oh no....TSB-0171-16 Driveline vibration

I have a 2019 that I started noticing some bumping while decelerating today. Popped in neutral and it didn't change anything so I going to have the dealer check out the drums, hoping they may just be out of round and it's nothing axle/angle related. I'll post back end of next week when I get it checked.

 

I am on my 2nd - 3rd Gen Tacoma. I bought a 2017 SR5 4X4 in July of 2017. Over the following 9 months I went through 5 sets of rear drum brakes and two rear axle replacements. I was also noticing the vibration and shuddering while braking from the rear. I initiated a buy-back request with Toyota Corporate and ended up receiving a full refund (including registration fees) from Toyota.

Convinced that I had bought a rare fluke of a lemon, I bought a 2018 TRD-OR in April of 2018. I now have 20K and have been through 4 sets of rear drums... Toyota regional engineer says the rear axle measures within spec each time, but the drums are obviously out of round and need replacing. They do not know what's causing the brakes to go out of round, since there is no run out on the axle. The last time I took the truck in, the service rep advised that I use my gears more when towing to be easier on my brakes. I don't tow with my Tacoma.

 

Damn...that is crazy! Problem where I live is no dealers will do anything ,not even replace drums/rotors. They are apparently “unable to duplicate” customer complaint even though a bottled water will almost pop out of drink holder when braking.

 

Calmly but assertively ask that the service manager take a two minute ride with you and demo the problem for them. New Trucks shouldn’t shake braking , that’s bs.

 

I am also on my second 3rd Gen Tacoma in 5 months!

Rumble Strip vibes as well.

I didn't have any such luck with Toyota corporate helping out. They basically told me to go f**k myself. Local dealer, who had my truck in the shop for 5 weeks, stepped in and got me into a new taco off the lot for pennies out of my pocket.

Toyota denied hearing anything about it. The vibe was so bad that it drowned out the cab like a huge sub woofer, buzzing interior panels and numbing my hands on the wheel. Was mostly pronounced when really cold outside.

They replaced drums (which were definitely out of round), front diff, torque converter, tires & wheels, and did several TSBs and updates to no avail.

I went from an '18 Sport DCLB to an '18 Pro DCSB (both auto). The new truck vibes a bit under the same conditions but not enough to complain about really. I also had a few loaner (used lot) Tacomas and they all vibed similar except the DCSB 6Speed manual. That thing was as smooth as glass!!

Hopefully they listen to us soon!

Cheers all

 

Hope you have better luck than me. They told me replacing the rear axle would solve it (It didn't), said replacing the driveshaft would solve it (It didn't). At this point, its not a huge huge problem and its doesnt do it every single time, just every other time, so trying to get used to it and see if I can get over it. Other than that problem, I love the truck. Just wish there's a fix.

 

How did you get yours to stop?

 

Having the exact same rumble strip vibration on my stock height 2018 SR5 DCSB 4X2 with TRD OR shocks and coils (7,000 miles) the problem appears to circle back to the pinion angle every time which means the leaf springs Toyota is using are inadequate. Toyota Dealership says it’s normal, even compared it to a used SR5 built around the same time and claimed it did the same thing, unfortunately the truck was sold before I could test drive it.

It’s interesting if you look into the earlier threads about this T-SB, I think a few pages back here you’ll see a post in this thread with a service ticket picture, that they replaced the rear leaf springs with the firm ride style leaf packs which in theory will help prevent axle wrap and I’m assuming at the same time, pull the pinion angle upwards. Hopefully someone can chime in here to confirm this but I do recall seeing some these leaf spring packs getting flattened out on brand new Tacoma trucks from normal driving conditions / no towing.

I know from the part numbers on my current leaf springs are considered standard ride, it would be interesting to see if there is a correlation between standard ride leaf springs and rumble strip vibes

I’m also getting pedal vibes / intermittent pulsations when accelerating through 50 MPH does anyone else notice this too?

