Another 3rd Gen Tacoma Driveline Vibration Thread

Tacoma driveline issues have been talked about many times... but I wanted to make this post to share what I learned and ultimately what fixed my 3rd gen driveline issues. I hope this helps anyone else plagued by the same issues I had find the one simple fix that will likely cure it all.

The symptoms shown below started from the day I picked up the vehicle from the dealer when I purchased it. I bought the truck brand new with 8 miles on it. Tacoma inventory was very limited at the time and I was not able to test drive MY truck until the day of purchase where I did not have ample time to test it in anything but local low speed conditions before taking delivery.

Symptoms:

1) Most notably I had a "Wah wah wah" resonant hum and vibration between 53-57 mph. At cruise with light throttle input. The noise and vibration felt through the chassis would go away immediately upon letting off the throttle. In testing I found it ONLY did this in 5th gear. Downshifting to 4th would end the vibration.

2) Vibration felt in the pedal and seat when braking from about 25mph down to 10. Only time it didn't do this was under very light braking.

3) A slight, but noticeable bucking at different speeds, but mostly 40mph under light throttle. Felt very similar to torque converter shudder but didn't last as long as that usually does.

Frustrations:

Like many people have said the dealer blew this off and said it was normal for the truck. I was an auto tech for 20 years and now work in parts. I know a few things about how a vehicle should and shouldn't perform.

I read multiple TSBs about replacing rear leafs, adding frame dynamic dampers etc. I also read many many forum threads about other peoples issues. It was enough to convince me I had a poorly set up differential, bad driveline angles, weak leaf springs, or simply "that's just how these trucks are."

What didn't fix it:

New tires (recommended by the dealer) - I had swapped my TRD pro wheels from my 4runner which did have used Falken Wildpeaks on it. The 4runner never had a vibration and the OEM wheels and tires had this vibration from day 1.

Having a 2nd shop rebalance the tires.

What did fix it:

I finally got fed up and went to Home Depot and bought a digital angle meter. After taking measurements of the drive angles I found that I had 2 issues.

Issue 1: The angle at the T-Case to Driveshaft was more than 1 degree different from the angle of the Pinion to the Driveshaft.

Issue 2: The Pinion to driveshaft angle was more than 4*

I did the math out and wanted the fix both issues at once... (this requires measuring the angle at the Transfer Case and the angle of the front part of the driveshaft) Take the driveshaft number and subtract the T-case number. This is your first working angle. Then do the same thing with the rear part of the shaft and the pinion angle. That is your second working angle. You want those 2 angles to be very close together. Ideally about half a degree apart. The pinion will rise some due to axle wrap, but I do not know how much and I didn't bother to factor this into my equation. This is a bit of a pain to with the driveshaft on because the flange bolts get in the way and you will have to move the truck back and forth to get the bolts to line up in such a way that you can get an accurate reading. (I will post pics later of how to do this and what tool to use)

According to the math a 1.5* axle shim should fix my issue... but this was just in theory.

I decided to test it before ordering anything. I bought 5, 50lb sand bags and began loading. I continued to measure the driveline angles and stopped when it got in spec. IE matched what a 1.5* shim would theoretically do.

I then took the truck for a test drive. Both symptoms 1 and 2 were gone!!! I did not test for 3 at that time.

I measured the axle between the U-Bolts for both length and width. After google searching I found Summit racing had shims that were 1.5* that were 2" wide and 4.375" long... which was perfect.

The install was easy (would have been 10 minutes with a lift) but I had to do it on the ground in disgusting heat and humidity (I wont mention the hangover, oops I did) ... I jacked up the truck by the frame then put the jack under the axle by the UBolt bracket. I unbolted the shock at the bottom and then the 4 Ubolt nuts. slowly letting the axle drop until I could put the shim on the perch. The Summit racing shims had holes in the middle which was perfect for going around the bolt head which holds the leaf spring together. Repeat for the other side. Once bolted back up the shim would have no way to back out. To lessen the pinion angle the thin part of the shim must be facing the front of the vehicle. This will rotate the pinion flange upward.

