Shifter Lever moving with bumps in the road.

I recently bought my first Tacoma ('03) and besides sun damage to the paint and leaf springs that were maybe at the end of their life everything seemed fine. On the drive home (several hours) I noticed the shifter lever was moving in response to the road. So if I hit a bump on the highway when the front of the truck was coming up, the shifter lever would move forward a fraction of an inch, and vice versa. Has anyone seen this before?

 

I'd guess a motor or trans mount is suspect of being broken

 

Manual? It's normal, although you could tighten the linkage up
Auto, not so normal, tighten linkage

Either way, kinda doubt it's a big deal. Others may have more ideas.

 

On a truck that old it's possible, quite easy to test too. Trans isn't too bad to replace I believe, engine is a bit annoying.

 

Manual or Automatic??

My manual shifter moves at times.

Now if your talking movement of inches it is a different story

 

Haha that seems normal for a manual! But mines an automatic...

 

Thanks for the quick replies! Sorry I should have mentioned that it's an automatic, and that the movement is probably 1/8th of an inch, really only noticable if you are staring or if you are touching it.

 

I have noticed on longer trips 4 hours non stop plus 80 degrees temps strange things happen when everything gets heat soaked rubber bushings get softer everything loosens up .

Then things vibrate at a sweet spot and on different roads .

If this happens when the truck is parked I might look into this a little more

 

If you get under the truck you can wiggle the trans a bit. There should be some play in the mount, but you should be able to tell from checking YouTube if it's normal. Clunking is not. But again listen to above, things do vibrate.

 

I went out and tested the engine mounts by reving in drive and did not see any significant movement (or anymore than the YouTube video suggested was normal) in the engine. The transmission mount can be compressed about 1/8" squeezing it with one hand. The carrier bearing moves more when I push up on the center of the driveshaft.

Today while driving around I noticed that I could also make the shifter move by accelerating quickly.

I'm considering replacing both the mount and the carrier bearing beacuse I also occasionally feel a knock after stopping quickly and I'd rather deal with now.

 

My 02 did this it’s whole life it’s a non issue.

 

The knock after stopping, then releasing the brake is from axle wrap. The moving shifter is the trans mount. Both very normal on a 1st gen. Both also related to the slip yoke on the driveshaft. Very hard to lubricate via the zerk. I used to remove and disassemble mine, coat with Motorcraft PTFE grease, and it would go away for a couple months, then return.

The 1/8” movement you describe is not concerning. Annoying, yes.

 

Just had new rear springs put on mine this morning. Asked them to look into the same issue you have posted as well. Shop owner took it for a test drive and noticed the shifter movement. Once he has a lift open again, he's going look closer and see what it could be.
I'll know more in an hour or so.

 

Shifter bushings. Cheap fix and a hours time. Plenty of vids showing how to do.

 

Shifter bushings .
Here is a write up
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/excessive-play-in-auto-transmission-shifter.428698/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...sions-write-up-your-4-speed-automatic.325531/

 

My 98 auto 4runner was also having this problem. Turns out one of my sway bar bushings was broken. Seemed to fix the problem.

 

+1 to this. Also look at the center support bearing. I had the issue bad enough that the shifter would move enough to take the truck from drive to neutral. Happened off-road when the rear suspension would cycle rapidly over a large range. I replaced the transmission support, center support bearing and did the slip yoke disassembly cleaning/lubrication and the issue went away. It looks like the slip yoke was binding slightly, which when combined with the old center support and transmission mount, would force the transmission to move enough to force it into a new gear selection.

 

Just saw this and wanted to chime in. My 02 has done this since the day I drove it off the lot. Just a few days ago, I tore down the AT shifter assembly (in process of a swap to 4WD). My shifter bushings were not brittle nor falling apart. I replaced them anyway but have to say those 20 yr old bushings were in decent shape.