05 Taco Acceleration felt through Steering wheel and gas pedal

Hello,
I'm about to buy an 05 Taco auto/4 dr/TRD off road/tow pack/52k miles from some guy. When accelerating hard or soft I feel slight vibration in the steering wheel and gas pedal. When I let off the gas to coast it goes away. I tried tapping the gas and long acceleration and it was felt each time. I need to know if this is a 05 Tacoma trait or a problem. I called the dealership and spoke with Service writer (which are normally clueless) and he was not aware of any viberation issues with that year truck. Now...I have drove an 09 taco with same options twice and I felt no viberation. This might be covered under drivetrain warrenty but someone has to bring it in to check. What do you guys and gals think I should do??

Oh...and one more thing. The guy is selling it for a good price of 19,500 and didn't have a super great answer for selling the truck but it is NOT abused from what I can see.

 

What mods does it have? Sometimes a lift can cause a slight vibration.

 

I know this is a stupid question, but I'll ask it anyways. It wasn't in 4WD was it?

 

No mods. 4wd was not engaged but we did test H4 and L4 and worked fine. We drove in 2H.
I ran a carfax and the seller put on 25k miles in 10 months.
It has an accident history during the sellers time; I need to call him and find out details. Carfax gave this truck a Green light for a purchase.

 

It's got an accident? Don't touch this truck.

 

I checked with the seller; he hit a car with the trailer hitch going in reverse. It didn't effect the truck in anyway. The seller took the truck to a toyota dealership and 2 techs said the acceleration vibration was a normal part of the truck's operation.
I'm still considering getting the truck since it's still in good shape.

 

Exactly.

 

If it came up on carfax, you'll have a hard time selling it when you wanna get rid of it. You'll also get raped whenever you wanna trade it in. I think you should check into the acceleration deal yourself. Don't rely on the seller's word, he's trying to get rid of the thing. I think you are emotionally attached to this truck. Take a step back and think about it.

 

I have the same 'slight' vibration in my '06 DC 4x4. My truck has never had any damage. I figured it was just a harmonic vibration that was inherent to these rigs.

 

i gotta agree with klown... i know how tempting it can be to just pull the trigger and get a bad ass toy, but think about it... more and more 05 and 06s are starting to sell right now, theres gonna be plenty of other options in the long run, the 2nd generation is now 4 years in so ur gonna see them for sale more now than before

 

Well the seller took it to the dealership and I called service to verfiy. Everyone and their mother drove the truck and a TSB is out there about this issue. It's call "Axle wind down". It is caused by the drive shaft winding up while in use and when going to a stop it "unwinds". When accerating it will give slight vibration in the Steering wheel and gas pedal. I'm searching Google for this but can't locate. I guess Toyota says it's an issue with the tacomas. I'm going to start a new tread to see if anyone else has felt this. As for being attached to the truck....I know what you mean.

 

is this a recent tsb??

 

I had the same problem on my 2005 PR double cab at around 60000 miles. I took it to the dealer and took the tech on a drive. We got back and he crawled under the truck and found that the U-joints were badly worn. The one in front was ok but the rear was shot and very out of balence (causing the vibration that was felt in steering wheel). It cost me about 250.00 to fix it, not too bad. There was also a whining sound heard at highway speeds.

 

the front end is prob out of alignment i have the same problem with mine, got it realigned and it fixed the problem

 

I had the same problem with mine when it had only 12000 miles (2007 model). I brought it in to the dealer. They said the factory bearings in the front differential were bad and they replaced the complete diff. No more problems, currently have 45000 miles. I know way too many miles on a 1 year old truck huh
I would deffinitly tell the selller that he needs to get an alignment and show you the spec sheet. Check the inside edge of the tires to see if there is any cupping.

 

I had the same problem with mine when it had only 12000 miles (2007 model). I brought it in to the dealer. They said the factory bearings in the front differential were bad and they replaced the complete diff. No more problems, currently have 45000 miles. I know way too many miles on a 1 year old truck huh
I would deffinitly tell the selller that he needs to get an alignment and show you the spec sheet. Check the inside edge of the tires to see if there is any cupping.

 

I'm not going to buy the turck with the vibration issues. Even though I could get an awesome deal from the guy but since this will be my daily driver for me and my family I don't want to try to fix the issue and get that "look" from my wife when I'm spending more time in the garage. I'm still searching for an 03 to 06 4 door 4x4 TRD off road.

 

Good decision man! It's always tough to walk away, but I think you did the right thing. You'll get your truck at the price you want, just have to be patient when looking for a used truck.

 

i agree with klown........if you went ahead and got this truck, and cant fix the vibes, then you end up shelling out money on top of everything, plus it'll aggravate you till no end!! keep looking man, you'll find a good one!!