Vibration in driveline 2005 Tacoma TRD Sport LWB and no cabin filter

First I will tell you the two things that irked me most about my wonderful Toyota took years to find both. First is the most DANGEROUS and I'm not talking about gas pedal sticking either!!! My 2005 Tacoma was the best truck I had ever and do own however since it was new it has had a slight vibration in between 45 and 55mph if driven steady ( even if you downshifted to second or third, or put truck in neutral vibration still was there).I took it to Dealer a week later .They re balanced all wheels, checked alignment. I knew that was ok, checked rims for round or bent, told me it was fine!! Well after the 5th time of returning to dealer They were tired of seeing me ,I was tired of seeing them, I even changed limited slip fluid thinking the clutches in diff. might be causing it , it was clean and fresh looking.I resigned myself to driving 44mph or 56mph and just went thru the bad area with heavy foot.(I might add sometimes you could hardly notice it ,sometimes it felt like sitting on a massager and cold or hot ,tire pressure nothing made a difference, I checked online and saw where some said it was the rear tranny mount, or the leaf springs, I am mechanic and after checking everything ,drive shaft alignment etc.To make a long story short fast forward to 2017 jan21 (I only have 69000 on truck) its a TRD sport I had finally attributed the vibration to tire size and cheaply made canadien aluminum rims WRONG!!! (the polished ,silver painted OEMs.) Yesterday while giving up on 17" wheels was going to install a set of OEM16" rims .I finally found the culprit I removed drive shaft all ujoints looked good, Well for the heck of it I thought I'll start at back and replace it one by one. After marking 2 piece shaft (I hear they are balanced as a combo) I dropped D.S. well low and behold it looked ok but had a weird feel to it, after removing first then second cup ,one cup had no bearings inside it so my rear ujoint since the day it left factory had no bearings in one side of one cup, The cup was cracked and was all in one piece where no bearings could have fallen out. SO DID TOYOTA ROBOT FORGET, WAS IT THE FIRST YEAR RUN OF GEN @ YES WAS IT THE SAME U_JOINT USED IN PREVIOUS TRUCKS YES!!SO WHY ME???? Also from day one I would notice dust and pollen in my truck whenever using outside air, So I checked first the foam prefilter under hood, cleaned it then went to check inside filter under glove box Well GUESS WHAT NO FILTER FROM THE FACTORY. So I wonder was the filter intentional,How is inside of my air ducting NASTY I'M SURE! How is rest of my truck are parts going to start breaking and falling off, How could I prove that dealer overlooked or mis diagnosed the vibration, Since I removed the ujoints I have no proof, I also have a feeling Toyota if they could have found and fixed it would not of Admitted that was problem. SO if this just helps one toy owner to deal with his midrange vibration it was worth my time to write. I'm hoping to give back to this Forum as it has helped me ! Thanks Have a Great day!!>MARVIN

 

1. A u-joint failing at 69000 miles is hardly remarkable. How often did you grease them? If there were no bearings in it "from the factory" it would have failed almost immediately.

2. AFAIK, no 2005 got a cabin filter even though there was a place for one.

 

I second that ive heard 2005s did not get a cabin filter element installed from the factory

 

As for the u-joint. When I changed mine, one cap had no rollers in it (in their factory form). That cap had dried out and the rollers had turned to dust that gathered around the end of the shaft in the cap. Mine were non-greasable from the factory.

 

Good point, if OP doesn't have a 4x4 then he wouldn't have greaseable u-joints.

 

