Decel vibrations on used truck - keep truck or not?

New member here, hello everyone.

About 3 weeks ago, I bought a ‘21 TRD Sport with 27k miles from a Subaru dealer. It was one of the only places that had an xtracab with the features I was looking for.

From the start, I noticed the “mini-rumble strip” vibrations when braking at 30 mph or below, but chalked it up to rust on the rotors. Figured it would correct itself. 1,000 miles in, it had not, so I took the truck back to the dealer for service. They confirmed the vibration.

The dealer has been very accommodating.

They went through TSB-0124-20, the angles were within spec, so no new leaf springs were installed.

They checked the u-joints. They’re fine.

They checked front and rear brakes. All good.

They inspected the rear axle and driveshaft. Looked fine.

They spoke with a Toyota Field Technical Service rep, who acknowledged the issue exists, but said the trucks are made for hauling / towing, which would make the vibration disappear. Otherwise, it’s a characteristic of the truck.

At this point, my choices are coming down to keep the truck and live with the vibrations, or take the dealer up on an offer to buy the truck back.

My questions for other owners who dealt with same issue…

1. Have you found a fix? If so, was it the TSB? Replacing the driveshaft with double cardan or a 1-piece? Shims? Other?

2. If you decided to just live with the vibrations, has it caused any further issues with the truck? Any problems with reliability, etc? Do you feel like you made the right decision?

Thanks for any feedback

 

That would drive me crazy. Let the dealer find a way to fix it or sell it right back to them. You don't wanna be chasing down this issue for who knows how long it'll take.

 

The Tsb helped with mine , it didn’t totally go away but I don’t even notice it anymore , certainly nothing to worry about as far as long term reliability . I hear a little weight in the bed calms it down also . Just my experience , but seriously I don’t even feel it anymore unless I really look for it .

 

Vibrations when you press the brake pedal?

It needs brake rotors or drums. And check the pads for scorching. At least try rotors before throwing in the towel. Brake runout measurements don't matter (if they even did measurements), a brake pulsation is a brake pulsation

 

I had the TSB done to replace the springs. It did improve it a bit, but I just live with what is left. Adding a few hundred pounds of weight in the bed does make a big difference. If it really bothers you, I'd stop at home depot and buy 4 or 5 bags of tube sand and see how it feels.

 

Also, you can confirm it's related to rear end by using the hand brake to slow down when you're going 20-30mph. You'll feel the vibration and confirm that it's not related to the front rotors.

 

They did resurface the rotors. Same pads, they still have about 6 mm thickness. Also checked the rear brakes. They were fine.

Vibration is still there.

 

Doesn't mean they resurfaced them correctly.

It could still have a shitty drum..

Just to be clear, I'm talking about a brake pulsation, like definitely related to your foot being on the brake. I know there can be some vibes related to drivetrain and such referenced in the tsb..

 

I have bolded concerns I noted in red

Can you tell if vibration is from front or back or both?

"They checked front and rear brakes. All good. "
What does "all good" mean ?
The brake pads/linings may be good but the rotors may be out of round, scored, and calipers may be warped especially if brake work has been previously done.

They did resurface the rotors. Same pads, they still have about 6 mm thickness. Also checked the rear brakes. They were fine.
Just because they are ok with "thickness" doesn't mean they're not out of round.
I've never heard of a proper brake job and not changing pads and linings.

a Toyota Field Technical Service rep, who acknowledged the issue exists, but said the trucks are made for hauling / towing, which would make the vibration disappear. Otherwise, it’s a characteristic of the truck.
That is just total bs

Also..why buy a vehicle if you notice something from the start ?
Obviously should have had an independent mechanical appraisal before purchase.
You can still take it to another shop and ask for opinion on vibration and maybe complete appraisal. Just a few bucks compare to what you paid or may be looking at to fix.

 

Gotcha. I was careless in the wording. I can feel the rumble-strip vibration in the pedal, floorboard, etc. It happens when I brake below 30 mph but doesn’t seem to be a brake pulsation.

 

Good questions.

It feels like vibration is more from the front. It doesn’t feel exactly like a *just* a brake pedal vibration, because it seems I can feel it through the pedal and floor. I know that’s pretty generic.

The front rotors were out of round. They resurfaced them. The front brake pads had 6 mm thickness left so were left alone. I didn’t ask about the calipers.

I specifically asked if rear drums were out of round. I was told they weren’t. Rear shoes were cleaned and adjusted.

I agree with you about it being a “normal characteristic”

 

So it doesn’t do it if you just coast from 30mph down? It’s specifically with use of the brake pedal?

 

I would ask for a new front brake job including new rotors
or
Suggest if you are within "cooling off" you may cancel deal
or
just cancel deal

 

I'm guessing all this brake work was done free?

That means they put the cheapest mechanic kid on it, he was likely in a hurry, no guarantee the work was done correctly

 

Agreed, an inspection may have caught it. Then again, it may not have. Can’t go back and change it, but can keep it in mind moving forward.

At the time, I knew the truck had been on the lot for some time. I assumed it was just rust on the rotors that had to be worn off.

 

I’ll ask them. I don’t know if they tried. I know I haven’t. .

 

I’m not jumping to that conclusion. They’ve been very willing to work with me to investigate the issue.

 

you need new leaf springs (off road). the tsb unfortunately gives toyota every possible excuse not to fix it.
mine was TERRIBLE and is near perfect now with new springs and steering wheel damper (i think damper was overkill).
i think there is something to worry about re carrier bearing is being abused (and transmitting vibes to frame). may fail eventually. depends how bad your problem is.
the excuse to haul or tow is absurd. field rep is an ass to say that. he is correct loading bed will reduce vibes.
if vibes are bad enough it bothers you, it will not improve and may get worse as springs age and weaken.
if they won't fix it i would get my money back. you are lucky to have that option. sounds like a decent dealer.
just my $0.02 having been thru it and getting it fixed.

edit: yes of course eliminate brakes as mentioned above by coasting. that should have been first thing dealer did before even talking to rep.

edit 2: so many posts while i was writing mine. this has been thoroughly posted about in other threads. i hope you can use my opinions but i can't reinvent the wheel again. use search function for the tsb. you'll see this thread is just going to replicate.

 

Thanks. They followed the TSB flowchart, which said if the angles were within spec (which they said they were), no new leaf springs needed.

 

Would I have them try this in drive? In neutral?