U-Bolts, Brakes, and Vibes - Toyota Field Tech Experience

Over the last ~3k miles or so I started experiencing several issues (beyond the 2k RPM gas pedal vibes and wonky tranny) related to a wobbly feeling coasting on the highway, increased vibes in the steering column, shudders when braking, and a feeling that my rear suspension was failing which resulted in me feeling like my back was going to break when hitting bumps in the road.

My vehicle was taken to my local dealer about 1k miles after I started noticing the issues. I specifically requested the brakes be inspected (felt initially like a warped rotor feeling I've had on past vehicles), leafs, suspension, etc., greased and all bolts tightened to spec. The dealer confirmed brakes were in good shape and the tightening and greasing was complete.

I then embarked on a 1,000 miles of driving that was quite miserable with the harsh impacts in the rear end and wobbling. Irate, I called my service advisor informing him of my dissatisfaction and after some back-and-forth the service manager made the decision that we needed to schedule a day for a field tech to take a look at it which was yet another 3 weeks away. Continued driving for another 2,000 miles on the verge of trading it in or spending a bunch of money to redo suspension.

Then this last weekend, before I made a 350 mi roundtrip, I FINALLY broke down and bought a torque wrench to check the u-bolts. Haven't had to work on my own vehicles for a long time - I had Toyotas that never had issues... Low and behold, the dealer clearly didn't do as stated and tighten the u-bolts. The bolts on the passenger side were pretty close to the 52lb/ft spec on my '17 OR, but on the driver's side they were as low as 15-20 and took many turns to get to the correct torque spec. Boom, the harsh impacts in the rear end were gone! Happy to have resolved that issue, even if it further instilled the fact that I can only trust myself with my truck.

The wobbly feeling, shudders, and the engine vibrations were still present though and driving me nuts. Fast forward to yesterday when my appointment was scheduled while the regional field tech was in town.

Experience with the field tech:

The quality of service was incredible. He was very clear in expectations that he believed he could improve my driving experience but that it's likely at the end of the day he won't be able to address everything on my list. The field tech pulled the master tech on duty and the two of them spent the majority of their day investigating my truck in detail. We each drove my truck around town and on the highway, then drove a new one off the lot for comparison. Obviously, the one on the lot also had the vibes in the steering and pedals... but did not exhibit the wobbly feeling I was getting (which I had come to believe was the front diff) and the shudders when coming to a stop.

They took a few hours to put the truck on a lift and inspect it in detail:

An ACTUAL manual transmission fluid check. They even put some fans underneath it and went to lunch to get it to the perfect temp range. The fluid level was correct. The field tech also stated that what he's seeing a lot of with the ~1qt low issues is primarily the dealers not getting it warm enough or using the proper procedure and that the low tranny fluid issues, while present, are not nearly as widespread as people believe - who knows. But at least I now feel like I'm not driving around grinding my transmission.

Inspected belts/fluid for power steering and deemed there were no issues.

Inspected front diff for abnormal play and while there's always a bit of play, mine was the same as a new one which didn't exhibit the wobbly vibe. I am not lifted, so this was merely a hypothesis in absence of a better diagnosis from a trained tech.

Inspected driveline angles according to the TSB, even though my '17 was not included on the TSB. They were within spec.

Inspected brakes... the rear driver's side drum was warped and abnormally tight causing some level of binding and the wobbly feeling. They replaced the rear drum and mounted it a bit looser to reduce friction. NOTE: this was my first hypothesis... which was supposedly inspected on my last trip to the dealer....

Remaining engine vibrations felt in the floor and steering column were compared to the new one and were similar but they did inspect mounts, etc., but could not find any "problems." The tech was "curious" what the damper would do to help (from the TSB) but the dealer did not have one in stock. Dealer is ordering one to try out and see if it helps at all within the next couple of weeks. The service manager briefly mentioned to the tech that he wondered if an exhaust damper would help. Curious if anyone on here has any experiences with that?

Summary:

Toyota field tech was professional, well-informed, patient and thoroughly investigated my full long list of concerns and only had my truck on his schedule to address yesterday. He was empathetic, confirmed my concerns (even the vibes which he'll funnel up - enough complaints and they'll do something...), and looked into anything he could think of to help.

Check your damn U-Bolts! I was miserable driving around for thousands of miles with a sore back for something so simple. Even the field tech seemed puzzled when I told him tightening the u-bolts resolved my hard rear-end impacts. Clearly not something they feel is a big issue... I've seen the warnings on TW but took my dealer's word for it when I asked them to check it. Don't.

If you feel like the front diff problems may impact you or feel wobbling, I'd take the truck to an independent party to inspect your brakes especially if you are not lifted. Seems this warped drum thing is somewhat common from what I've seen on here.

Engine vibes are still "characteristic of the truck" but they are getting feedback from owners and funneling up. Will report back if doing the damper alone helps in any way.

Still not "happy" with the remaining vibes, but at least I feel more confident that something major mechanically isn't at fault. For the first time in this ownership experience, I did feel like a valued customer though and have an open line to Toyota, and would bet that when/if I take it back to the same dealer I'll get a different experience.

So, there's my story. Such a pain to get what ended up being some simple stuff done...

 

Glad you got it taken care of.

 

Thanks for the info and feed back OP.
Glad U got some of the problems addressed, the are simple too nothing much wrong with these trucks as you can see, it just seems like it.

And while you have your torque wrench handy, remember to unload it after using and storage.

But before you put it away, please jack up the vehicle and check that your wheel lug nuts are torqued to spec, 83 ft. lbs I believe.

The dealer is most likely using 450-800+ft.lbs. impact wrench during inspection and tire rotation and that can warp rotors drums as well. Having said that, most pros know when to let off on the impact but nothing beats exact even hand torque spec, but it is more time consuming. However, it is your truck and a major reason why I take care of my own and no issues with mine.

Again, thanks for the feed back and spreading the word, maybe they'll listen to you lolo!

Cheers!

 

I checked my U Bolts a few weeks ago, they were slightly under torqued but close

 

Thanks for the good word of service for us field techs. We go above and beyond for out customers. I'm glad you had everything taken care of. I myself have a '17 OR no complaints yet.

 

Thanks for the head's up on the lugs! Will check

 

Yeah, clear you guys are professionals. Wish there was a bit better dealer accountability, but in the end I guess I have them to thank for getting me a field tech involved. Being in business, I have high expectations of my teams and perhaps that results in me having high expectations of places where I spend my hard-earned money. So yes, I will be vocal but it goes both ways. You can't bitch and complain and not also take the opportunity to recognize it when an individual gets it right.

 

Great write up op, i have had similar issues and dealings with the dealer. Most my issues are. Ow taken care of except the vibration. Curious if the dampener helps.
Do you have the tsb# for the vibration dampener? Would really apreciate it. Thx.

 

Glad they are working with you and helping you figure things out. But lol man that "summary" was just as long as your initial description of what happened

 

There is no official TSB for the damper itself, but it is referenced in T-SB-0171-16 referenced which applies to '16's only if the driveline angles are off. Since mine is a '17 and driveline was in spec it didn't apply, so just a hypothesis it may help. I'm still really curious about the comment regarding exhaust - could it be something as simple as a muffler swap to reduce vibes? one could only hope

 

There have been cases where the resonator on the tundra causes a vibration like feel, this is most likely what they are reffering to. By dampening the resonator/exaust it may decrease or resolve your issues.

 

Intrigued - anyone happen to have any literature on doing anything like this on a 3rd gen taco? I'd be willing to test it out and see if the price and install complexity was right.