strange vibration problem with Tacoma

[ywen]

I've been trying to diagnose a driveline vibration with my Tacoma. Vibration starts at 20mph and goes until 35mph.. This occurs in 2WD whether in Drive or Neutral, accelerating or coasting. Vibration goes away immediately after switching to 4Hi. The Vibration can be felt in the pedals, floorboard and steering wheel. It can also be heard.

Vibration comes in two forms: Sometimes it takes on a rumble-strip type of frequency, other times it is a constant hum. At any given time, if vibration is a constant hum, popping in and out of 4Hi will changes it to the rumble-strip type.

It is fairly constant that after driving at highway speeds for a while, slowing down thru the 20mph-35mph range WILL NOT re-produce the vibration. However after driving on local roads for a while, the vibration returns.

I've greased all the zerks on the driveline with no change in vibration. I think the telling fact is that the vibration goes away immediately when switching to 4Hi.

The truck has the standard TRD suspension and tires. No lift.

Any ideas? Thanks

 

[SAR_Squid79]

What make, and model of Toyota?

Really sounds like a U-Joint to me...

 

[ywen]

What make, and model of Toyota?

Really sounds like a U-Joint to me...

If it's bad U joint, does the fact that it goes away in 4Hi make sense? It doesn't to me..

 

[SAR_Squid79]

No - but - if it only does it while the truck is moving (i.e. you can't replicate it revving the truck in neutral sitting still), then that means that it's definitely in the driveline. If a U-joint is just starting to go bad, there's only going to be very little play in it. Maybe by putting it 4-Hi you're putting the driveline in a 'sweet spot'.

The thing about bad u-joints is - you take 10 different vehicles with bad u-joints, you're going to get 10 different vibrations, and 10 different symptoms.

If I knew more about your Tacoma (what year), I might be able to make a more educated guess as to whether it's possibly a diff, or transfer case, or something like that. Though, usually, those things don't cause a vibration - just noise.

 

[SAR_Squid79]

Is your Tacoma ADD? Do you have any torn CV boots?
If you answered yes - Could be a CV Axle...

 

[ywen]

I have an 03 Tacoma TRD 4x4 3.4 V6 auto XtraCab So it has the 2-piece drive shaft. It has 75K miles

What is ADD?

CV boots looked fine.. wouldn't a shot CV boot cause clunking noise when turning?

When checking the u-joints for play, do I need to have the truck in neutral? I did that and the rear drive shaft had some side to side play..

My next step is to change the fluid in transfer and diffs. I bought the truck about 2 months ago and I don't know the conditions of those fluids..

 

[SAR_Squid79]

It could . . . or it might not.

I would still bet on a U-Joint and/or Center Support Bearing.

Back around October, I swore that I had something wrong with my transmission. I ended up finding that I had 1 bad u-joint, and worn out Center Support Bearing. I fixed those, and my truck was back to normal...

 

[ywen]

Hey just read your signature.. You have a 4WD PreRunner? What do you mean?

 

[SAR_Squid79]

My truck began it's life as a 2WD TRD PreRunner.

I converted it to 4WD in 2007.
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68120

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Suspension mods?

The rear drive line carrier bearing can be the source of vibrations, I had to replace one on my 2.5" lifted 96' ExCab at ~150k and that seems to typical.

You can try and check for movement in your joints with a simple 'shake it around' test, if you can see or feel any movement (non axially) in a u-joint, its too much.

 

[DaveInDenver]

You symptoms sparked propeller shaft in my head immediately, too. Could be the center carrier bearing, u-joint, balance. I've had both u-joint and center bearing issues in my truck at different times, very common problem.

FWIW, if it is the center carrier bearing just spend the money for the Toyota or at least a Japanese-made bearing. I went with a cheapie one, made in Taiwan I think, and it lasted about a year before wearing out an the vibration came back.

 

[ywen]

Well given that the vibration continues even in Neutral, would that exclude drive shaft as a probable cause? Since in Neutral, the driveshaft should no longer be spinning? How long does it take to spin down after placing it in Neutral?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Well given that the vibration continues even in Neutral, would that exclude drive shaft as a probable cause? Since in Neutral, the driveshaft should no longer be spinning? How long does it take to spin down after placing it in Neutral?

If the vehicle is moving, so is the drive shaft, regardless of what gear your transmission is in. In fact in some cases neutral causes an almost 'back-spin' that results in more vibrations.

 

[laxtoy]

not to be too alarmist, but this sounds an awful lot like a bad bearing in your front differential, where the c.v. goes in. if you search on ttora or tundra solutions, or even try googling, there are a lot of guys who describe this issue and the only cure unfortunately is a new diff. i hope it is not the case, but what makes me see the similarity is the noise going away when 4wd is engaged. i know your truck's height is stock, so it is not as common, this is symptomatic of add trucks with c.v. angles altered from coilover lifts, the angle causes wear on the bearings, whereas a manual hub truck doesn't have to worry.

 

[ywen]

This is interesting info:

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/foru.../10307-30-40-mph-vibration-drivetrain-answer/

Thought all of you with the 4WD vibration/noise might find this interesting.....I also have the same problem and posted questions here concerning it a couple of months ago. A reply to me stated that Toyota Motor Corp. is aware of the vibration and they know exactly what causes it. His email turned out to be correct! Toyota says "the fluid viscosity in the transfer case causes the front shaft to turn slowly when not in 4WD setting up that strange vibration between 30-40 mph. Changing the diff. fluid to syn. oil will not help much. Not only is Toyota aware of this vibration, they now MENTION IT in the 2003 TUNDRA OWNERS MANUAL!
It states that when the truck is cold you might notice a vibration.
This is caused by the transfer case oil being cold. They want you to engage the 4WD until you "feel" it has warmed up then switch back to 2WD and the vibration will go away. This does work and I have been doing this for a while now. I always thought using 4WD on dry pavement causes alot of unneeded wear & tear on the drivetrain? OH WELL...