No grease zerts on TRD two wheel sport, also bearings missing from one cup only they look like new not even much rust , I'm Ok with cabin filter but my Toyota had that vibration since it was new ,it didn't just fail at 70k When I put new u joints in the original vibration it had since day wife bought it home was gone rides smooth now ,It has never ridden without the 45 to 55mph vibration until now So if it wasn't the u-joint from beginning why did it have that same vibration its whole life until now? and secondly I am very easy on it ,never off road ,cap was still in place with grease and rubber seal still in place after 69k miles I don't have lift kit, Its a double cab long wheel base and the driveshaft angle is maybe 5 to 10 deg. max if not less .I service it faithfully every 3k miles max 3.5k I might add Toyota brakes on the 2005 lasted a whole 40k before I had to replace pads and rotors in front, back was ok replaced shoes anyway. This truck never leaves rd., never pulls a heavier trailer than 1k lbs. and never has had more than 4 bags of water softener salt in back. I don't live near the coast and have owned Toyota since my first 83 Celica, to 85 supra and 85 Toyota truck from my 1985 lwb black single cab with 105hp 2.4 carb. engine 4wd bought new . kept 7 yrs sold with 44000 miles, Bought wife a T-100 3.4 that was a high revving play truck but no torque and no power till you got to 4500rpm,After that was done with Toyota bought a Ford with 4.8 single cab step side hated it, then tried GMC single cab std. with 4.8 ok truck but the T100 really turned me off Toyota trucks until my wife brought home a new 2005 silver double cab trd the truck I drive as work vehicle to this day. I will say this even with the problem u-joint It is by far best truck I have ever owned!!! SO I'm not complaining I again love Toyota trucks But I do know how Toyotas drive and feel but this one had that vibration from Day 1 until I just changed u-joint and no I didn't get the driveshaft off they went in the same position they came out. If it wasn't the u-joint from day one how come after 5 visits Toyota dealer had no idea?? Toyota to this day blames the drive line vibration in double cab long bed Tacoma on rear tranny mount, rear leaf springs, engine mounts. etc. Doesn't matter I'm just saying there was grease in cups no bearings in one cup and no powder or broken cap where they fell out. So please before you blame my trucks vibration on a u-joint failing at 70k it had problem from day I first drove it until the day I swapped out rear u joint an front two, they were fine just wanted to tell others who had this problem perhaps look closer at u-joints Thanks >Marvin

 

So you had a drive line vibration for 12yrs and 69000? All this time it never occurred to you, or anyone, that routine maintenance and/or check of your ujoint play may be in order? I find it difficult to believe that you took your truck to a dealer for drive line vibrations and nothing was done, as there is a TSB for exactly that issue.

Furthermore, I don't believe you actually maintained your truck. It took you 12yrs and 69000mi for it to occur to you to even take a peek at your cabin air filter, or lack thereof.

It's just a hunch, but I have a feeling you are not being honest with yourself with regard to your level of due care. Any danger you were exposed to from a bad ujoint was brought on by yourself. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul.

 

I just don't know what to say.

You Never checked the universal joints in all of those miles with the vibration issue. Or the cabin air filter either...

How is your oil? Did they forget to fill it from the factory. You need to go and check it.

 

Not understanding all the anger. You found the problem and it was a $20-$30 fix. That's a win to me if it's the biggest issue you've had so far with the truck.

 

I know hind sight is 20 20 but joints are the first thing I did when I got my vibe at 82000. Im glad you fixed it good luck thanks for sharing....

 

Correct. Mine didn't come with one. Still doesn't have one.

 

There is not a shot in hell that the drive shaft would not have fallen out long before 70K with out rollers in the Ujoint and from day one would have had a pretty good clunk when changing from forward to reverse.

 

Paragraphs, look into them.

 

Same thing with mine. Mine are greasable though. just had to replace a u-joint at 52K miles. one cap was bone dry and the hole where the grease feeds was clogged so the one cap has not been greased. the other three were fine.

 

+1, I could not (actually did not bother to) read any of it--I got the gist of the OP's rant from those who responded.

As to his issues, at 12 years old the relatively low mileage (69k, less than 6k/year) provides more of a problem than any benefit. Dust shielded but exposed bearings like U-joints, ball joints, tie-rod ends, etc. should have been inspected and relubed/replaced years ago...

 

I think he's got a lemon law case

 

That's it folks, we're done here. Classic lemon law paragraph case.

Also, glad I was able to read the thread simply by looking at the well-formatted, concise responses.

 

