Toyota Recalls 381,000 Tacomas with Rear Axle Defect

Toyota conducts a safety-related recall involving a total of 381,000 MY22 and MY23 Tacomas throughout the US.

It seems that Toyota’s been on a recall streak, with approximately 2.5 million vehicles recalled last year alone, including 1 million for faulty airbag sensors in December. Fast forward to February 27, and the bad luck keeps coming as Toyota issued their latest recall: 381,000 Tacoma trucks. This recall affects only Tacomas manufactured in the US with model years 2022 and 2023, according to Toyota’s website.

If your Tacoma falls in this bracket, you can enter your VIN into this site to look up if yours is one of the recalled models. Otherwise, Toyota stated that it’ll issue notices by mail in April to any owners of affected Tacomas.

What’s Wrong with the Tacoma?

This latest recall deals with what Toyota claims is, “welding debris left on the ends of the rear axle assembly during manufacturing.” This may cause retaining nuts to loosen and eventually fall off, disconnecting a “component from the rear axle” which, if separated, will affect stability and braking performance.

Toyota stated that they’ll inspect and tighten the nuts at no extra cost. Plus, if your axle was damaged as a result of the faulty part, Toyota will inspect and repair any damages as-needed. So that’s good news for anyone with affected vehicles.

Further Toyota and Lexus Recalls

Toyota issued today’s Tacoma recall alongside another company-wide transmission recall for 280,000 full-sized TGNA-F-platform trucks and SUVs. That recall centers around Tundra, Sequoia, and Lexus LX 600s with transmissions that don’t properly shift into neutral. Toyota claims that a brake clutch disc is not fully disengaging, leading to the transmission creeping forward in neutral. However, they’re issuing free software updates to patch out the bugs to all affected customers who bring their vehicles in.

As for the Tacoma itself. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 2023 Tacoma features no less than two recalls currently listed, not counting this latest one. Those being a faulty driver’s side airbag, as well as insufficient welding on child seat anchors. The 2022 Tacoma also has the welding problem, along with illegible load capacity labels. Hopefully, this doesn’t mark a continuing trend for Toyota vehicles. Especially concerning mechanical faults such as this latest rear axle retaining nut recall.

Images: Toyota

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M.C. Cuccio

I've been an automotive aficionado since I had baby teeth. My path was set when I first leaned on my grandfather's classic Porsche as I learned how to walk. One of my first memories was my mother sitting me behind the wheel of her Pontiac and talking me through the instrumentation and controls. Even though I was a mere three or four years old, I was instantly sold, and filled notebooks with technical drawings, sketches, and collections of manuals of all sorts of cars. I've actively tracked developments in automotive and motorsport technology for well over 20 years, and pride myself on being intimately familiar with the functions and history of a wide range of vehicles.

My primary goal as a writer and enthusiast is to equally learn and share what I've learned in a constructive and interesting way. I maintain connections with people from around the world and can read technical manuals in Italian, Japanese, and Spanish, granting me access to a wide array of resources. My primary focuses are deep-dives into historical topics, motorsport discussion, and learning about the complex mechanical elements of such vehicles. As such, my research is never perfect; as anyone into cars will attest, the more you learn about cars, the more you realize how little you actually know. Therefore, I always welcome fresh knowledge and corrections to help me better my work in the future.