2007 Toyota Tacoma Vibrations at 60-65 MPH

After several months of troubleshooting, I finally got Toyota to replace the driveshaft on my 2007 Tacoma, Base model. It had a vibration at 60-65 MPH, but would smooth out at 70 MPH. Then you could feel it in the seat of your pants all the way down in the 40 MPH speed range.

What I finally did was, remove the shaft, after reading a post on this site, flipped it over completely and reinstalled it, after I replaced the U-joints, put the yoke on the opposite end and the rear piece that hooked to the chuck where the yoke was on the front end. The vibration clearly changed and was not as apparent. But when I removed the shaft again to inspect it, I notice that there was something "inside the shaft sliding back and forth as you would hold the shaft vertically, and then flip it the other way.

Well. I called "Dana Spicer" the company who makes all Toyota driveshafts. Talked to the tech rep there and he said there was a damper insider the shaft, (like a cardboard tube inside of a shaft tube), but it should be fixed, that is, not moving at all. He told me the shaft was defective.

I brought the removed shaft to Toyota, and they agreed to replace it. The vibration is "COMPLETELY" gone.

Hope this helps with some of you that have a vibration at various speeds. Could be the driveshaft.

 

Does this feel only like a vibration or could it feel like you have a wheel out of balance as well? I have more of a shaking problem which even road force balancing doesn't seem to completely cure. Wondering if it's the drive shaft or something else as well.

 

Thanks for the info, Chief. I have the same year and same vibration.

Question: when you're driving does it feel/sound like it's coming from the front?

What a great idea going straight to Dana Spicer; not Toyota.

 

Sub'd

 

This vibration was totally different than an out of balance tire. You could hear it, as a very low pitch humming sound. Seemed like it would transition, sometimes you could feel it more in the front, sometimes it seemed to be in the rear. Maybe that was that damper moving around in the driveshaft. I have the old shaft, cutting it open today to see what the inside looks like.

 

When you were driving 60-65, did the vibration almost go away when you lifted off the throttle, then come back on when you gave it throttle again?

 

Was the vehicle covered under a Certified Preowned Warranty? Or is your truck out of warranty?

 

Actually, it would get a little worse when you would come of the accelerator.

 

I bought it used, but has a engine and drivetrain warranty. So they bought me another shaft. The challenge was convincing them it was bad.