Few questions from a new 2nd gen owner

Hey folks, coming from 2004 into 2013 I have a few questions.

4.0, automatic, 180k, original shocks, springs, and wheels.

- do some second gens shake the passenger's seat and box? It's not terrible, but I have brand new tires all balanced out to zero and I'm getting a little shake around 60 mph. All u-joints "appear" fine and I greased everything but the slip yoke.

- do some second gens sound like you're driving over a small rumble strip when taking off fairly hard or going into a low-speed turn from a stop hitting the throttle?

- could my shudder (enough to see the hood shake a tiny bit) on hard take-off be caused by excessive slop (push up about 1/2 to 3/4 inch) in the hangar bearing or dry slip yoke?

Transmission shifts smooth, with no lockup shudder or erratic downshifting. Still getting used to that transmission braking effect though when I let off the gas! Strange feeling!

 

I have a 2015 and when I first bought it(2 years ago now), it shaked horrendously on the highway. Had tires balanced and now it shakes but it’s very minor. I think it’s relatively normal. It doesn’t shake enough to bother me.

As for the other two I can’t comment. My truck doesn’t shutter and it also doesn’t like at all like that when taking off or doing low speed turns.

 

My 07 has 223,000 miles on it with no shakes of shudders. The only time I've had similar issues was when the front rotors were warped, and I'd get shake when braking. I've had tires in the past that would never truly balance and you'd get some. The Rumble might be U-Joints, but it is hard to diagnose over the internet.

 

Try a rebalance at a different shop.

 

the shudders you mention sound like axle wrap which is common with SOA trucks. It could also be caused by slop too

 

Welcome to the 2nd Generation. I have a very light shutter pulling away; hard to detect if you're not thinking about it. Only issue otherwise is some wandering at highway speeds. Just little occasional corrections. Below 60 mph it's gone. I'm thinking it's the complicated 4WD driveline in the front. I wouldn't call it "unrefined", but would call it old-school and I'm fine with that. My '87 Bronco was the same way.

The first time I experienced the down-hill down-shifting phenomenon was I driving around last fall in the White Mountains in NH and ME. My heart sank because I'd only had the truck a couple of months and I thought it was having problems. I asked about it here and learned the transmission (and stability control?) have Intelligence, and were just doing their thing. Down steep and curvy grades it reads the wheel input, brake application and speeds and works to keep things under control by shifting down for you. Applying the brake a certain number of times while increasing speed down steep grades seems to trigger it. Applying the gas again it returns to the appropriate gear. It must be a great feature when towing in the mountains.

The only thing I'd say otherwise is that the transmission sometimes acts like it doesn't really/can't believe what you're asking for when you mash the pedal and hesitates for just a moment, but then when it finally does "get the message" oh-man! you get what you're asking for and does it go!! It will kick to a lower gear and then when it realizes you want more, boy do you get more with another downshift. Like it's in "old guy" program mode from taking it easy for weeks the burbs, and then "learns" and steps up to: "OK, you asked for it wise guy: so here you go! take that" mode. ...even gives you the "hold the high revs uand delay the upshift treatment" I like it lol

 

Try having the tire's road forced balanced. This is where they apply force to the tire during the balance to mimic the weight of the truck on the road. I had new tires installed and had them balanced had a shake, Got them balanced again. Still no luck. Had them road forced and found two of the tires from the factory were bad and had to be replaced.

 

Thanks for the insight fellas. I feel I may be on the road to obsession..yipes. I think I’ll get the tires road force balanced first. Just because the Discount tire tech assured me they zeroed out, doesn’t mean they are.

Not sure where to go with the rumble strip feeling. That may be a drastic comparison, it’s not that bad. I suspect it could be related to axle wrap or excessive slop in that hanger bearing. I think I’m expecting too much out of a fairly primitive driveline set up.

The “brrt” when I take off under hard acceleration reminds me of my old 61 Bel Air big block Chevy with a wasted hanger bearing. Good thing I hardly ever accelerate hard.

I’ll get the tires rebalanced and report back.

 

Wonder if this is part of my issue? Looking at my springs, I have 2 with overload. TSB are 3 with overload.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2014/SB-10061332-2273.pdf

 

Had the tires balanced at an independent shop when I got an alignment this morning. The rear right was 1.25 ounces off and the RL was 1.5 off. Rebalanced and now it's quite smooth; just a tiny bit of seat headrest vib.

 

If you feel vibration under your feet at low speeds, I’d look into the needle bearing replacement on driver side front differential. Notorious problem with these trucks. Lots of info on here about it. Swap out with solid bushing. Replace oil seal with OEM seal while your in there.
I just got this done on my 2013, fixed my vibration problem!

 

A slight warp in the front rotor may not be detectable in the pedal, but may cause the truck to vibrate like that. I have a 2014 town and country minivan, and when it was at around 75,000 miles i chased a vibration to no end, balancing and rebalancing the tires. Turned out, i bought all new powerstop drilled and slotted rotors and pads at all 4 corners, no more vibration.

 

At 200k I ended up getting new Bilstiens all around with an alignment. Major improvement at a low cost.

 

seems about normal. Remember its a truck so its not going to ride as smooth as an S600

 

I’m literally browsing right now for new 4600s. I forget this truck is almost 10 years old with 180k. It’s so damn clean and new to me I need to remind myself it’s gonna need stuff!

 

Absolutely right. It just seems like it’s got this weird low key driveline vibration still. I think I was just used to my beefy built 2004. Fucker was a tank compared to this ‘13. Also the light box seems to exacerbate little normal “truck things”. Just trying to get used to this rig I guess.

 

Glad to hear you got it sorted

 

At 180 K, I'd suspect U joints are worn if you still have vibration when you are accelerating. And one can't just shake/wiggle them too see if they are worn, you have to remove the driveshaft ends and move the joints around seeing if they are loose or stiff. I've had totally fried U joints that were absolutely rock solid tight, they just didn't want to actually move anymore and were as stiff as heck.

 

check the pilot/carrier bearing at the ujoint under the bed.
mine went out at 150k and was shuddering

 

Personally, with the given miles and unknown history, I would replace the suspension. Cheap route would be take offs from a 3rd gen tacoma which would give you a slight lift and a refreshed suspension. I would even replace the front wheel bearings which unfortunately are known to fail, commonly around 100k miles. That could fix the minor vibes you are experiencing. Check the torque on the rear leaf u bolts, should be 75 ft/lbs.