Has anyone else noticed a shudder between 45-65 mph in their Toyota Tacoma? I’m starting to think it might be a torque converter issue on my 3rd gen, but would love to hear if others have experienced the same.
Yep, I’ve got a stock 2020 TRD Off-Road, and I’ve noticed a shudder around 50-55 mph, mostly when I’m driving casually. It started at 3,000 miles, and now I’m at 16,000 miles, but I haven’t taken it to Toyota yet. My guess is it’s got something to do with the transmission shift points in the programming. Have you heard if anyone fixed it with a reprogram? Last time I mentioned this, everyone made me feel like I was imagining things.
I totally get what you’re going through! You’re not crazy at all. I’m gathering as much info as I can on this issue. My truck is currently with a Toyota master tech, and they’ve been driving it all week to see what’s up. The weird part is, transmission shops are saying it’s a problem, but Toyota’s like, ‘nah, it’s normal.’ There’s nothing normal about a shudder starting at 55k miles.
I’ve got about 1.5k miles left on my powertrain warranty, so I’m ready to fight to get this handled. It seriously ruins the driving experience, and it’s frustrating that while Toyota backs their product, the dealers don’t seem keen on doing warranty work. Feels like some people just accept it or trade in their trucks, but I think we need some accountability here.
I’ve already opened a case with Toyota Corporate after my dealer brushed me off. I’m just curious what others have experienced and how it’s been handled for them.
I’ve got a 2022 Tacoma SR5 Trail Edition with only 1,600 miles on it, and guess what? Yep, I’m already dealing with this too. The head mechanic at my dealership literally told me, ‘It’s just chatter from the torque bar; totally normal. You can either shift to slapstick or just go faster to avoid it.’ Like, what?! That can’t be right. Mine does it around 40-45 mph or 50-55 mph, and it’s pretty much all the time.
Hey, is this something you can feel through the gas pedal as well? I’m at 32k miles now, and after getting an alignment, I’ve noticed a slight vibration through the pedal when accelerating. It’s more noticeable around 40 mph, with my RPMs usually between 1500-2500, depending on the incline.
Same here. Both my 3rd gen Tacoma and 5th gen 4Runner do this, especially when I’m going slow up an incline. I drive up a steep road every day. I’ve got the KDMax Pro tune on my Tacoma, and it helped, but it still happens, just not as often. With my 4Runner, I just give it more gas going up the hill to avoid it. I’ll be following this to see if anyone finds a real fix.
My 3rd gen has had an intermittent shudder around that speed, especially with moderate to hard acceleration. I never thought it might be the torque converter, but that makes sense now. I’m at 60k miles, and it hasn’t gotten better or worse. It’s never bothered me enough to address it though. Honestly, I’ve half-hoped it was the rear differential grenading as an excuse to regear, but no such luck so far.
I’ve got 10k miles on a ‘21 Off-Road, and I drive up a big hill at 60-65 mph every day. I’ve noticed what feels like a ‘shudder’ or maybe even mild slipping once every week or two for just a second. It definitely concerns me, and I’m also wondering if a tune could fix this.