New 4x4 Tacoma Has Vibration When Braking

I’m moving to a Tundra or F-150 this week.

 

100 or so more miles and I cannot see how anyone could ever recommend the leaf spring TSB. Truck is 100x worse. This went from being a 50/50 annoyance problem to now it happens 100% of the time, it's super noticeable, and the truck shakes like hell EVERY time I'm on the brakes from 30mph down. What a horrible reverse engineering solution from Toyota. I know every vehicle is different, but I'm blown away that anyone has seen success from this TSB.

 

^^^^ check the torque on your ubolts I believe they should be 85ft/lb

 

This was a chronic problem on my '05 Rust-o-matic, err, Tundra.

Warped brake rotor. Replace, and it'd be fine for 1000 miles, then GK-GK-GK-GK-gk-gk--gk----gk. "This rotor is too damned small, sir!" fell on deaf service manager ears. Didn't help griping, but adding oversized aftermarket rotors, calipers, and pads worked great.

 

U bolts as in the ones holding the leaf springs? I've read everywhere on here that OEM was around 35 ftlbs (?) and people were recommending 55ft lbs (?) May not be those exact numbers but 85 seems pretty high. From what I remember reading the 2nd Gen was higher (55) and the 3rd Gen reduced the torque spec due to finer thread bolts. Do you have a service manual or anything to reference?

Unfortunately this is not a rotor problem. I've had warped rotors before and this issue is making the entire truck shake/rumble. There is almost no vibration in the steering wheel. But you can hear the rumbling and feel it in the floor board, seat, and even see it in the hood.

Another small update....I opened a case with corporate this morning. They are going to assign a case manager within a day. Interesting enough one of the questions she asked was about what my communication to the dealer had been like after the "fix". I spoke to the service manager multiple times and he never indicated that the problem was still there OR that they actually test drove the truck. As I said before, I find it hard to believe they actually test drove the truck and if they did, they completely blew off the recurring issue because it is so much worse than it was previously. I got a text from the service manager this morning stating that he too had opened up a technical case with corporate. He stated that is different than the case I opened. I am somewhat glad they have taken this initiative and I did not have to ask...but at this point it's the least they could do.

EDIT: Corporate also informed me that it is somewhat common to have to stick with the same dealer once repairs are started for an issue. IE I may have to continue to go to the same dealer since they did the initial repair. That kind of sucks since the dealer I bought the truck from (and the one I've taken it to) is over an hour away. I get it from a dealer standpoint (dealer A tried to fix, jacks it up, now new dealer B has to deal with it); but from a customer standpoint that is pretty lame. So now I may be locked into dealing with the original dealer that is not convenient at all.

 

Had a rear brake vibration since new, 4000 miles on it now, dealer cut the drums and vibration went away, we will see if it comes back.

 

I don't think they ever drove mine before any of the pick ups, every time they call to tell me it's ready, I say, "how'd it come out?!?"
The reply every time, "yeah, it's ready to pick up!"

Never have an answer.. always a surprise

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/possible-driveline-shudder-vibration-fix.446653/

It sure is disappointing to see that this issue is still going on in the 2019 year model. I sometimes miss driving a midsize and lately been thinking about getting another Tacoma, but Damn, that problem is one of the main reasons I got rid of the 2016. The above link is to a thread I started a few years ago. I guess I just might have to stick to a full size. Frontier still way too dated and the new Ranger just not doing much for me.

 

I love the size and features of my Taco, but I’m picking up my F-150 2.7EB on Monday. I don’t have time anymore for this.

 

2.7 is an impressive little motor. You should enjoy driving it.

 

What I was about to ask, how. Ya liking the 2.7 EB in a full size platform? Oh well,. Not the place to ask but I don't see any other comparable options..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNLXbF0N-2Y

I promise I did not come here to advertise for Ford. Watch that video above. Plenty of them around on youtube to watch if interested.

 

I have had the vibration since day 1 on my 2019 TRD OR DCLB and now at around 1800 miles so figured I would join in on the fun here. Yesterday I decided to start the process of addressing this at my local dealer. After about 45 mins, they came out and told me they were able to re produce the issue but didn't know what to do...They said they are contacting Toyota to see how they should proceed and would contact me within a day.

 

Yesterday I received the 'Toyota believes your vehicle was repaired to conform to the Toyota New Limited Warranty after a reasonable number of opportunities.."

What-Evs, you've known about an issue since 2016 and your 2020s are about to hit the roads..

 

What does that even mean?

 

My vibration is getting worse and worse, so I called Toyota corp. again to file a complaint/open another case. After the case manager reviewed my vehicle history and noticed that I had requested and been denied a buy back, they again said that Toyota will not provide any further service related to the rear end vibrations with my vehicle. I am taking the truck to an independent mechanic tomorrow for an inspection. I would not be surprised to learn that my rear drums are excessively worn based on how much my truck shakes right now.

 

I'm not convinced it's brake related. You can feel it from ~15-25 mph even without the brakes applied. Many have had rear drums and axles replaced only to find out the vibration returns.

Personally, I think it's just a design quirk of these trucks, and it's best to just accept it. Toyota isn't fixing the issue any time soon. They've had years to fix it now, and they could have easily (and quietly) done so by incorporating a design change at the assembly line level. But they haven't, which tells me they don't believe there is an actual problem, rather just a minor annoyance (or what they believe to be a 'minor annoyance' based on the redesign work necessary to eliminate the vibration, cost, and whether or not the vibration is anything that will affect the integrity of the vehicle which is likely not the case).

 

I disagree. In my experience with this issue (2 vehicles, one resulting in a buy-back) the rear brake drums are a definite cause of vibration and can be proved by the drums going out of round in frequent intervals. In my case it was 3k-4k miles, but not always caused by the rear-axle hub run out problems. I do think that the driveline and suspension design causes for some vibrations while driving and has been a symptom of the Tacoma for 10+ years, but there is certainly a design flaw that is causing the rear brakes to overheat, warp, and wear excessively.

 

Agreed. My truck now vibrates without the brakes from 0-30mph, accelerating or coasting. There is definitely a driveline issue or tolerance issue related to axles, etc that is causing the vibration. With the stiffer leaf spring pack I notice the vibration much more. There is some resonance present as well, as if a plane is taking off above me. I doubt it will affect integrity of the truck, but it is annoying. Even more so now that Toyota recommended a TSB that made it worse. I really like this truck (kinda wish it had the 4L but whatever). If they can get it back to original quality I might be happy, otherwise I'm pushing for a deal on a 4 runner.

 

Yea this is probably multiple issues combined into one. Stiffer leaf springs have amplified my vibration to the point where the brakes don't need to be pressed at all and the truck shakes like crazy. If the axles are out of round, then that could be the problem. But...I have a hard time solely putting the blame on brakes when the truck vibrates under acceleration or coasting to a stop.