Another vibration thread.

I suppose we now know why the prior guy dumped it.

Are all the diffs/fluids at proper levels?! Some had under filled units

 

Well it feels like the vibes at a lower MPH now. I’m not sure if they checked the angles. But it pretty much ends at 50 mph. I’m going to mention that when I bring it back. I did have the 30-10 mph vibration on top of this when braking and the TSB 100% fixed that. Truck rides and drives amazing just those speeds are so bad it annoys me.

This one was a TRAC unit so it was the dealerships service loaner. Had 20k miles, and never had a true owner but multiple drivers who probably broke it in right. I’ll ask them to check all of those.

 

Here's my gut feeling about your vibration(s):

1. Toyota corporate won't fix it, they call it normal.
2. The dealer won't fix it because Corporate won't reimburse them for it.
3. If the rear spring TSB helped or changed the vibration, it's probably the angles in the u-joints causing the vibration, not a problem with the actual shaft balance itself. The new rear springs include a pinion shim to change the pinion angle in the driveshaft. (This is crazy- a really expensive way to put a pinion shim in!)

Read my post and my fix- measuring the u-joint angles proved out the problem very quickly and dropping the trans mount 1/2" fixed it permanently. I did the repair with no parts needed:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/21-tacoma-still-vibrates-after-tsb.740185/page-3

I spent 40 hours fighting to get Toyota to fix it and 1.5 hours fixing it myself. With all of my grief dealing with the dealers trying to get them fix obvious problems, I'm now at the point I just fix everything myself and eat the cost. (I do have a well equipped shop) It's just not worth the aggravation anymore......

Good Luck!

 

Was your vibration felt in the steering wheel as well? I can feel it throughout the cab just not as bad as the steering wheel. And I can hear a humming sound as well. What I imagine in my head is the driveline spinning out of round making a gyroscopic sound.

I do have the ability to try the trans drop, it would probably be as easy as dropping the carrier bearing.

 

I could feel it in the SW but more in the dash, floor, and seat, it was more of a "cab feel" vibration. They did the SW dampener on mine also with virtually no effect. It got bad enough that the dash would rattle and my wife would also comment on it- quite an obvious vibration. The fact that it happened at 25-17mph on decel made it really common as you hit that speed range a hundred times a day when driving in the city.

Dropping the carrier bearing will not help, in fact it might make it worse. If yours is like mine, the problem angle is the front joint. (almost 4 degrees when it should be under 1 degree) Dropping the carrier will increase the front joint angle, aggravating the problem. Dropping the trans or raising the carrier are the two most likely changes to alter the front joint angle. Raising the carrier is not only difficult (by the way the carrier mount and crossmember are designed) but will also mess up the rear u-joint angle. Dropping the tranny (actually transfer case mount) brought all the angles into spec.

As mentioned before, I ran a HD truck shop for 25+ years so I'm not a newbie to this. I'm also an instructor and have taught driveline classes where angles are covered.

 

If you're going to do this yourself you should get a hold of an inclinometer and verify what you're doing. record the angles, calculate what's needed and do it. It will save you tons of time vs. just throwing a shim at it hoping it will get better. Lastly, if you make a change and it gets worse you'll be scratching your head.
I've owned four Toyota trucks since 1995 and every one of them had some sort of drive line vibration (my 97 was pretty bad). IMO you're probably always going to have some. My third gen has a mild 25-10 decel shudder. I just live with it....it's a Toyota thing for me.

 

I've had Toyota trucks since 1978, all of them have been pretty much vibration free till my 2001 tundra in which was found to have the rear driveshaft out of alignment. They moved the carrier support ujoint to correct it. My 2020 tacoma is flawless, its the smoothest running truck I've driven to date.

 

I have an update. This is the third trip back to the dealer for the 37-50mph vibration. They took a driveline out of another Tacoma and tested it. Stated it was the same and then put mine back in and phased it 180 degrees. This changed the vibrations and made them higher up in the mph range. Then said basically there is no fix.

I drove the other Tacoma and it had the same vibrations but nowhere near as bad. They just said we can’t do anything and it’s normal operation. I acknowledged that it had the same vibrations but not the same intensity.

Just got off the phone with corporate and they started an “arbitration” case, in which I will expect to hear “normal” again and trade the truck in and take a loss.

I wish my experience was as good as everyone else’s with these trucks but mine is downright terrible.

 

Sorry to hear your experience. If you paid on it for 2 years you shouldn’t lose money. on it. Fortunately they hold value and should be able to trade in/sell to dealership without a loss if there isn’t a problem in their mind.

 

"phased it 180 degrees" = did they simply rotate the driveshaft position 180 degrees in the yoke ? Did they say they checked the angles as in post 23 ? I understand and feel your pain, I just need to purchase a angle gauge.

 

From what I could gather he did that. Which I don’t know how it could make a difference. I never got to drive it with the other trucks driveshaft. the other truck was similar but it was 75% reduced. Still had the groaning hum.

 

For an update, I have been in contact with corporate. They are sending a “field representative” out to the dealership to drive the truck on the 18th. Corporate seems very nice over the phone and I even mentioned an extension of the warranty. She in a roundabout way said I could potentially get an extension to the warranty after case closure. Hopefully the tech will find something in mine due to the severity and may lead to a TSB for others with this horrible driveline vibration.

I have a video I will post soon, but I am driving so the mods may not be happy about it.

 

You bought a used rental. There is little chance of a random tech finding anything that will lead to a TSB. I would expect after all this work that you will find that what you are feeling is considered normal.

 

I know it was a rental and may not have been treated the best. But I don’t see what someone could’ve broke mechanically to cause vibrations. I’ve already changed wheels and tires with zero change. The truck is mint underneath and no signs of any offroad use, and there are plenty on this forum who really push these trucks offroad without issue.

I’ve operated heavy equipment and ran 10wheelers that were smoother. I also have a lifted TJ with E rated MT’s that is smoother.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/14zxw_jfCRg?feature=share

This is a short clip.

 

I know a lot of other posters don’t provide closure, so I’ll do that. Toyota tech came out and was a real ass. He was pissed because I had trd offroad wheels and oem 265s on an sr. Kept pointing to the door sticker saying this truck can’t handle these tires and said no other Tacoma other than a long wheelbase has them.

He said my takeoff vibration to 30 is a characteristic, my driving vibrations are because I have bad tires (OEM and present before changing to takeoffs), and that my brakes have a severe vibration after they changed my drums 2000 miles ago.

He also said my wheels and tires made the trucks alignment wrong and had the steering wheel off by 7 degrees.

He offered an extended warranty for an additional 7 years and up to 100k miles. After the offer I said can we walk out and look at this other thing before you go. Walked him outside to a new 2023 Tacoma TRD OR double cab short bed and showed him the wheels and tires.

His face turned bright red, said you’ll need to speak with your case manager regarding anything further and I cannot offer you a warranty.

After that experience I traded the truck off with no more loss than 1k, thanks to Tacomas resale and shortage in my area.

 

So they basically sent this guy out to offer you a warranty.
I kind of knew they were going to blow this off as it’s “normal”.
I hope you have better luck with the next vehicle. Thanks for the update.

 

sweet 1k loss is not that had , got any pics?

 

Just drive it. My buddies tacoma had vibrations at various speeds to, which the dealer told him its normal, some are more noticeable than others...its a truck, not a limo.

 

no part out ? too bad