Vibration at 60 MPH???

when the dealer was test driving it, he must have let the gas off, so it was not as bad.
When I drive it, or going up hill where you can't coast, it is noticeable.

I am going to try another dealer, and then possibly contact Toyota.

 

I know what you guys are talking about... I searched this thread down because I have it and was wondering if other people do. I'm going to say it again. I don't believe it's drive shaft, it is a resonance out of the transmission. It makes the same vibration up a hill going slowly but at the same RPM range so to me it's obvious where it's coming from now. I just broke 2K miles on a 500mile trip today. I rode 75mph all the way one direction and 85 the other. I'm fine with a truck. I don't think it's a big deal. One a side note, I got 20.6 mpg at 75 and 18 mpg coming home at 85 driving like an A-hole.

 

So if we get a speeding ticket, do you think Toyota will cover it? I m not joking. If I get a ticket, I am sending it to the Toyota Executive Office and NY Times for a story.

 

I'll be right behind you! This shit is annoying.

 

Have you tried changing gears to see how it acts? You guys must have it worse than mine. It's obviously noticeable to me but not enough to take it to the dealer until my first free oil change in two months.

 

I drove mine in 4th gear (mines an auto) just to see what it would do and sure enough it's the same.

 

I don't believe it's the transmission. Mine does it coasting in neutral. It's got to be the rear drive shaft. Last night I got under mine again and noticed (no big surprise) that with 3 washers on either side spacing the carrier bearing down the rubber mount was a little stressed on the top. So I took the washers out. But I also pushed the bearing assembly forward about 1/4" to put some preload on the bearing. I've done a lot of work on BMW's with carrier bearings and if you don't preload them they often vibrate under load. My truck is still doing it, but it's less noticeable than it was before. My last 05 was a 4 cylinder access cab 4x4 and it was smooth as could be. I'm not losing my shit over this, it's a minor annoyance and it would be nice if it wasn't there hence the reason I've been messing with it. I think an aftermarket one piece driveshaft would cure it but I have a lot of better things I could spend the money on. With the radio up a bit I barely notice it.

 

You are absolutely right. On a cold morning on the way to work it is worse.
Cold like 20 F
It does get better as it warms up.

 

Same here. But the center bearing surround is made of rubber so it probably wouldn't damp as well when cold. Again every time I messed with the center support bearing on the driveshaft it slightly changed the vibration on my truck. I'm done messing with mine for now, but I'm convinced it's the driveshaft.

 

JBRICENO: I have a 09 TRD Sport and noticed the initial slight vibration at about 10K miles. I notice it more when I press hard on the accelerator or when my truck is under heavy load (i.e. towing). I've had it in the dealer a few times for this and only recently learned it is the torque converter. I was told by the Toyota Rep that it is a common vibration caused by the torque converter. Evidently there are a number of clutch plates inside and they will vibrate when under heavy load or other normal operating speeds but the "shutter" vibration does go away. Except that it does not really go away, but rather smooths out so that you really only feel it in the gas pedal when driving normal. I plan to revist this issue next week when I take my truck in for a "free" front brake job. My front rotors have warpped and it started at around 12K miles. Since I didn't feel this was normal driving wear/tear, they agreed to free brake job.

I've also noticed that my 09 tends to need more frequent rear break adjustments than what I consider normal for rear drum breaks. It also has a slight humm/sound at very low speed and only when the braked pedal is slightly engaged. Anyone else experiencing this? If so, what did you do to resolve it for good.......JBRICENO

 

