the drive shaft, my efforts will be to tune vibrations out of this rotating assembly. Balancing the shaft assembly and or fabrication of a more rigid carrier bearing support to control or reduce the vibrations from transferring through the chassis seems like a good place to start. Failing that, replacement of the 2 piece shaft with a single piece shaft and optimizing the drive line angles would follow.

Expecting Toyota to do anything after ignoring the issue for a decade seems futile.

 

That certainly is a valid possibility....your analysis makes sense. We can always hope otherwise, though....at least for a few more months, at which time mine will be gone from my garage....and replaced with something that I can actually drive on a long trip.