Not impressed with this transmission

First post, sorry for complaining. I recently bought a 2012 with about 73K miles.

About 1,000 miles after I purchased my taco, I noticed this transmission feels like crap. It shifts hard, has a very strange vibration when approaching 20 mph, and sometimes when I come to idle there is a late kick. It actually moves the truck. I'm not a car guru, what the hell is that late kick?

 

Manual or auto?

 

Was it ok on the test drive?

 

Auto, ya I took it on the highway and never noticed the idle kick. The hard shifting comes and goes. If I don't accelerate to much, the shifting is generally smooth. The idle kick is driving me crazy.

 

20 mph vibration is the typical driveline vibration... do research on that.

Check trans fluid levels, they are known to be low from the factory.

 

exactly this.

 

Maybe roasted u-joints

 

If your ac is on, that late kick is known as the "Toyota Surge" and happens when the engine changes rpm when the compressor starts and stops.

 

The "idle kick" your feeling is the trans back shifting to first, usually more noticeable with hard braking, if you can ease out of the throttle and let the trans braking slow you down, you won't feel it as bad.
As for the shifting hard, these trucks have a learning curve, unhook the battery for a couple minutes (like 10) then drive the truck the way you normally would and the trans will learn to shift the way you drive.

 

My brother-in-law had the same issue in his automatic, he said if he went to a red light too quickly he would feel the down shift so hard he thought someone ran into him. He even got out of the car to look at his bumper one time. No problems in my 13 manual just the slight rev hang to get used to.

 

I have that idle kick too. It feels like someone bumped your rear bumper. So does my friends 2013 Tundra. He his center carrier bearing blew out and got a new driveshaft under warranty and it went away, but came back a few hundred miles later lol.

Truck.

 

No need to apologize, you're gripe against the trans/shifting /clutch (might as well get all the turds together) is legit, Toyota coulda done a far better job with the misconfigured 6 speed (assuming this) & weak ass clutch components, the other issue you describe is classic axle wrap from the metal shavings they call leaf springs..

 

For the ABS issue, buy a good set of tires that are appropriate for your driving conditions. A second set of winter tires/ wheels may be appropriate in your situation.

I don't have an auto trans, but the advice given above is solid. Low trans fluid causes hard shifts. These autos are known for down shifting hard after you stop (especially if you are a little heavy on the brakes - a heavy brake foot makes the ABS issue worse too) Driveline vibes are typical, but can be solved. Start by greasing the u joints.

 

Vibration is the driveline angle. Well documented- Search.

The "Kick" is the rear end clunck. Again well document - Search.

 

Thanks guys, I'll start looking at all of these recommendations.