2012 Stock Tacoma Driveline Vibration

nope, not all '12 do it...i know this because i drove 4 at the dealer for this purpose with the dealer techs to see if we could figure out the differences.

3 did it and one didn't. the one that didn't was 1 of 2 access cab v6s 4x4s. one was a sport one and was an off road. they're going to test drive all their tacomas from now on as they come in to try and nail down the common thread...its a bigger effort than toyota itself is doing about it IMO.

 

Love the manual but my truck does have a vibration that starts around 55 mph. Tires are balanced. I don't really notice a take off vibration on my 2011 manual but when I had my 2007 Sport automatic Tacoma it had a take off vibration. I thought it was a combination of the crap driveshaft and the limited slip diff on that truck.

 

So i have also had a lot of trouble with my truck vibrating from a stand still and also when de-accelerating. I thought I needed shims, a carrier bearing drop kit, smaller tires again, take out my lift. Etc... So after I looked up the cost of all this i decided to start small and go bigger so I dont wast all my money. Since my truck was modded the dealer didnt want to pay for anything...

So I tried the carrier bearing drop kit since it was the cheapest (under $20 with shipping) and it took out a little vibration but still noticable and annoying. Then I came on the form to research similar topics and wow there was a lot of info! IT seemed no one had a solutuion. So I gave up on it for a while... Meanwhile driving on the highway more the drone of the aftermarket exhaust got to be to much to handle so I got back on Tacoma World and got hooked up by a member selling his stock exhaust. I bolted it back up and......WTF!?!?!?! The vibrations stopped, the power band felt better, and the de-accel shudder is now very difficult to notice. What the hell just happened? I was about to spend $2000 in suspension and drive line parts to fix all this and it turned out to be my after market exhaust causing most of the issues.

Heres what happened before:
* Shudder from stand still to taking off at lights
* Shudder in low power settings (up hill and strain on motor)
* loss of power in acceleration
* loud growling after letting my foot off the gas
* shudder when i took my foot off the gas and was coming to a stop.

After putting the stock exhaust back on:
* Smooth startup from a stop
* Quicker throttle response
* Quicker acceleration
*LESS NOISE (duh its stock they are quiet)
* ONE HAPPIER TRUCK OWNER WHO JUST SAVED A TON OF MONEY AND DEALER FEES!

This may not work for everyone, but see if your truck has this problem and slip the old stock muffler back on it and test drive it. I know this sounds like absolute BS, but I was at the point of selling the truck or waiting for someone to wreck it.

My guess is that the back pressure of the exhaust must help the engine somehow. I mean they are tuned specifically for those factory components. Anyway I hope that my experience can help just one other truck owner and make them love their truck again!

Thanks for all the posts from others to help me eliminate what i needed to try and what would be a waste of money. (like taking it to the dealer to screw around with for 3 days and no results.)

 

I can confirm that my truck (2012 DCSB OR) also has the driveline issue. I didn't really notice it until I came across this thread and started looking for it. Being that it's a brand new truck, I've been taking it easy on accelerations. Now that I have a few thousand miles on it, I've been giving it some gas off the line and definitely notice it now, especially going uphill.

As another person posted, it's likely that a good number of people have the issue but don't realize it. Depending on their driving style, it may never be an issue for them. As for the rest of use...it is pretty annoying!

 

I did not read the whole thread, but has anybody suggested making sure the u-bolts are torqued correctly?

The FSM's I have seen have an obvious error, they list the torque as 50 newton meters or 36 ft/lbs. I am sure it was supposed to read 150 newton meters. Make sure u-bolt torque is at least 70-90 ft/lbs.

 

Document everything! Save you repair orders! I'm finding out all this right now in the lemon process. I have a manual trans and I think the prob with the driveshaft has been affecting the trans this whole time also. Not sure if it affects the auto's - or might surface gradually / after warranty?

 

My truck has this also its is extremely annoying. I feel that a brand new expensive truck should not do this.

Edit: It happens on hard or over 50% acceleration from a stop. I though it was all Tacomas until I started to research it. I also have a vibration that is felt in the seat and steering when at a stop. Seems to get better and worse when the AC is on.

 

Even after my little fix it vibrates at a stop and is through the chairs and wheel as well. This is BS Toyota!

 

I tried to get mine to do it this weekend. Couldnt make it vibrate no matter what I tried - 2012 Base model V6 4X4 AC.

