1999 front diff replaced? What did they use?

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corleykj

corleykj

Jack of some, definately master of none.
10 Year
Joined
Feb 19, 2012
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Location
Casper, WY
I have the weak 1999 front diff, and about 40K miles ago it went out in 2009 (at 132K). The Toyota dealer replaced it, so I am just curious if they used the factory spec 1999 weak one when they replaced it or went with a strong 2000 or later front diff? I tried looking up info on the part number but couldn't tell.

Here is the part number for the front diff: 411106A171

Thanks in advance,
Kyle
 
I am a service writer and owner of a 2000 landcruiser I looked up the current part number for a 1999 and a 2000 and both use the same part number as the one you posted. This leads me to believe you now have the 4 pinion 2000 and later model. Hope this helps
 
4 pinion in 99-front diff

Thanks for your response. I am gathering you are telling me they probably replaced my 3 pinion or whatever was weak in the 99, with a newer 4 pinion? Is that right?

Thanks again.
 
Hope all is well with you LC now
I have few questions to ask about the diff failure
1. Did you push your truck to the limit, like heavy off roading etc… or the diff gave out on it’s own?
2.Is it possible to pm me the cost of the repair?
3.My truck has 94k on it do you think I should start thinking about replacing that pr as well?
 
If you're on 22" rims you're not going to be blowing it off road. Someone here reported their diff grenading spinning in snow, so it's not just "pushing it to the limits". It's not mileage based, it's usage. If you're putting your truck in situations where there could be shock loads to the diff, it might be wise to replace it with an ARB. If you're not, don't, it's a waste of money.
 
The previous owner was coming down a mountain pass and downshifted into 2nd and heard a loud noise and pulled over. That is when he realized the front diff was done. My sister never offroaded in her LC (98) and had 235k miles on the original front diff. I wouldn't replace yours just in case it were to go out. I think I would risk it and just drive the heck out of it.

My original question is if the Toyota dealer put in a 4 pinion like the 2000 and up, or replaced with a similar 98 99 which I thought was a 2 or 3 pinion. I am hoping they did a 4 because where I fish, camp and hunt can be a long way from traffic...so I don't want to be stranded if I am pushing the limits of my front diff and it were to go.
 
Read up on how to pull the drive shaft, cv's and seal up holes. Then carry a good tool kit. Then should something happen on that fishing trip...you can get yourself home. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I pooched mine spinning on a icy hill back in 2009. I caught traction and heard a bang. This was the result.

Phoned for a replacement assembly for my 98 LX470 and this is the one that they sent me. I believe that the only one available is the 4 pinion. It was a running upgrade as the part numbers update to the stronger differential pictured.


DSC00364.jpg
DSC00366.jpg
 
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The pictures above reflect the spider gears or gear breaking under stress and then sending broken chunks into the housing which in turn also destroyed the ring gear. This was a worst case scenario years ago when 4.30 gears were unavailable in the aftermarket and very expensive from Toyota. The new delivered part pictured above is a complete housing with what I'm assuming are all new components including diff, ring gear, pinion, bearings, etc... Whether or not you have the 4-pinion diff cannot be determined by the pictures... Your part number may verify this...

My experience blowing my front diff resulted in only broken spider gears and since I knew something was wrong immediately I didn't drive far... Luckily my ring gear was fine so I didn't need a new ring gear and there was no need to reset the pinion and backlash associated with setting up new gears... I was able to find a relatively cheap 4-pinion diff from another Mudder and bolted my old ring gear to the stronger 4-pinion diff, put everything back together and was done... Did all the work myself so no labor charges and I've had no problems since swapping many years ago...
 
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corleykj said:
My original question is if the Toyota dealer put in a 4 pinion like the 2000 and up, or replaced with a similar 98 99 which I thought was a 2 or 3 pinion. I am hoping they did a 4 because where I fish, camp and hunt can be a long way from traffic...so I don't want to be stranded if I am pushing the limits of my front diff and it were to go.
Click to expand...

The 98-99 had a 2 pinion, which refers to having 2 spider gears. 4 pinion has 4 spider gears. 4 is stronger than 2.
 
Thanks for everyone's replies. I am glad to know they did the 4 pinion front diff. That was the main wink link I was worried about on my 99.
 
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