I myself didn't take a pry bar check all my steering, ball joints, Because there was no vibration from steering, It tracked straight. My truck never sees anything but pavement and usual drive is max 10miles no water or mud hogging. The only play when I would take creeper under truck with parking brake on seemed to be the clearance in the Diff. But however it did go to dealer 5 times at different intervals as 3 of those times were for recalls, Lastly for Throttle sticking recall. I still bitched each time about the driveline vibration, and it was always the same answer truck is fine. And if any had asked before telling me I didn't properly maintain it,the ujoint that was missing bearings was the rear most one( all other 3 caps had grease and bearings) and other two u-joints were fine, I changed them anyway, and on 2005 TRD sport Double cab LONGBED the rear shaft has very little if any deflection maybe 5 or 10Deg. max if that (which I suspect is why it didn't vibrate worse or break something (auto Trans.) I always changed oil at 2 to 3k miles had tires rotated balanced twice first set . 3 times That I know of, the second set twice at 35k with alignment. AS for finding the play I always had it on lift when looking and it has limited slip, with both wheels off ground there was very little play .Put truck in neutral only play came from diff. The only way I finally found it was one rear wheel off ground, And jerking wheel back and forth there was a very slight clicking. You can say it just failed but what was causing the vibration from new? AND NOW its totally gone. NOTE IT WAS NOT A LARGE VIBRATION JUST A SEAT OF THE PANTS NOTICEABLE TO DRIVER (ME) and not coming thru steering wheel though it could be felt in seat. It wasn't enough where even passenger would notice, only between 45 and 55mph,And it wasn't any worse when I found it. The only way I noticed it was bad is I had Jacked up one rear wheel to put the 16" aluminum rims and tires I had bought (OEM take offs) because I thought that the 17" canadien made painted aluminum stock were causing problem. Please understand If it had just started after 50 or 60k miles I would have torn into everthing that moved under carriage but it was there since new .And if you google double cab LWB Tacomas you'll see that many complain of vibrations since new and Toyotas fix to dealers was 3 fold still not fixing problem on most of them. 1) Rear springs cracked or loose. 2) rear transmission mount worn or out of alignment. 3) Motor mounts loose or worn. So that's where I concentrated my last search ,all were fine. I know its easy for most of you to say oh he didn't maintain it, or didn't have a clue FINE I didn't write it for you guys who are 4 wheel fanatics and tear trucks up everyday. I wrote it for people like myself whose only mechanical knowledge is limited to Racing motorcycles (rebuilt my MSX 60 when I was 9) maintained and rebuilt my mx125 yam 1973, my 1974 250 cz mx, maintained and raced my Pontiac formula 400 1970, (always bent every pushrod if 2nd to 3rd shift was missed) my 1972 chevy 2 nova with tunnel ram, a custom built 350 (which I built) using a CHEVY OEM solid lifter cam from a 1968 z28 302 cube engine (yes a 302 chevy) 4 bolt mains and forged crank ,and 3 angle valve job with ported 2.02 heads, a dual point accel ignition, with a M22 close ratio and 12 bolt 3.73 rear locked diff. that had a nasty habit of snapping u-joints when it hooked up good on fresh asphalt in 110 degree Laredo tx. weather and yes it was hard to turn and yes it would pull front wheels off ground (using 90-10 front shocks) and old fashioned ladder bars. I also kept my 1973 mg midget running with its damn lucas electrics, not to mention a 1950 chev 4 door with a 6 cyl. ,a type 3 volks, a 1977 305 4 bll el camino with a turbo 200, and a 1982 ford SWB I totaled before I bought my first Toyota celica. Not to mention my wifes cars. The only 3 vehicles I have ever owned or my wifes car That ever went back to dealer for any reason was my 96 4.8 ford truck, my wifes Aurora 96 olds. 4.0 l northstar that if it hadn't had a 50k and 36month warranty would have broke me (air conditioning, the main computer, transmission shifting etc. but they always gave us a caddy loaner.) , and my 2005 Toyota. PS my Wife still drives a 2002 buick century with a 3.1 she drives more than I do (110k) ( yes I replaced intake manifold gasket when it cracked, head gaskets, and all other needed parts at 60k when it had the water in oil trick, and oil in radiator. Left front Wheel bearing/hub assembly and the window regulators at all 4 corners 3 times drivers side) So at 59 yrs of age I do remember when my simple snap on torque wrench would suffice and no degree gauge was needed after torqueing bolt properly. Since retiring from oil biz in 1993 I have been repairing and servicing PWC all makes from a 73 550 standup to a 310hp. SC intercooled DOHC Kawa,and lots of doos,and yamahas in between. I have rebuilt over 800 two stroke engines and more than a few 4 bangers So Just Because I make my living as a PWC mechanic and have been racing and maintaining my vehicles since I was very young, I suppose I haven't maintained my truck properly. IF you have read this far you have a 2nd gen TOY with a vibration problem I only mentioned my findings for those who cant fix every problem by just knowing what is wrong and diagnosing it without ever seeing it. As some of you stated yes it was my fault I should have found it long ago, so that's why I mentioned it for guys like myself who overlooked the obvious problem. Thanks and have a great day!!

 

That is NOT an easy read.

 

I'm going to agree