2018 Tacoma

I have a 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD offroad 4x4, I just started having a shudder when accelerating from 15 to 30 mph. It doesn't do it in 4 wheel drive. I jacked it up and moved the back wheels and the u- joints seem tight. The carrier bearing seems good(?). Please any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Needle bearing

 

The shudder is in the rear of the truck. Not in the front.

 

Likely need to provide more insight on the 'shudder' specifics for more input... Does it do it while coasting / braking as well?

- If you took the wheels off, I assume you checked for missing tire weights and possibly clumped-up mud inside the wheels.

Maybe check your u-bolts?

 

I rotated the wheels, all weights were on, no mud or anything. It only does it when accelerating. In between 15 and 25 mph.I checked the u- bolts and appear to be in good condition. I just don't want to start buying parts without knowing what it is.

 

If needle bearing is bad then the vibration goes away when in 4hi.

 

If your truck is AT, could be your torque converter. Seen quite a few on here with this issue.

 

Are you seeing any trouble codes? Here is an interesting video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqo2Kv7UC6s

 

OP said it doesn't do it in 4wd in his 1st post.

 

Ah. You are correct, my bad.

Need to sharpen my reading skills.

 

My brother just took his 2018 in for similar shuddering. They replaced the transmission fluid (which was likely low from new), and the problem went away. Have you had your transmission fluid level checked?

 

Not yet, I am going to take it in this week and have it done along with adding a tube of shudder fix.

 

If your rear u-joints/shaft have grease zerks, make sure they are greased.

 

The only ones that have zerks is the 4 wheel drive shaft

 

From what you described I may have had a different issue, but here's what I experienced. Perhaps it will help in your trouble shooting.

I also had a low speed shudder, but mine also did it in 4H. From what I read on this form and as other, probably much smarter than me Tacoma owners stated it maybe you needle bearing because it does not do it in 4H.
During my diagnostics I cycled a couple tanks of gas with dry gas added to make sure that was not the issue, greased drive shaft zerks, did the brake tap test, checked driveline and leaf spring U-bolts. Both higher octane gas and ECT mode made it less prevalent, but it was still there. Also, using the AT manual shifting mode helped because I could control the RPM's more.

Here's what I posted describing my problem on a different thread Shudder at low RPM | Page 2 | Tacoma World:

My 2016 automatic started doing what you described at 112,000 miles. It seemed as if the truck was shifting into overdrive to save gas when coasting (1200-2000 rpm 35-40 mph). When I feathered the throttle to maintain speed it would shudder like a rumble strip until I let off the gas or accelerated more. Coincidently it started about 2 months after I installed a lift, so I spent some time looking at my drive line. Had the dealer do a transmission drain and fill along with the transmission TSB and problem went away immediately.
Also consider your spark plugs and how many miles are on them. My idle rpms seemed low, but truck never showed a code. After I did the plugs which had 90K miles my idle rpm went up about 100 rpm (back to what I remember as normal) and the throttle feels snappier.

I asked the dealer if they used shudder fix in the transmission and they said "no".

 

I just test drove a 2018 Tacoma (78K miles, AC60 Trans, V-6) with the shudder issue. Owner said it just started w/in the last couple thousand miles. Test driving I found the shudder to occur at lower speeds only when the trans shifted from 2-3 gear. That pretty much rules out a torque converter lock up issue. Also mostly rules out many of the other drive line components. Forget U-joints and greasing things for now. A low speed shudder when changing gears tells me old/dirty/worn trans fluid, or shift solenoid issues. Higher speed shudder around 45mph leans toward TCC. So first step is replace the trans fluid. At 78K its overdue anyway. Then we start looking at re-flashing the program for the trans, if available. Many TSB's on this issue. But keep in mind if you go to the dealer the Powertrain warranty is less than the Emissions warranty. And many of these shudder issues are covered under the Emissions warranty. So if the dealer points to the Powertrain warranty redirect them to the Emissions warranty.