timber725

Hi,

I get a little feedback from the drivetrain when I brake to a complete stop. I cannot describe the feel very well, but it's almost like a hiccup or jolt from the drivetrain. It happens 50-60% of the time I brake. When I let go of the brake, it seems to re-engage or something because it does the same thing.

I don't know if this happened when new, but I noticed the problem for the last month or so.

Does anyone have this problem? Is it normal for fulltime 4wd? Should I bring it to the dealer for checkup?

Thanks

The Dutch Man

It's the slip joints on the drivetrain. There are 8 or so grease fittings. You really need to pump them up full of grease. Mine weren't very well greased from the factory. Once you do it, you should be good for 5000-6000, then the feeling starts to come back again. It's common on the 03 and 04 models.

timber725

Sounds good,

I have no idea what a slip joint is. Can you describe or show a pic? Sorry. Should I just bring it to the dealer to have them grease the joints?

Thanks

AndroT100

Please search for my posts about the slip joint. Per Toyota, pumping the slip joint full of grease is not the fix. This will actually transfer the pressure that the slip joint usually accepts to your transfer case and may crack it. If your "bump" in the pedal is the same as my experience, it is simply the drive-shaft and a problem Toyota has had with 4Runner and other model drive-shafts for 18 years. The problem will go away after a few thousand miles as the metal on the shaft wears. The bump is caused due to the surface of the shaft where it slips in. It gets stuck and then releases and that is what your are feeling. Check-out my posts...there you will read about this and my experience.

timber725

Thanks guys,

That really helped. I am going to bring my runner in for the recall next month, and I will ask them to grease the slip joint because of this problem.

jwahaus

Have your rear breaks adjusted. You'll likely find they were not even
being used. For some reason non-adjusted rear breaks seem to be common
in new Toyota Trucks. Mine had this problem as well until a Toyota tech
came and told me during an oil change, "your rear breaks are not even
touching, you want them adjusted?" It became obvious to me after the
adjustment that it came from the factory this way. The "infamous"
transmission clunk went away once my rear wheels were breaking properly.

Last time I took my truck in for an oil change they tried to sell me
another rear break adjustment. I declined because it had just been
done 5000 miles before. The tech says (a different one this time)
"you know the rear breaks are NOT self adjusting". Now that I have
the OEM service manuals I know this is not true, the rear breaks should
tighten a little everytime you pull the parking break. So in theory, you
should be able to tighten up the rear breaks by pulling and releasing the
parking break a bunch of times. Anyone ever tried this?

4RUNR

I thought it was engaging the parking brake and going a little in reverse that adjusted them.

Duc Hunter

Here is Andro's post.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/new-driveshaft-24235/

jwahaus

That would seem an odd way for the auto adjustment to work since you
nomally wouldn't be driving with the parking brake on.

I'm pretty sure the way it works is that the rear drum brakes have an
internal adjustment bolt that tightens the brakes. Every time you pull
out the parking break the adjusting bolt turns just a bit. This is certainly
not a very accurate way to adjust the brakes since this assumes a
certain amount of brake wear per trip you make. Thus the need to have
them inspected and manually adjusted every so often.

I've heard that some rear brakes adjust when you apply them going in
reverse using a similar mechanism. Not using the parking break but the
normal breaking pedal. Again, not a very accurate method but I expect
that both methods help keep the rear breaks tightened up between
inspections.

Sac State

My brakes squeeked like a bus from day 1. The Toy mechanic said that the brakes were poorly adjusted at the factory. He claimed he did me a 'favor' for adjusting them for free.

How nice.

JGage

I had the clunk... I told them about it at the dealership and they lubed the drivetrain, no more clunk. The guy working on my truck seemed to know what he was doing.
I read Andro's post (the linked one) do you have a TSB or anything ? Rare, a dealer that will give you a new driveshaft.

EDGE

My truck had the driveline clunk and after 13k it is pretty much gone, still does it a little but in time it won't even be their, never once did I fill the driveshaft up with grease, to lazy to jack it up and do it,

Now for the brakes, my 03 e-brake never felt right and after a year it just stopped holding the truck so I took it in and they said it was really far off, other then that I guess the rear brakes are alright, their disc not drum so I don't know how they self adjust, guess their like the fronts, but with the Tacomas read drums they should self adjust everytime you set the e-brake, thats why people who don't use the e-brake get 20-30k on the front pads and those who do use the e-brake get 60k+ on the pads.

4RUNR

Found this on google, so I didn't completely dream it up. Though I do remembering getting it from some credible source, maybe even the owner's manual.

timber725

Sounds like both the slip joint and the rear brakes are potential culprits. I will be bringing the truck into the dealer anyhow, so I will ask that they check both.

Thanks