Vibration/Juddering @ 30-40 MPH

Hi,

Just signed up to the site, I'm hoping y'all can help me figure this out. I have a 2nd gen, 2005 4.0L V6 Tacoma PreRunner, A/T, RWD, with a little over 215K miles on board. Bought used - I'm the 3rd owner. Only recently I've noticed that it has developed a vibration/juddering upon acceleration. This tends to happen when the engine is at "normal operating temperature" and I accelerate up through 30-40 MPH. It doesn't happen when it's cold.

I watched a video of a guy on Youtube who had the same issue as me and he said he fixed it with a transmission fluid flush - yesterday I flushed the transmission whilst also changing the rear diff fluid, the power steering fluid and also an oil change for good measure... to no avail.

I have read that this is a somewhat common issue with the 2nd gen Tacoma however I've yet to come across any sort of definitive answer as to why and also how to fix it. I want to try and get a handle on it before anything more serious happens and my transmission takes a crap.

Could it possibly be an alignment/wheel bearing issue with the front wheels?

Can anyone help suggest anything?

Thanks in advance, I appreciate y'all.

(Also my U-joint, holding my drive shaft is fine and showing no outward signs of failure or wear. My drive and prop shafts have no play in them)

 

Where do you feel the vibration ( I have no idea what juddering is ).

Is it in the seat and floorboard area?
Is it in the steering wheel?

 

So juddering is basically shaking, and when it happens, it's thought the whole truck really. Mainly throughout the body and floor area.

 

Is it stock suspension or lifted?

 

If you are feeling it in the body it is probably drive line related. I would start with the drive shaft universal joints and carrier bearing check those properly.
https://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/12/symptoms-of-a-bad-or-failing-universal-joint-u-joint/
3. Vibration felt throughout the vehicle while moving forward at speed
This vibration means that the universal joint bearings have now worn enough to allow the driveshaft to move outside its normal rotational path, causing imbalance and vibration. This will be a higher frequency vibration than that of an out-of-balance wheel for example, since the driveshaft turns 3-4 times faster than the wheels. The worn universal joint is now causing damage to other components of the vehicle – including the transmission. Replacement of the universal joint by a professional mechanic is certainly in order at this point to prevent further damage. Your mechanic should, when possible, select quality replacement u-joints with a grease fitting, allowing for long-term preventative maintenance, and enabling extended life of the u-joint bearings.

"(Also my U-joint, holding my drive shaft is fine and showing no outward signs of failure or wear. My drive and prop shafts have no play in them)"

You know you can't check them properly while the driveshaft is installed right?

Take the drive shaft out and inspect each universal joint for binding and or looseness. Same for the carrier bearing.

 

As an intermediate step.....

If your U-joints have grease zerks, you could try applying grease. If the shudder reduces, then the source is the U-joints. At the 215 Kmiles, the U-joints could be well past their service life.


I have a shudder in my 4wd. Greased the U-joints, the shudder reduced but remains. So, I'm planning on replacing all U-joints and the Carrier Bearing. I don't believe your 2wd has a carrier bearing.

 

Jimmy

I would be inclined to believe that it could be the drive shaft Ujoints and possibly the carrier bearing, however they were replaced on the vehicle (it got a brand new 2pc driveshaft, u joints and carrier bearing from Arizona Driveshaft & Differential) back in 2016 and are honestly the newest piece of hardware on the vehicle. I have non-greaseable U-joints fitted to the drive shaft also just fyi. I'm kind of hoping that it may be something that requires a less invasive remedy before I start taking my drive shaft off. I'll do it if it comes to it though.

 

Knute,

thanks for the reply. The guy that had the truck before me replaced the whole drive shaft and had new, non-greaseable u-joints fitted to the truck back in 2016 so I'm leaning more towards that really not being the issue. I was actually all ready to grease my U-joints when i did the fluid flushes the other day but I have no Zerk fittings to grease.

 

What is the condition of the shocks?

Rear axle mount?
Tire balance? Sometimes a harmonic vibration can set up in specific speeds. Then speeds above or below the vibration will diminish or stop.

 

The shocks are aftermarket also (Old Man Emu). I haven't really checked the rear axle mount - I might look into that one. In terms of tire balancing, you kind read my mind. I went and got them professionally balanced the other day (definitely drives a lot better). I'm still noticing the shaking periodically. It really does seem like it's coming from under the truck, transmission area.