I do not actually have my tacoma yet, but i have chased the same exact problem on my 07 3500 chevy longbed crewcab 4x4 for 100k miles , ihad driveshaft re-balanced, lowered carrire bearing, new carrier bearings, tire re-balancing, i tried eveything. it turned out to be my rear springs were actually wrapping up under load and causing my pinion angle to change enough to cause a vibration at 63-67 mph, but for me it was only when i was towing, but since your toyotas have notoriously weak springs that you might want to see if the pinion angle is changing as you are at that speed, especialy if it gets worse on a hill as more torque is required to maintan the speed ,which will cause more spring wrap. mine was moving up and pushing the yoke up against the end of the trany and thats were the vibration was comming from, but when you look under the truck at rest everything looks good, very hard to figure out, anyway i checked it by hooking my trailer up in the parking lot and then kinda of power braked the truck but not spining the wheels and you could actually watch the spring wrap up and shove the shaft forward to my trany. In my case i changed the rear springs , but you might be able to install degreed shims that are for changing pinion angle. Just a thought it sounds the same but maybee not.

 

Also,
If I let it coast by taking the foot off the accelerator, the vibration humm is then drastically reduced on mine. I can be driving at 62 with no gas and no vibration, I step on the gas pedal gently, and the vibration comes back.

Again, I am not talking about a very loud vibration/humm.

 

Where would you suggest the best place to pick up the degreed shims would be? What r these actually and how easy/difficult r they to install? Will adding this adjust the height level on the rear? At this point I'm willing to try anything to rid this vibration. Like I said, it is worse when I tow my travel trailer as the truck is under heavier load. Once I smooth out the speed it does go away, for the most part, but not completely. I was actually thinking of replacing the factory Bilstein shocks with Bilstein HD adjustables for the front to level out with the rear. The rears are HD also and will actually adjust about 1". I'm wondering now if I should even mess with this in the event there may be added torque or pressure on the bearing pushing the shaft forward into the tranny?

I'll tell you something! If I had to do it over again, I would not buy the Tacoma. It is way overrated for what you get and they're not cheap to buy. Heck for a few thousand more I could have bought a nice Ford F-150. I have several friends with them and they pull/tow/haul all the time with no complaints. I'm wondering if folks who own the Tundra have any issues with vibrations or while towing.

 

You can buy the shims from Toytec

 

you can purchase the shims at any truck shop or a shop that deals with lifts. But first you need to determine if the rear springs are wrapping and changing the pinion angle.Maybee the pinion angle is set wrong from the factory, wouldn,t be a first. I have had all truck makes (Exept of couse a Toyota) and not one is perfect and they all have there problems, i hope when I pick ours up on friday it doesn,t vibrate, because if it does, i will turn around. You also might want to have the drivesahft re-balanced at a driveline shop, mine was out from the factory. what ever you do do one thing at a time, because you will not no what caused it if you do it all at once. If it were me I would go and get the shaft rebalanced( from a independent shop not Toyota) first with all new u-joints installed at the same time and make sure all your splines are greased. if that doesn,t help, then look into the springs and pinion angle, actually a good driveline shop will have a angle tool to check it. If you need shims they are easy to install, they go inbetween the spring perch and spring. Does it do it with a heavy load in the truck, because as the truck sags the pinion angle changes, could make it worse or better depending on the shackle direction.

 

If I take it to another shop, then I have to pay them out of my pocket?

 

I'm another one. I've got an '06 Prerunner Double Cab and it def does that annoying hum around 60. Tires are stock.

 

Chevy - never could solve the problem it was a design flaw, and only happens in crewcab long bed trucks with single rear wheels, they helped by giving me u-joints and carreier bearings for free. When i had my driveshaft re-balanced with all new joints and carrier bearing it was only $260.00 or so.If you can find a really good driveline shop in your area, one that deals with race cars or high performance cars that have very critical driveshaft balancing and proper pinion angle, at the very least you could eliminate it from your problem if everything is good and have a receipt to show toyota.Another way to check it would to be to go to a engine dyno shop with a chassi dyno, they can put your truck on the dyno and run upto speed and you can phyically look under and see if thats the problem- maybee I am not positive. Do you have a two piece driveshaft with a carrier bearing? If you do i would get it re-balanced with new joints to start at the very least have a shop look at it.

