Vibration at 60 MPH???

Again guys this is absolutely not a tire balance issue. It's a very faint driveline vibration. If you have a 4.0 4x4 with an automatic your truck likely does this and maybe you notice it, maybe you don't. I suspect most people with a new vehicle wouldn't think anything of it and consider it normal. It's not a major shaking or anything it's more like a resonance and you can feel it in the seat and in the gas pedal right around 1800 rpm in overdrive. Like I mentioned my wife has driven the truck and doesn't even notice it. The OP should try moving the shifter into 4th at this speed and maintain the same speed. The vibration stops. It's got to be something either in the rear driveshaft or the engine/transmission mounts. I read an old thread where a guy complained about this to his dealer when his truck was new in like 06. He then drove a number of other 4.0/auto trucks on the dealer's lot with the service manager and all but I recall one of them did it. And I'll bet that one eventually wound up doing it too. I personally find it annoying and I would like to find the cause and fix it. But I'm not worried about it. I bought this truck used and it's got 116k on it now. If Toyota does fix the OP's truck I would love to hear what the cause of the issue was found to be.

 

I would also check your u-joints, I had the same problem: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/119329-tranny-drive-shaft-experts.html

They say our joints don't need greasing, if thats true, mine needed something. I know yours is new, but you never know until you check it out.

 

If Toyota does fix the OP's truck I would love to hear what the cause of the issue was found to be.[/quote]

Lol that's funny, Toyota actually fix someones problem. . I love Toyota vehicles, but one thing I noticed about Toyota dealers is they never ever want to help you out when you go in there with a problem. At least from my experience.

 

I have the same vibration in my '09 with my summer and winter tires on it. It's not the tires. I noticed it a lot when I first got the truck. Now, it's still there but it doesn't bother me any more.

 

Exactly the same deal here. I would love to know if there was a fix for it but it's so minor and obviously isn't hurting anything so I'm not worried about it.

 

Lol that's funny, Toyota actually fix someones problem. . I love Toyota vehicles, but one thing I noticed about Toyota dealers is they never ever want to help you out when you go in there with a problem. At least from my experience.[/QUOTE]

Yep this is true, they tell you it's all sorts of things just so they don't have to check it out and actually do work.

 

I have the same issue but mine is between 55 to 65.
I actually just did a search for vibration to see if anyone else had it.
Mine has 1000 miles and was perfectly smooth when I got it. I was thinking it was the drive shaft but after it snows this week I'm going to wash it. Maybe I have some ice on the inside of the wheels...

 

Yep this is true, they tell you it's all sorts of things just so they don't have to check it out and actually do work.[/quote]

I actually had a Maintenance manager guy in a suit dismiss me, saying 'it's a Toyota, don't worry about it.' Really unprofessional in my opinion. I was under warranty and was completely in my rights to at least get the thing looked at but the butthead just dismissed me. . . Stupid dealer. Won't buy a Toyota from that one again.

 

To the OP,
Does your steering wheel vibrate as well. Reason I ask is that my FJ's steering wheel starts to vibrate/shudder at 60 mph but not under 60 and not when I exceed 60. Seems to be a fairly common complaint with the FJ on the FJ forum. Didn't realize the Taco was doing it as well.

 

The only place I feel it is on the accelerator pedal, and under the center console.

Vibration may not be the best description; it is more like a low frequency hummmmmmmrrrrrrrr. It feels like the tranny is at a gear transition point, and it slips, or the axle is at some flex point that causes the sound, maybe the rear end is causing it??? it is hard to say because it is not very noticeable. But my bet is in the tranny/axle/mounts.

I will make an appointment soon to have it checked out and I will keep you posted on the dealer findings. I am waiting to see if it gets better or worse as I add some more miles. I only have 350 miles on it.

 

Mine has 1000 miles on it now. The vibration I feel is in my right foot, mostly in the center. Nothing in the steering. Really feels like a balance fell off my drive shaft, don't know if that's even possible. I'll be watching this thread.

 

Is it more of a Hum (high frequency vibration?) Or shake/shudder? (very low frequency)

Does it do it when you're on the gas? If so, I'd tend to suspect driveline hum.

For a high frequence hum while you're on the gas, I'd say driveshaft vibration. Mine does that, but that's because I raised the suspension 3" changing the driveline angle.