Test Drive:

I noticed at the first stop I had no noticeable vibration. But I brake pretty lightly most of the time so I wasn't calling that a win yet.

I got the vehicle up to 53 mph and then 55. Nothing, no hum no vibration in the seat, wheel or pedals. I tried various roads both old and new surfaces, flat roads and inclined. If there is anything still present it is very very mild.

Braking tests also came back negative. No more vibrations.

Normally I drive with the Shift Sense Pro - which was to avoid the 40mph shudder due to low rpms. Thought being the low RPMs and flex lock was the "issue". But for this test I put the truck in Drive and let it shift normally. Much to my surprise the shudder was gone. I have driven it like this for 5 days now and I haven't felt it once. It has to be that the slight variations in driveshaft speed (due to the bad angles) were causing the shudder feeling. I wasn't expecting this to get resolved too but it appears it is!


Final thoughts:

I hope this helps anyone struggling with any of these issues. Feel free to message me with questions.

 

Link for those shims? The only 1.5* ones I have found at Summit were thick and bulky

 

Interesting, unless I’m misunderstanding, I’m surprised this tweak of the angles fixed it. A 2-piece driveshaft like our trucks have technically is supposed to have the front portion be “an extension of the transfer case.” Meaning, it should almost be parallel and have no angle at the tcase, though they do give it a 1-2° angle so that the u-joint at the transfer case doesn’t run dry.

then of course, that low angle front piece sets the angle of the center joint of the driveshaft, which is the one the pinion angle needs to match. That’s typically somewhere around 8° or so down and the axle being 6-7° up.



There’s a decent graphic. It’s not perfect since it shows the driveline perfectly flatt, which is never the case. But nevertheless, the 1st joint is very low angle, the second angle is created by the slope of the front shaft piece, and then the pinion matches that.

Either way, good to hear you solved the problem. I still don’t really understand why some of these trucks vibrate and some don’t. I drive mine up to 5,500-6,000 driveshaft rpm semi often and I have absolutely no issues, smooth as silk thankfully.

 

Here's the link.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sps-80399

It comes as a set of 6. If you need 2 message me and I will ship them to you at cost so you don't have to spend $75 like I did.

 

The working angle at my transfer case was about 3* ... I cannot comment on what it should be. I can only comment on what mine was/is. That angle is fairly static and only a center carrier bearing drop could change it (at least without serious modifications.) In my case a carrier drop would only steepen the angle at the transfer case. Therefor the only option is to shim the axle. I think this is a great example of why people need to measure their own vehicle before making any assumptions. It is clear to me that there is too much variation between setups from the factory. Definitely disappointing. I have had 3 Toyotas prior to this one and loved them all. I love this one now but it drove me crazy for the last year chasing these 3 issues.

 

I've had a similar issue (2021 TRD Sport), but it feels like warped brake rotors. Not a constant issue. Someone else had a similar issue, and somehow determined hat it was probably caused by brake pad dust 'caking up' on the rotors (I'm guessing these are no longer asbestos). His solution (also worked for me) was to find a decent, somewhat lightly travelled road, accelerate to highway speed, then apply the brakes hard. Repeat procedure several times. Seemed to help.

 

I've noticed since mile 0 that there's a vibration in mine - if there's a blanket on the passenger seat or the back seat you can see the vibration. It also can be seen in the center console, it seems like it is at freeway speeds.

I have chalked it up to poor engineering on Toyota's part. I have no idea where this comes from. I assumed the drive line. I've just learned to accept it, I think Toyota should fix it or own it but I've owned enough vehicles to know, MFGs never own up to these things unless forced to, typically.

My VW R32 had DSG issues, Volkswagen denied me warranty, on literally the last day of my warranty.

You need large amounts of owners to force a fix or addressing of an issue.

I really appreciate your input and tenacity on this. Impressive to say the least.