 

Wher are you in N.Y? I might be able to point you in the right direction if your in the Long Island area.

 

I'm giving the dealer the next opportunity to correct my concerns. The Service Manager has been very good to work with as well as the Toyota Corp Rep. Although, I'm still not convinced that there is nothing Toyota can or is doing about the possibility of the torque converter being a cause of the vibration, especially during a hard throttle take off, which is the only time mine does it (09 TRD Sport double cab short bed).

I have an appt with the dealer next week to replace the front rotors and upgrade to the TRD hd high performance pad, plus rear brake shoes with resurfacing of drums, at no charge. This was due to the premature warpping of the front rotors and the unresolved problem with the rear brakes. Rear brakes continued to need more frequent adjustments - manually - as opposed to auto adjusting, plus the constant low hum when coming to a rolling stop or when the brake pedal was lightly pressed. So, they have agreed to replace all, except I do have to pay about $90.00 out of pocket for upgrading to the TRD hd high performance pads, which they warned me could cause warpping again due to it being a harder pad. So we'll see!

On the other hand the dealer will also undertake the task of replacing the rear leaf spring and also add new heavier duty Bilstein front and rear shocks to match. They have a Toyota Service Bulletin out there on these trucks that do not exceed the 3yr/36,000 mile factory warranty, or if any of you purchased the extended plan, then Toyota will in all likelyhood replace at no cost, as well. I urge you all if you are able and qualify to take advantage of this free upgrade and fix. The springs are better made to handle the loads of hauling or towing with less sagging or your trucks giving you the teeter-totter feel when going down the road. It is suppose to correct and stabalize the ride and handling. I don't know if this will correct the vibration I get at an initial hard throttle take off, but if it doesn't then the next step is to bring the Toyota Rep back out to reassess- and I've already asked that we take the next step in replacing the tranny mount, then rebalance the two piece drive shaft at a local reputable shop. We'll see where we go with that, but it's one thing at a time and it can be nerve racking, especially when you have a full time administrative job that does not allow for much time to be running back and forth to the dealer/shop. I'm fixed on getting these issues corrected with my truck and have continued to be a squeaky wheel for them, but so far they have been willing to play ball. Could be that I've done alot of research on my own plus all the chats with you all and going back to them with similar remarks and proof of what others have done to correct. Otherwise, my truck is pretty smooth. I keep it very clean inside and out and additionally have removed the door panel and placed my own foam type insulation to quiet down the road noise. I even went as far as to removing the back seats and speaker box to add a section of thin cotton fill sheet then had the outside of the rear part of the cab shot with rhino white coated rubberized foam and finally added a thicker piece of pre-carpet pad. Seriously you think you were riding inside a Lexus LX model or LS SUV/Sedan, it's so quite and not saying it was too noisy before, but I was used to the quieter Lexus SUV's and Sedans before going to my Tacoma. I hoping now that I've also added the CAT back duel exhaust and removed the secondary charcoal air filter, I'll actually notice a considerable difference in power when I to my 26' travel trailer, which all loaded and full weighs in at around 7,200 lbs. Yes, just a tad over the max for these trucks of 6,500lbs, but it did an ok job before with this weight. Can't wait to see how it will feel going down the road with the upgraded heavier duty leaf springs and shocks. I'm told the ride of the truck will actually be smoother simply because it will be more stable.

The final approach is to have the Toyota Rep re-look and reconsider additional diagnostics to determine why the ticking my engine makes is a little louder compared with other Tacomas of the same year. I know the injection systems are somewhat loud, but I also feel that perhaps there is a defective injector or two and potentially something internal with the hydraulics system. These engines don't actually have lifters, so it can't be that, but it could be the arm/lever mechanism that has slightly more gap than normal factory setting/specs.

So, I'll keep you all posted on my progress with these folks. In the meantime consider my story above as a possible look-into solution for your trucks....