6 Speed Rattle in Neutral/While Decelerating at 40+mph Problem Solved

For the past month, i have been trying to track down metal on metal noises coming from my 2013 DCSB 6 speed 4x4 (picked it up with 24,500 miles on the odometer). I got the truck a few weeks back and i noticed as i drove it more and more, a loud metal on metal noise would occur when in neutral/clutch is depressed and traveling over 35-45mph, or when slowing down in neutral or w/ the clutch depressed. When braking hard, the noise would almost sound like a fast metal clicking/vibrating noise and it was getting progressively worse from when i first bought the truck. It started out only making the noise when i'd hit a rough spot or a pot hole in the road, but eventually it got so bad that it would make the noise on almost any road if not in gear. Needless to say, i started keeping the truck in gear as much as possible to keep the noise from driving me crazy. I also started downshifting while slowing down and keeping the truck in gear until i came to almost a complete stop to try and keep the noise at bay.

The noise would pretty much go away whenever i would put the truck in 4high so initially i thought it was the needle bearing since my driver's side cv has a little more play in it than the passenger's side. However, it wasn't a groan or vibration that one often encounters with the needle bearing, and my truck is stock so i figured this more than likely was not the culprit. At this point i figured it had to be driveline related since it always happened while the truck was in neutral or the driveshaft was not loaded. I remembered reading a post on here about someone saying half the battle of keeping these 6 speed trucks quiet is keeping the u-joints greased. I didn't think this was the problem either since i changed the oil and greased the u-joints about 2000 miles prior, but yesterday i figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try and grease them up again. Turns out greasing the u-joints is exactly what the doctor ordered. When i drove it today the truck didn't sound like it was going to fall apart when slowing down in neutral or just coasting along in neutral! If you have a 6 speed and its making noise while braking hard or hitting bumps while out of gear, start by greasing your u-joints, it could very well be your problem.

Sorry for the long post, just trying to be as descriptive as possible of the problem. While searching i was unable to come by much in the way of 6 speed tacoma posts with this problem, so maybe this will help someone else who is also having a similar problem.

Here are a few of the threads that i found while searching for what the problem might be:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/strange-rattle-on-08-v6-manual-6spd.17365/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/manual-transmission-rattle-in-neutral.110726/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transmission-raddled-in-neutral.104746/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/loud-rattle-from-under-2013.275316/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-6-speed-manual-trans-rattle-over-bumps-solved.477131/

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Bump. Turns out it wasnt the ujoints, but actually axle wrap caused by loose ubolts. Torqued those down and now i can brake in neutral without the truck sounding like a rattle trap.

Hope this helps someone in the future..

 

Nice! Good to know for sure