For a low frequency shake/shudder, I'd say you threw a wheel weight and the wheels need to be rebalanced.

EDIT: I just re-read this:
Vibration may not be the best description; it is more like a low frequency hummmmmmmrrrrrrrr.


That sounds like a driveline vibration to me. It's possible your driveshaft threw a balancing weight - they put them on there too.

 

Ok I was going up a semi-steep grade today in 3rd gear. It's a vibration around 2000 RPM. I'm almost positive that it's just the engine. I wasn't going fast enough for anything out of balance to vibrate and it was the same thing. I was 1/3 on the throttle and held the constant 2000 RPM for about 20 seconds until I reached the crest of the hill and the vibration was there all the way up. I really think this is just normal but I'm still gonna keep paying attention to it.

 

I've noticed this also in my '06 4cyl 4X4 regular cab 5sp manual with 18,000 miles. It almost seems like I can feel a low hum inside my chest cavity, and it's impossible to pinpoint to a specific location on the truck. It always starts right under 60 mph in 4th or 5th gear (weird that it happens in either gear, though it's worse in 5th). For me, it disappears when I let off the gas pedal and "coast" at that point where there's no stress on the drivetrain (no acceleration or deceleration). As soon as the gas pedal is pressed it comes back.

I changed the trans fluid tonight to Redline MT-90 due to notchy shifting and chatter at idle in neutral. I hope that it may help this humming issue too, but I doubt it. I haven't driven it highway speeds yet but will tomorrow morning. I also thought maybe rear diff, but I just changed the fluid 5 days ago.

 

I was experimenting with this last night. It seems to be most noticeable around 62-64 MPH. Before I had thought it must be something in the motor/transmission mounts because it seemed to go away if I shifted out of drive and into 4th and maintained the same speed. But I'm pretty sure now it's the driveshaft. Last night radio off, smooth road, downhill I shifted into neutral at about 64MPH. The same noise/feeling continued until I slowed to about 55 with no load on the drivetrain at all. I did it 3 times and found the same thing all 3 times. It's minor but I'm surprised so many do this and Toyota never had a fix for it. I'm going to try and space the carrier bearing down a little on mine to see if it helps. I can see this being really annoying on a lifted truck where I'm sure it would do it a lot more. Of course if someone was running mud tires they probably wouldn't feel/hear this over the tires.

 

And good test idea! I am taking it to the dealer next week, if we don't have another ice storm.

 

Guys,

Flip your main drive shaft around front to back. I had this vibration/grinding noise before my lift, and after the 3" lift it was even worse. Found a thread on TTORA about flipping the driveshaft around. I guess, the first time it was done was by the one smart Toyota tech at the stealership. Why Toyota hasn't shared this information with other techs and owners is beyond me. I guess they like wasting time and money. My theory is that some dipshit on the assembly line loaded all the drive shafts onto the robot backwards... he was later fired for wearing his underwear on the outside. Then they hired a new guy, and the new guy puts the drives hafts on the assembly line in the same direction because that's the way the other guy did it.
Anyway, I decided to try it. (The drive shaft flip, not wearing my underwear on the outside) No more vibration/grinding noise. It was coming from the spline where the drive shaft moves in and out.

Flipping the drive shaft take like 6 minutes. 4, 14mmm bolts on each end. I used a breaker bar and and extension. The socket is kinda hard to line up and get on the bolt correctly. The extension makes it possible. You'll probably be able to get maybe 2-3 bolts per side before you''ll need to role the truck forward or backward about 18 inches to get the driveshaft to rotate a bit. Then climb back under and undo the other bolts. Flip the biatch around, bolt it back up (I torqued it to 75ftlbs. I figured probably about the same as torquing the lug nuts). You can totally do this by yourself. No need for help.


-Rob

 

anybody else done this?!?!?

 

Note: My truck is a Reg Cab 4x4. It has a one piece drive shaft.
Not sure if the drive shaft flip fix will resolve the issue for the Extended Cabs and Double Cabs which have a two piece drive shaft. But if you also have the adjustable spline on the drive shaft like mine, it might work.


-Rob

 

Flipping it? maybe the balancing is off and on yours the balancing is better backwards? Have you heard of another Tacoma that had this corrected by doing this?