drivetrain vibration

Hi - I wonder if anybody has (had) a similar issue? I have a 2012 Tacoma TRD Sport, V6 Automatic, access cab. I purchased it new a month ago, it now has 1400 miles on it. I am retired and bought this primarily to provide safe and reliable transportation especially towing my 18 foot aluminum boat (boat, motor and trailer less than 2000 lbs.) around the hills of Vermont. The truck was chosen partially because it had the towing package.

The only tow so far has been to winter storage - about 5 miles away. I was dissapointed in that, particularly taking off from a stop, but also noticed on a steep, slow hill, there was a drivetrain vibration that I would describe, in the old days as "axle tromp". It was often cured by new u-joints, and/or carrier bearings or even carrier bearing rubber housing. This vibration does go away and smooth out with speed but is really annoying nonetheless.

I took it back to my dealer, (this vibration also can be created by simple very hard acceleration) who agreed with me that, yes, this is in fact occuring, but the bad news is all V6 automatics do it!!! In my mind, having just bought a vehicle with a pricetag north of $31000 (which is more than my 1st house!!!!!!), this is probably one of the worst diagnoses possible - they all do it! They (dealer) were decent about it and sympathetic, gave me Toyota's 800 # , and said goodbye. I called Toyota and the fellow I talked was, to put it nicely, unsympathetic and told me to contact my dealer. This by the way is my 6th Toyota. Needless to say I am a bit frustrated at the present.

Anyway, as I am sure you can tell I am new to this forum but thought I would give it a try to see if anyone else has experienced this and any possible solutions would be welcome. Or is it, as many other issues at this age, all in my head and simply to be tollerated???

Thanks for reading,

Steve

 

Can we eliminate some easy variables ?

How about mud on the inside of the rims ? or the possibility of poorly balanced tires ( a known issue with Toyota )
Tires have a shelf life ... check here to see if you were a lucky customer of new tires or tires that sat on shelving for years ..http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

I am suprised the dealer didnt at least try rotating the tires or at the very minimum send out your driveshaft for a re-balance to see if it would help . All it would take is a drive shaft balance weight falling off to create a vibration or a wheel weight for that matter .
Driving with a load changes the drive line angle at the rear of the vehicle . Most Tacomas have a two piece driveshaft to eliminate whip . Did the dealer check the driveshaft universal joints for seize up ?
Can you feel the vibe in the steering or the rear end ?
Can you reproduce it under coast in neutral
Does the vibration only occur with towing ? Could it be the trailer vibrating and amplifying into the rear of the truck ?
Do you have the opportunity to try a more reputable dealer ?
My v6 4x4 does not do it but I can tell you that ever since I started using alluminum rims over steel , i have found that vibrations and crappy tires have the tendency to overamplify into the steering and drive line .
Not saying this has anything to do with your truck , but it may help you narrow the issue down
.

 

There is a huge thread on stock driveline vibration

 

Here

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4020082