2012 Stock Tacoma Driveline Vibration

I just bought a new 2012 Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed Automatic from a dealer 150 miles from where I live. During the brief test drive, I thought I detected a minor shudder while accelerating from a stop after the 1-2 up shift, but did not think much about it and drove the truck home.

The next day, I used the truck to run errands around town and again noticed the shudder. Since the excitement of the deal had worn off, I began paying more attention to when it happens. Again, during normal driving, I noticed it after the 1-2 up shift. I found I could make the truck shudder while shifting the automatic transmission to 1 and accelerating up a hill putting the driveline under load. The truck would also shudder going up the hill in 2.

It feels like either a bad U-joint or a cylinder missing. There are no warning lights illuminated on the dash.

I took it to the local dealer, who found the drive shaft unconcentric 0.002” at the front and 0.015” at the rear. They replace the driveshaft. That did not solve the problem, so the truck is back at the dealer. Next, they are checking the yolk that comes out of the differential.

Has anyone else experienced this on a new Tacoma? What was the solution?

Thank you,
Jeff

 

Don't take this the wrong way Jeff.

You need to drive it......

My trans shuddered and shifted funny when i got it.
It takes a break in period to calm things down.
I had drive line vibe too
It's a truck remember.
I have some vibe in mine in certain situations. It is what it is.
Put a couple thousand miles on it and then re-evaluate. Let it do it's thing.
There wasting time right now.

 

^^^^^^ agreee with this guy. i would drive it for a while and see what happens. i wouldn't let the dealer jack with your driveshaft on a brand new truck, they might screw up something else in the process. usually after a couple thousand miles things should "calm down" a bit.

 

On my 93 4x4 truck I had a very minor shudder, barely noticable on acceleration, I could feel it. It was there and never changed for the 150,000 miles I had the truck. My 2004 4x4 Tacoma has a similar feel and my 07 4x4 work Tacoma did too. Others that have driven the trucks didn't notice it. I asumed I was just more sensitive to it, I don't know. It never got worse so I just assumed it was maybe the gears or drive line components under load or stress.

 

I don't disagree and putting some miles on it was my original plan, but I drove another Double Cab (with short bed) that is on the lot and it is dead smooth. Something's not right.

-Jeff

 

Yeup

 

Alright, I'm a newbie here. I figured there'd be different crowds viewing the different forums.

-Jeff

 

Yeup we understand.

They will merge these threads if needed. So it's not necessary to repost.

They will ride you if you do it again though.

 

Understood .

Not knowing what is causing the vibration, the other concern I have is that it will begin tearing up bearings or seals.

-Jeff

 

OH I understand your concern.
Sorry I'm not there to drive it but i will tell you that each one seems to have it's own quirks.
My own vehicle has a vib in a certain parameter.
I have felt it in others.
OTHERS don't have it.
It's a truck.
Unless it's a big constant drone or shake I really don't think your going to have to worry about taking bearings out.

Just as a test you can do yourself.
Once you get it back and if you still feel the vibration is excessive take about 300 pounds of weight (anything) and put it in the back by the tailgate. Drive it and see if it changes. If it does make a BIG difference then go back and tell them about it. They might try to shim the center bearing just to try.
They vibrate, they drone, they shake.
No two are alike.
I work on these things every day and I'm still getting use to mine with all it's quirks.
I wish you well with your new toy.

 

Follow-up. I picked up my truck from the dealer this afternoon and here is what was written on my work order:

Called Toyota Technical in regard to issue. Technical states it is a characteristic of the vehicle, but to help customer satisfaction, we can rotate center driveshaft bearing 180-degrees to help reduce the vibration between these certain speeds. Vehicle operating to manufacturer’s specifications at this time.

The service manager then gave me the phone number to Toyota Customer Service in case I wanted to complain there. Right now, I plan to drive the thing until the vibration becomes an endearing feature of the truck. The vibration might be better, but is still present. I’ll need more miles to tell whether it is improved.

I am less satisfied with the shimmy in the steering wheel that’s still there after they rebalanced the wheels. I will research the steering wheel shimmy as it too seems to be a common issue. The shimmy is odd as it comes and goes riding down a smooth road between 55 – 70 MPH with the cruise control on. I’ve noticed it appears when lightly turning the steering wheel as if to keep the truck centered in the lane or go around a mild curve. Is this related to alignment?

-Jeff

 

If the wheel is oscillating left and right you more than likely have a bad tire. At that speed a secondary imbalance can develop.
I doubt you would have a rim issue but it's possible.

I am curious if they rotated the tires at the same time.
If they didn't then they eliminated a important diagnostic step.
I hope they road force balanced those tires too.
I'd be rotating the tires front to back if they didn't to eliminate a tire issue and give her a good run to see if it helped.

 

Good diagnosis. It turns out I had two Dunlop AT20 Grandtreks that exceeded 16 lbs on the Road Force balancer. Both were replaced under the tire warranty and all four rebalanced using the Road Force balancer. The shake in the steering wheel is mostly gone, although I still detect it slightly under some road conditions, so it is there just under the surface. I can live with it as is, though.

Now that I have put more miles on the truck I’ve noticed some interesting traits about the drive train vibration. It is almost always present when accelerating after making right turns. It is absent when accelerating after making left turns. It is there sometimes when accelerating straight from a stop. This indicates to me that the rear differential or rear suspension is the root cause. Thoughts?

When accelerating straight from a stop, I can reduce or eliminate the vibration by taking my foot of the brake and letting the truck creep forward a few feet before accelerating. When making a right turn, I can reduce or eliminate the vibration by waiting until the truck is pointing straight before accelerating.

Does this match other’s experiences?

-Jeff

 

If you read my posts above then you know these trucks are not a lexas or camry.
I have these same quirk vibs and i can tell you i feel it in a lot of other trucks.
Now believe me this is my first new truck in like 26 years. If i thought there was something wrong boy i would be going after it. I also had to replace a tire and index one tire and road force bal mine as well. As far as I'm concerned my truck runs like it's suppose to with the vibs and what not.
This is your truck and if you feel there is an issue by all means go pursue it.

 

Hi Guys,

I have a 2011 double cab...have drive line vibrations (feels like small speed bumps in my rear wheels) from 12-15 mph. Nothing before...nothing after. Is this what you are having...I was thinking of brigning this in to the dealer this week. This only showed up after I put a 1.5 lift in the back and 2.0 lift in the front....could this be related?

 

Once you start adding lifts and modding stuff it's a whole new ball game.
There are a ton of threads about driveline vibes after lifts.
Well if you didn't have it before and now do after the lift? You seem to have created a problem and now want the dealer to do something about it?
You modded a brand new truck still under warranty. Dealerships would tell you to put it back the way it was.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. Several have told me that the vibrations are normal and the truck is operating within normal parameters. It may be.

However, it would be easier for me to accept the vibrations as normal if someone could explain why they occur. So far, no one has. If I understand why they happen, I can appreciate what the machine is doing and might accept it.

-Jeff

 

WOW
your talking about primary and secondary order vibration and cancellation. That's engineering stuff for sure. WAY out of my league..........
I hope you find your answers somewhere...

 

I'll post the answer as soon as I find it!

-Jeff

 

Perhaps, but there are longer trucks out there that don't vibrate.

-Jeff