Bumping / Shaking / Vibration on Brand New Tacoma

I picked up my new Tacoma OR on Friday. When driving home from the dealership, I noticed a drive quality issue that is concerning. I was hoping it would resolve itself, but I drove 160 miles over the weekend and it continues to happen whenever I drive. The car has a vibration, or more of a bumping/shaking, that shakes the body of the car unnaturally. It makes the ride very not-smooth. Most noticeable at 50-63 mph, but can be felt at most speeds.

It doesn't cause the steering wheel to shake.

It isn't caused by bumps in the road or the suspension bouncing... I know what those feel like. It feels mechanical, like something is wrong with the wheels, rear axle, or something in that area (I'm guessing here). I haven't noticed any noises related to this.

The best comparison I can give is... it feels similar to having a bubble in the wheel wall (if you've had one, you'll know), but a little less predictable. Those you feel on each rotation. This has more of a random cadence to it.

Going to talk to the service dept. shortly, but wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this.

 

My guess would be a bad balancing job. Those symptoms sound like one of your wheels/tires is way out of balance.

 

I have a '22 Tacoma that has the hesitation / stutter that apparently is just a "characteristic" of Tacomas according to the dealership and many other people's experience on here. Like you, I first noticed it in the similar speed range as you described so I had the tires balanced and rotated at the 5k service. That didn't help anything at all. I find mine to be if the engine is under 2k rpm under slight acceleration (or going slightly uphill where you have to press on the gas a little more). It is most noticeable between 40 and 50 but also does it at higher speeds when the truck gets into overdrive. The truck feels like it is stuttering or hesitating almost as if you are going over bumps. Is that what you are experiencing? Even my service writer said he has a '21 Tacoma and his does the same thing and he hates it, too.

 

thanks for the reply. Not quite... your description sounds more related to the throttle / acceleration / engine. Mine isn't so much about the engine or power... the shaking / bumping happens regardless of if I'm accelerating or not. It's pretty much always there and only impacts ride quality, not performance really.

 

Agreed that I think mine is a transmission related issue from related threads on here. Just checking. Good luck with getting it figured out and make sure to post the solution! I'm curious to see what the issue is.

 

Thanks man! Will do. Good luck with yours

 

I have a 21, same exact issue. Once I’m going 60 it’s so smooth, once the speed slows down into the 40s I can feel the vibration start settling in, but speed up or slow down and it goes away. I’ve got 22k miles now.

Had road force vibration and multiple rotations and the vibrations feel the same no matter what.

 

Do you have a TRD?

 

My Tundra had the same problem. My new Tacoma does it. How this is an acceptable characteristic I don't quite understand. Seems to me it would be a good deal of stress on the driveline when it really gets going, which is often with mine when it's not on the interstates. I think the Tacoma is actually more violent than the Tundra was in this respect. Maybe the higher weight of the Tundra smooths it out a little.

 

Check tire pressures first! Dealers and shops like to just fill em .
The OR does ride soft and is a little flighty at highway speeds, like over expansion joints around corners. I think the OR sway bar is a little smaller in diameter too,,, not 100% on that part.

 

Alignment? Toe way off?

 

I feel the same issue around the same speed on my '23. From what I've read it seems to be normal behaviour. I was waiting for my first free service to mention it. Following this thread to see if it's something fixable.

 

warranty, man! Let toyota deal with it

 

It’s an SR. I’ve had it to the dealer twice. Gonna try it again soon. If you get any updates keep us posted.

 

There was one TSB related to SR-lvl issues with vibration. Link below, but it's for different years. Still might be an ongoing issue.

https://www.tsbsearch.com/Toyota/T-SB-0023-19

 

Check the "plastics" on your vehicle. Sounds like a mud flap or what is affectionately called the "chin strap" could have a loose connection that flaps at lower speeds but has enough air resistance at higher speeds to push it into one position.

Almost anything drive train related should be rhythmic with at Least RPMs or wheel rotation rate. (Unless it is something REALLY bad!)

 

they overfill the crap out of them. surprised they don't get more complaints from doing that to every vehicle. also, if they don't torque your wheels properly, it can cause issues like this.

 

Good idea. I'll check that. Tried folding the tonneau already and that didn't help. But didn't think of flaps