Driveline Vibration Going Uphill--30ish. Garage says I need a new tranny

Guys looking for some suggestions here... Probably about a month ago I noticed some driveline vibration when stepping on the gas going up an incline.. it was like a shake in the front end like I was going over uneven road.. Well I brought it down the road today thinking it was maybe a U Joint or something and they checked it all out and they're thinking it's the tourque converter in the tranny itself... The truck only has 123K miles on it.. Did anybody experience this same problem???

 

2wd, 4wd?

 

sorry 4WD should of included that.. TRD Sport 2011

 

does it do it when down shifting?
does putting it in 4th help if it don't down shift?
does it do it in 4WD? only do on straight road if dry

 

Honestly I didn't even put it in 4WD as I wasn't thinking transmission.. I was thinking U Joint in/out done ... Just seems odd that a torque converter would go with only 123K on it.. Only way I can the problem to recreate itself is by going uphill at a very low RPM 2000-2500 RPM at like 20-30MPH's... then the front end starts bouncing up and down like I'm going over a bunch of pot holes.. Per the Toyota mechanic he's "confident" it's the torque converter.

 

Im not saying hes wrong but Id crawl under and check the U-joints/center bearing etc...

 

Don't go to that garage again. Tacomas have an almost infinite number of driveline vibe sources, but auto tranny problems are very rare. I would guess your carrier bearing is bad. Search on that in TW and you will find a lot of info. I think someone may have developed a better than OE carrier bearing, but I'm not sure about that. The carrier bearing is not too expensive, and easy to diy.

 

I'm gonna go with the Toyota mechanic on this one if everything else looks good. Have him install a Trans go shift kit in that Bitch while he's there. Edit: and the spark plugs are fairly new?

 

My torque converter took a shit at 45k. Toyota replaced it under warranty. I had a shake under light throttle between 35 and 40. Felt like the driveshaft was falling out.

 

try to get a gopro mounted under there and observe
the carrier bearing area first, see if you have a vibrating driveshaft under load

 

might be drivers side diff output bearing or even low trans fluid

 

My torque converter shake was pretty violent. Like the whole truck would shake and rattle. Even rattled the bottle jack loose under the back seat.

 

I appreciate all the input guys, I really do ..I actually bought spark plugs for the truck this past weekend as I hit 120K a few weeks back and I read in the service book to change out the plugs.. I was going to do that this weekend.. HAHAHA...

To make the matters worse I am planning on going on vacation this Thursday up to Lake George, NY and I kind of need the truck to haul up the kayaks and camping gear... The service manager said he would order the new tranny, replace it and have the truck back to me by Thursday morning so I can make the trip up to NY.... I'll bring up to the service manager to make sure they check out the carrier bearing but he was confident it was the torque converter so I'm assuming he checked that... Nothing like spending $3K before going on vacation.. I told the service manager for that type of money to throw in the spark plugs I have sitting in the back seat..

 

172k miles on original plugs here

ex's sienna has 207k with original plugs

they might only need to be gapped

 

The fluid may be shot. Try changing it and see what happens. It certainly can't hurt.

 

Not supposed to "re-gap" used plugs

 

Since when?

Been doing it for 30 years with out issue. No need to waste money on plugs that are fine.

 

Well im no expert on the topic, but I would assume since spark plugs were invented.

The metal is heated and cooled soo many times, you can imagine the structure changes quite a bit, and bending that electrode can cause "stress fractures" which could lead to the electrode braking off in your combustion chamber... I am not one to follow the book on every little detail, but for things like this, there is no point in taking the risk imo.