6 Speed guys: Trans output play

For the last few weeks I have noticed a slight vibration in my truck. It doesn't seem dependent on throttle position, truck being in gear, out of gear, it is just there whenever the truck is in motion. It is speed dependent but doesn't vary with RPM. The vibration feels like it is coming from the center/rear of the truck.

Today I was changing my oil and I figured I would check the underside of the truck to see if I could find the source of the problem. Carrier bearing looks good, has a slight amount of rubber deflection when you push on it. U joints seem to be nice and tight too.

But, I discovered I have about 1/32 of in inch of play where the driveshaft plugs into the output shaft of the trans. Seal seems fine, no leaks, just a bit of play.

Could this be my vibration issue?

Truck is a 2010 X-Runner, has 82k on it and already had the trans replaced once under warranty by the P.O. Trans probably has about 50k on it and gets a steady diet of Redline MT fluid. Given that I know these transmissions are, umm, fragile, I tend to baby it a bit.
It is stock height and has no suspension mods. I don't drift it or do track days, it is a work truck that gets an occasional spirited drive on mountain roads.

X-Runner forum is a ghost town or I would ask there. I can't remember if the prerunner was available with the 4.0 and a 6 speed or if it was only the x-runner and 4x4s that had it. If anybody has a 6 speed prerunner (or an X) and can give their output shaft a wiggle (wow, that sounds so wrong) and let me know what they find, it would be greatly appreciated.

If the general consensus is that a new/rebuilt trans is going to be needed, this thing is getting traded in. I love the truck but not enough to throw a $4,000 transmission in it every 50,000 miles.

Thanks

 

Was hoping to see some feedback on this thread. I just purchased a 2015 with the 6-speed manual tranny.

 

Yup they did make prerunners 6 speeds.

OP id be inclined to replace u joints before diggin much further.

 

There is a whole laundry list of things I will check before putting a new trans in it. The output shaft play was just the first thing that I noticed while doing a quick inspection to see if I could find anything wrong.

My other two trucks don't have any play in this area, including one with almost 300,000k on the original transfer case. But the older 4x4 trucks have a flange that is bolted to the output shaft that the driveshaft bolts to, they don't slip in like the tacoma. I have no other 2wd manual tacomas handy to compare it to so I want to see if this is a normal amount of play or if it is potentially the cause of the vibration.

 

Im fairly certain that on both the manual 6sp and auto 5sp in 2wd configs found behind the 4.0L v6 use a slip yoke style of joint off the trans. There is in fact no slip joint in the middle of the driveshaft to allow for driveshaft length changes during suspension movement. This is why the stock carrier bearing has such squishy rubber as the driveshaft needs to move back and forward through it resulting in the shaft sliding in and out of the transmission itself. Obviously there has to be a little play to allow it to slide. 1/32nd of play i wouldnt be worried about.

I wish i could check this for you by my truck is a 4x4 and as such is fix flanged (like you mentioned on your old trucks) and has a slip joint after the CB.

 

So a 2010 DC prerunner 4.0 auto with 90,000 miles has zero output shaft play (checked my brothers truck when I saw him today).
FWIW, the output shaft setup and driveshaft look identical to that on my truck despite his being an automatic.
Starting to think this may be my issue .

 

Hey Rich, what was the outcome of this issue for you?

 

The vibration turned out to be internal tread separation in one tire. Discovered it when I rotated my tires and I suddenly had a shaky steering wheel. Found a small bubble on the sidewall. Tire had gotten a nail in it before and was patched.

Output shaft play has not changed at all.

 

Excellent, thanks for the feedback!