Driveline Vibration Issue & Fix: Replace Rear Driveshaft

[JayTech]

I work at a Toyota dealer and have been seeing many complaints about a driveline vibration at speeds below 50mph and no one has been able to fix them with the dealers most people have been going to being of no help. It seems most would either say it is normal or try to balance tires with most vehicles vibrations not being fixed.

We had a couple arrive with this issue at our dealer starting with a brand new Trailhunter to be sold on our lot so we started by balancing the tires, swapping the rims and tires with another truck with known good wheels/tires, and then tried removing the shaft and test driving it in 4 High. We found the vibration went away with the rear shaft removed so we have isolated the problem to being the driveshaft. We then tried the same thing, removing the shaft and driving in 4 high on the other trucks and it has solved the vibration for all of them. So far all cases of the vibration problem we have experienced have been Tacomas with the 2 piece rear driveshafts(6ft bed), so there definitely appears to be an issue with the rear driveshafts. Replacing the shafts with new units has solved the vibration concerns in all of the Tacomas we have had in for this problem.

This may also apply to some people experiencing the same vibration in the 5ft bed Tacomas with a single piece shaft but we have not had any in with this concern yet to verify if that is the case or not. One of these trucks the rear shaft pushed the rear end out of alignment so this may also be why some people are seeing the rear end out of spec while also experiencing a slight vibration.

Hopefully Toyota addresses this concern soon and hopefully this will help some of you experiencing this issue and pointing out this being a known issue to the dealers if they try to tell you "this is normal", as this is definitely NOT normal.

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[Yotota]

Thanks for this information! I'm dealing with a similar vibration in my double cab long bed Taco.

I'm curious if it's a design flaw, since it's occurring on all model years of 4G Tacomas. They are manufactured by Spicer who is usually known to make good stuff...

 

[EatMyTaco]

Wow! Isn't driveshaft balancing part of the manufacturing process when they're machined?

 

[JayTech]

Thanks for this information! I'm dealing with a similar vibration in my double cab long bed Taco.

I'm curious if it's a design flaw, since it's occurring on all model years of 4G Tacomas. They are manufactured by Spicer who is usually known to make good stuff...

Not sure. It isn't every truck and it also isn't within a set production period either(which would indicate maybe just a bad batch) so I am wondering if something in the design is an issue or if this is going to be a bigger problem.

 

[JayTech]

Wow! Isn't driveshaft balancing part of the manufacturing process when they're machined?

I do not think this is a balance issue itself but a problem with either the shape/straightness of the shaft or some other problem. Other shops have tried balancing the shaft and it isn't out enough to cause the level of vibration we were seeing. That leads me to wonder if they aren't entirely straight which could also explain why it is throwing the rear end out of alignment.

 

[Yotota]

Not sure. It isn't every truck and it also isn't within a set production period either(which would indicate maybe just a bad batch) so I am wondering if something in the design is an issue or if this is going to be a bigger problem.

Interesting. I may need to take my truck to a flat area, pull the rear shaft, and drive it. I live in the hills and don't want to overly stress the front diff.

I know that @Reptar had this issue, got a new shaft, but the issue remained...

 

[JayTech]

Interesting. I may need to take my truck to a flat area, pull the rear shaft, and drive it. I live in the hills and don't want to overly stress the front diff.

I know that @Reptar had this issue, got a new shaft, but the issue remained...

Because there are new trucks off the lot experiencing this issue I can not say for certain that the replacement shaft itself will be any better until you install it, but so far the ones we have installed have taken care of the problem. Hopefully Toyota addresses this issue with an updated part, TSB, warranty enhancement program, or recall.

 

[Baltimore]

Was this at all speeds and conditions? Or only specific speeds, rpms, or scenarios?

 

[Yotota]

Because there are new trucks off the lot experiencing this issue I can not say for certain that the replacement shaft itself will be any better until you install it, but so far the ones we have installed have taken care of the problem. Hopefully Toyota addresses this issue with an updated part, TSB, warranty enhancement program, or recall.

I'm happy that SOME Toyota techs are taking this seriously - thanks for actually caring! Hopefully this information makes it up the chain at Toyota and Corporate does something about it.

As I'm sure you've seen, most techs are not nearly as dedicated to doing their jobs to this level...

 

[JayTech]

Was this at all speeds and conditions? Or only specific speeds, rpms, or scenarios?

Vibration was most noticeable under 50mph, with 20-30mph being the most harsh. But the vibration was there all the way up to highway speeds, it just became less harsh.

 

[JayTech]

I'm happy that SOME Toyota techs are taking this seriously - thanks for actually caring! Hopefully this information makes it up the chain at Toyota and Corporate does something about it.

As I'm sure you've seen, most techs are not nearly as dedicated to doing their jobs to this level...

To me this is the norm. I am more genuinely shocked reading all the posts about how techs aren't finding the issue or going to the lengths to figure out what is wrong and instead saying "this is normal" or "no fault found". This was also the case at the Chrysler dealer I worked for.

My dealer has a meeting coming up with our regional manager and I plan on bringing this up to him to try to get Toyota involved into looking into this, if they aren't already as just claiming a part on warranty won't be enough to get this investigated(Needs to have more wide spread warranty claims for them to start an investigation).

 

[Cabby30]

Are the hybrid and non-hybrid rear driveshafts different SKU's? I would think so just based on the different differential size but I do not know.

 

[NH Marine]

I have a 2025 SR5 6 ft bed. Just bought it last month. Brought it in for this issue (I get the vibration between 30-40 MPH). Drove it with a Tech who said it was from the transmission struggling at low RPM's. I told him it did it when coasting, driving steady, in nuetril, down hill etc. I then went up to the Manager who is opening a case with the Brand Engagement Center. I am waiting to hear back from them.....

This weekend thought I had an interesting event. I put 600 LBS of weight in the bed to move. When driving with it, the vibration almost completely went away. When I unloaded it, it came back.....

 

[JayTech]

Are the hybrid and non-hybrid rear driveshafts different SKU's? I would think so just based on the different differential size but I do not know.

Yes. There are 6 different driveshafts that I can see listed for 6ft bed trucks. And another 4 for the 5ft bed trucks.

 

[JayTech]

I have a 2026 SR5 6 ft bed. Just bought it last month. Brought it in for this issue (I get the vibration between 30-40 MPH). Drove it with a Tech who said it was from the transmission struggling at low RPM's. I told him it did it when coasting, driving steady, down hill etc. I then went up to the Manager who is opening a case with the Brand Engagement Center. I am waiting to hear back from them.....

This weekend thought I had an interesting event. I put 600 LBS of weight in the bed to move. When driving with it, the vibration almost completely went away. When I unloaded it, it came back.....

When you hear back from them, I would let them know other dealers have found a problem with the driveshafts so they can inspect to see if that is the same case for yours. This definitely seems to be an ongoing issue seeing there are MANY complaints of driveline vibrations.

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