 

Drive train shake lemon law suit won few years ago:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/150-vibration-20mph-06-tacoma-4door-trd-2.html
This was prior to revised trans mount. Not sure what the prob is with our trucks now, apparently neither is Toyota.

My DCSB Off Road goes back to the dealer (again) tomorrow. My 6spd trans is gradually shifting worse too, not sure if it's the cause, a result, or unrelated. 4900 miles. Added: trans is shifting worse in 1 & 2 mostly, which is the same as where vibration is most present, we'll find out eventually if it's related.

 

I most def have this same vibe when I accelerate from a complete stop. It's a light shutter, but thought it was because of my lift. My driveshaft measurements did change after I lifted it and I think it stems from this more than anything else.

When initially lifted I installed 3deg shims and CB drop as a preventive measure. Other than this vibe at initial acceleration, there are no other vibes that I notice.

 

I've got the 2012 DC OR-TX Pro, short bed auto. Don't notice the vibration/shudder at acceleration or deceleration (or I've grown used to it), but the vibration a few folks have mentioned in the steering wheel beginning at 50 mph+ is driving me NUTS. I've had it to the dealer twice--they've balanced wheels twice--this last time they road force balanced and tried the tire swap and are blaming it on road vibration. I have an FJ40 with a 4" lift and 33" AT tires (along with other goodies), and I had an 01 Taco DC with lift and big tires--my stock 12 is WAY worse than either of the other trucks. The '12 I test drove had no vibration--but the one I received on factory order does.

I played around on the freeway with it today--if I'm on the gas between 50 & 75 I feel the vibration in the wheel (not in shifter or touching dash or door), if I'm off the gas and coasting the vibration goes away and I only feel truck and road "noise" in the wheel--normal stuff. If I pull the wheel to the side while on the gas at this speed range the vibration seems more pronounced.

My dealer's factory rep is now going to "look" at my truck. My question is, what words or phrases should I use to get attention? I got the impression the dealer is done with as much as they're going to dig into this issue and are blaming it on "the girl doesn't know how a truck should feel" thing. Truly, after a road trip a couple weeks ago my hands were so numb after driving a couple hours non-stop, I compare it to mowing a really big lawn! This is truly unacceptable for a $35K+ truck. I, too, have the 7-year 120K warranty, so they're stuck with me.

Any advice on words or phrases to use with the rep, as well as other info from those of you experiencing the high speed vibration would be appreciated.

 

My 2012 has the vibration issue as well. Between 50-75mph. I have taken it to the dealer 4 times already. The have balanced, re-balanced, road force balanced the tires. Vibration isn't as bad as it was initially but is still noticeable. Dealership service advisor has been very helpful. He contacted a colleague from Gulf States Toyota in Houston for some possible solutions. One of my wheels was way out of balance and need a lot of weight to bring into spec. Turned out the tire was defective so they ordered another tire and installed it. Vibration still present around 65-70mph. So after checking again they think its a wheel that is defective. So they ordered me another wheel, so I am waiting for the wheel to get in so they can install.

I have the 17" gray TSS Edition wheels.

 

Three of my four original Dunlops were replaced under warranty because of vibration while cruising down the highway.

-Jeff

 

Aren't you persuing the lemon law on your truck? What is the latest? What happened with your transmission issue?

-Jeff

 

Ok, I am I the only one who sees the problem from this post? Hard acceleration and hard braking is giving you this. Hello! You are driving a vehicle with leaf springs. Trucks unless modded are not designed to be driven like sports cars. Even after mods they are not. They are not balanced or built to be driven like a lexus or audi


So my question is this to the other posters. It seems this is a suspension issue, if not a drive line issue. So shimming the leafspings helps? Which side? Would putting on a coil suspension in the rear help? or is it even possible?

 

Before I bought 13' sport I drove 3 other trucks; 12' offroad, 13' offroad, and a 13' sport. All three didn't have any vibration issues. My 13' doesn't have any issues either. Now it is low on horsepower but coming from a 2005 supercharged GTO with 500+ whp who wouldn't be a little disappointed

 

Thank you for posting.

-Jeff

 

Correction: It is abnormal vibration during normal acceleration.

The Toyota engineers, who agree there is a problem (for those of you who missed that), point to the rear leaf springs as part of the problem. As a test, my truck was fitted with firmer springs by the Toyota engineers. The firmer springs improved, but did not eliminate, the vibrations.

-Jeff

 

my 2012 tacoma does the exact same thing the dealer had it three times and can not repair they now said that they will not repair it at all because they have no fix