The truck was also previously lifted thus I’m suspecting an issue with the driveshaft itself, being too short for the lift (2.25-2.50” increase in the rear) and not angled right, despite taking angle measurements, shimming and adding spacers under the carrier bearing there was no fixing the thing completely so I took it off. By the way the lift was on the truck for less than a month, drove it maybe 200-300 miles lifted in all, The master technician at the Toyota dealership also assessed and torqued down all of the stock suspension to factory spec after it was removed.

I’m having the drive shaft rebalanced Tuesday in hopes this solves my problems, at least with the intermittent high speed pulsations however if it doesn’t I’m going to push the buck on this T-SB and try my best to get them to apply it however Toyota is so dang finicky about the trucks they apply T-SBs to which is crazy when it’s obviously an ongoing issue with a vast majority of them, stemming from 2nd generation Tacoma’s, like wtf, 14 years later they’re still having the same issues?

 

Thought I'd share my experiences. Been going through the same vibration issue with my 2018 OR. Dealer has re-surfaced the drums 3x and replaced them 2x, as well as turned the front rotors 1x. Has been in service for 29 days total. I asked corporate to buy the vehicle back under my state lemon-law requirement and they turned down my request, stating the reason for the brakes going out of round must be driver habits. They measured the rear axle for run-out and say it's in spec. I filed a complaint with the National Center for Dispute and now have an arbitration hearing with the Toyota Field Technician and NCDS to discuss the case and hopefully re-evaluate a buy-back. I'll keep everyone posted in case you go through the same issues.

 

Glad to hear I’m not the only 2018 owner having issues, what is the mode of the vibration(s) your experiencing, is it the same as what I described above?

Please update once you have some sort of resolution, I’m looking to trade in the truck at this point for an entirely different brand.

 

Yep, rumble strip sensation when braking at high speeds. I'll keep you posted. I want out of Toyota also, just don't know what I'll get instead.

 

You seem to be in the same boat I was in. I researched a lot and every manufacturer these days has problems. Toyota seems to have the least amount of problems. Ford is ok but you’ll have to go F150 to avoid most problems truck wise. For me and my price range that wasn’t an option.

 

I am going to give my dealer one chance to fix mine at the 5k service. This high volume dealer must have run into this problem before in the service department with the Tacoma. If they can’t ,it’s gone. I can’t stand the braking condition and is totally unacceptable on a vehicle that cost this much.

 

@Skull politely bring up your condition and mention TSB 0023-19. Fixed it for me. Also have them check to make sure rear brake drums are in round. That’s what I did and truck drives how it should now.

 

So why are the dealers playing Dumb on all these issues ? Does toyota corp not want to pay for for the repairs ? thoughts?

 

As for my experience with bad vibrations in the steering wheel on my first 19 Tacoma between 20-30 mph, I felt like Toyota was telling me they don't know how to fix the problem becuase it could be a number of things. My newer 19 Tacoma does it too but not anywhere near the same level. I can learn to get used to that. I just pray it doesnt get worst. They all do it some because I test drove three Tacoma from two different dealerships and I could tell it since I knew what to look for. The dealer at the dealership 1 hour away said he never noticed it before until told him so for most you don't notice it because you aren't looking for it. On my first one, you couldn't help but notice it.

 

They do not want to deal with it because you do not have the caliber of technician to figure it out to get paid from mother Toyota on a warranty claim.

 

I have it as well. 2018 trd pro, 6spd manual with 2,000 miles. Babied, never off-roaded or locked the brakes up. Mine does it really bad at 60mph if I apply the brakes i get very bad shuddering in the brake pedal, If I do it while putting the truck in neutral, it gets even worse.

 

You have warped brake drums I'm guessing. Toyota has a problem with their factory drums. Several bad batches...

 

Agreed. Over the past 2 years I have had almost 10 different loaner Tacomas, and most of them had a noticeable vibration from the rear.