 

Good luck brotha. I’ve got a 2nd gen 2012 4x4 and have the same issue. I bought it with 52k miles and she sits with 84k now and I have yet to figure it out. I’ve gone through 2 new ole driveshafts, tire balance, 4 sets of tires and trans flush. It’s referred to as the Tacoma rumble. Mine does it at 40-45 mph speeding up and slowing down. It has to be a bad bushing within the transmission

 

Sounds like what you're experiencing is torque converter shudder. My 06 was doing it at 200k miles so I drained the transmission pan and refilled with Toyota fluid along with a couple of tubes of Dr Tranny Instant Shudder fix and problem went away.

 

Dude that sounds like exactly what I'm experiencing. I'm positive it's got something to do with the tranny somehow. I think torque converter shudder maybe the next thing to try and hunt down. I did a tranny flush in it but I didn't use toyota fluid, I just used O'Reilly's finest... Maybe that's where I went wrong???

 

To eliminate the transmission and torque converter , try a brake tap test .
Incredibly easy to diagnose !!!!!!

You wont get good results by simply adding shudder fix to your dirty transmission fluid . There is a specific procedure to follow for best results . Taking the transmission pan off for a contamination inspection is the first step

When was your last engine tune up ? spark plugs and throttle body cleaning ? air filter ? Cam screens ? Everybody blames the torque converter because its what you feel in the drivers seat when the converter locks directly to your terrible running engine

Go through this list and narrow things down
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/vibration-diagnostics-for-all-tacomas-write-up.520607/

Have you scanned for codes ? On older high mileage engines , a lab scope may be needed as a scanner wont catch wore out VVT gearing .The engine and transmission are completely computer controlled . The engine and transmission are married . If one hiccup occurs in the engine , most people think its a transmission problem .
Spend the time to diagnose correctly

This is one of the most common issues with the Tacoma . Same symptom is posted at least every 2 days at Tacoma World but it could be a large number of things causing your problem . Diagnosing correctly is the key
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...th-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/

 

That's very interesting! That definitely sounds like what I'm experiencing. I did a tranny flush on it about a week ago but I didn't use Toyota fluid, I just used O'Reilly's fluid. I'll try another flush and use proper fluid this time. Where did you get that Dr Tranny shudder fix from? Is that an actual fluid ??

 

You can find them at Advance Auto Parts and come in little 2 oz tubes. You might find them at other parts stores. Worked like a charm. Shudder disappeared almost instantly. Make sure you use the Toyota WS fluid. Not sure how these transmission will react to other fluids.

 

Is that stuff good to use or does it do damage to the transmission components over time? I'd be inclined to do an actual repair, but that might be out of your budget. Perhaps the secret is to use it to test it and then flush it if it works or doesn't work and repair the tranny if the budget is there?

 

I know the 2nd gens used a special fluid depending on certain years but not too sure. I just had mine serviced at the dealer to rule that out, that didn’t happen obviously. It feels like it’s in the left front of the vehicle undercarriage when it happens, like a rumble and the whole truck shakes. It’s nasty

 

I have also just learned to live with it and when something breaks and that’s when I will finally figure out what it is

 

Did you end up resolving this FireyTaco? I have same symptoms as you. Ujoints are new, wheel bearings are new. New cv axles, upper and lower control arms, struts, etc. It's none of that shit. In 2017, I noticed a slight shudder or vibration around the 40-45mph mark. I could put it in 4th and it would go away. This was diagnosed as a torque converter issue. I still have this issue and it's never been more than an annoyance.

This issue im experiencing now is a more violent shudder at 30mph and sounds exactly as you describe. Lasts for 1- 2 seconds and seems to be fairly intermittent. This is why I'm inclined to think it's not the torque converter. I wonder if it might be a battery issue.

This weekend I went up to Stanley, ID and it was cold as hell (single digits and negative temps). My truck would barely turn over after sitting cold. I even had to jump it to get it to start once. I've never had this problem in the cold with my taco. I did remember I almost completely drained my battery a few weeks ago though. And I've had a bad battery in the past that made my truck shake and do all sorts of weird shit. So the timing of this shudder and the battery issues I was having in single digit Temps make me think it could be related. Thoughts from anyone who knows batteries? Did you have any battery issues lately FireyTaco?