Driveline vibration Tsb out

I went with the tech today he worked on my truck, he replaced the springs and put a steering wheel damper on. He also is confused why toyota replaced the springs so we play the game. I think they will if the toyota engineer agrees to replace the drive shaft. See how things progress .

 

I just went and re-torqued my u-bolts to 45ftlb then 55ftlb. Hoped in and I don't get any vibes until 55mph but I recently (400 miles ago) got new tires. I will have them re-balance them when I go for my alignment soon. Also, the "thud" from take off has improved tremendously according to my short test drive.

 

Springs have a different "seat angle" I was told. Weather true or not I have not had the chance to compare them.

 

Well, I got the call from the service manager. He's a super nice guy, was very empathetic, but didn't give me a good answer. Basically he said there's nothing that they can do. Even though mine is worse than the one we drove, they're still calling this normal for the truck and therefore there will be no further remedy for it. He mentioned that there were some things that people were doing online (likely found them here) to take care of the issue, but Toyota cannot/will not use aftermarket parts on my truck. He offered to help with the labor if I found a solution.

So lots of wasted time for nothing. I still cannot believe I spent $35k on a truck that shakes when I accelerate. I thought this brand stood for something that it clearly does not.

 

I posted this on Toyota's Facebook page:

I just wanted to share my recent experience with Toyota:

I have owned 3 Toyotas in my 9 years of driving and loved each one more than the last. To me, the Toyota brand stood for quality, longevity, and a vehicle you can be confident in.

Three months ago, I decided to purchase my 4th Toyota. This time, I treated myself to a brand new 2013 Tacoma right off of one of your dealership lots. The truck is beautiful, and I can't help but to smile every time that I put my hands on the wheel.

Shortly into my ownership of my Tacoma, I realized that the truck would shudder when accelerating between 15-25 mph. Concerned, I brought my truck back to the dealership to see how this might be remedied. To my delight, there was a TSB for this specific issue in the second gen Tacoma. The dealership promptly performed said TSB and sent me on my way. A procedure that had been created to resolve my shuddering issue has now intensified the problem.

I have been back at that same dealership nearly a dozen times in the 3 months I've owned the truck to try to get this issue resolved. Yesterday, I did a drive with your regional rep. Your rep acknowledged that my truck shudders, and after driving another brand new Tacoma that also shuddered under acceleration, he also acknowledged that my truck shudders worse than that truck. After spending an hour at the dealership in the middle of the day, I had to return to work, but your rep said he would call his counter-part in California and see if there have been any new solutions to this issue. The master tech at the dealership called me last night to deliver the results of your reps efforts: it's normal. He explained that Toyota has deemed this shudder - a very noticeable and embarrassing shaking in my truck - a characteristic of the Tacoma due to drive-line angles. Just because it's "normal" for the Tacoma, doesn't mean it's okay.

I have been a loyal customer of yours since the day I got my driver's license, and there has been at least one Toyota in my family's driveway for the last 20 years. I spent $35,000 on a truck that I am embarrassed to drive my friends and family in because every time that I accelerate away from a light, my truck vibrates violently. Let me make my disappointment very clear - telling someone that it's "normal" for my $35000 truck with 3000 miles on it to shake violently when I accelerate does not make the issue any less embarrassing, and it certainly does not make me feel ANY better about the problem. Toyota has done NOTHING to make this right.

For the very first time, I regret my decision to go with Toyota. This was my first brand new vehicle. This should have been exciting. This should have been fun. This has been incredibly disappointing. The brand that I thought stood for something apparently does not.

 

How long did it take before it was deleted...? They usually do that. Check your states lemon law and make sure its documented every time you go in that its not fixed...

 

It's still up, and I'd be very surprised if they took it down.

 

Dealer installed new drive shaft 2 piece, they compared it to a new truck on the lot said its good I still feel some slight shudder I will have to drive it some. So far it seems better " I know it's a truck not a Lexus" will post findings.

 

Make a video, I would like to see how violent your shudder is.

 

A video wouldn't really show it. It's something you feel.

 

video of drive line? I have a takeoff shudder, but I am lifted and wouldnt consider it violent

 

I have no way of mounting a camera to my frame to video the driveline. I don't have panels falling off of the truck, but it's not just a little tremble, the whole truck shakes.

 

GoPro

 

I'm not going to buy a GoPro to post a video of my driveline shaking...

 

I would

 

Ok, I'll go buy a $200 camera to show you a video of the problem. Then what? "Yup... looks like that's some pretty bad shaking you've got going on there."

Why would you spend $200 to take a video of a problem just to show it to people on a forum? It would make much more sense to spend $200 towards fixing a known issue.

 

I'm just saying I would

Documenting video evidence of a driveline shudder may help in showing Toyota that there is an issue and would also help pinpoint where your issue is originating

or maybe you could borrow one

 

I havent talked my service advisor about looking my truck up and seeing what was preformed while at the dealer before i bought it..

I have a lil sticker in my door jamb saying modification done decreased my payload by 60-70 lbs, so im assuming that they installed the softer leaf spings???

 

I have a similar sticker on my 2012. Not sure what was done.

 

Took my 2012 in to Power Toyota of Tempe this morning. I printed the TSB and showed it to my service advisor, then explained how to recreate the shudder. Got a call about 2 hours later and was told that the truck definitely shudders and they would order all parts and do a sequential fix of each step as needed.

I got called a couple hours after that. Service advisor explained that they contacted Toyota and received direction to put it in 4WD high, remove the drive shaft, and document the shudder disappeared on retest. It did. According to Toyota, this indicates that the TSB will not work to fix the problem (something everyone on this thread already knows).

So the service manager drove a brand new truck off the lot and had the exact same shudder I have. Seems to be an inherent design flaw.

At this point I still have the shudder, but at least now it's been documented that I had it while the truck was under warranty. Also appreciate that the dealer didn't put me through all of the steps that won't work anyway (and may make it worse). I just hope that Toyota someday identifies the real problem and releases an effective TSB.