2002 LX470 Front Diff Bad - Need Correct Part Diff Carrier Info

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B

BlueBear

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Feb 15, 2010
Threads
1
Messages
4
Location
Morristown, NJ
The problem:
Bought a 2002 LX470 with 90k, right after purchasing, I started hearing a whirring, but not quite grinding noise when letting off the accelerator above 40 mph. Over the next few weeks, the noise intensified and began happening at much lower speeds. When applying throttle, the noise would stop, but as soon as you release the accelerator, it would make the noise. The pitch of the noise also increases and decreases with speed. I figured it was a seal, bearing, or worst case the differential.

Quote from Dealer:
My wife brought it into the local Lexus dealer to get it diagnosed for $120. Sounded reasonable. They want to replace the carrier assembly with part number: 41110-6A171 @ $2,036.77, and apply 10 labor hours at $120 per hour to fix it. Long story short with tax = almost $3500.

What should I do?
I looked up the part number: 41110-6A171 and found a couple of other part numbers that were very similar Toyota components for much less...
41110-60821 and 41110-60820 both look exactly the same and may or may not be replacements for each other. They are roughly half the price. Does anyone, or maybe Cruiser Dan know? If the only difference is a tab for height control sensor, I could just cut it off the old and weld it on the new. I really can't go for $3500 right now. Maybe it isn't too bad to just replace the diff with an ARB Air Locker or something, but I'm worried that the carrier itself may be damaged. Can anyone give me some insight?

Many thanks in advance!!!

-H
 
Where are you?

The dealer is going to probably have the highest cost for the repair. If you can let us know where you are, I am sure some one can recommend a good independent shop that can get the work done for much less.

If you are planning to go off road, now would be the time to look into possibly re-gearing and adding lockers. If this is just a daily driver that never leaves the pavement and no plans to... just get it fixed as is.

Contact CDAN (a member here). He is a Toyota Parts guy and gives great discounts to mud members. Example, I had a leaky CV. I went to the local dealer and they wanted $72 for a rebuild kit. Through Cdan it was around $30.
 
41110-6A171 supercedes both other part numbers listed. Perhaps they improved it?

I would suggest going to a Diff specialty shop and have them (or yourself) take apart the diff carrier to see if it is salvageable. Replace differential with ARB/TJM and replace, if necessary, gears with Nitro (they make 4.3 ratio).
 
hoser said:
I would suggest going to a Diff specialty shop and have them (or yourself) take apart the diff carrier to see if it is salvageable. Replace differential with ARB/TJM and replace, if necessary, gears with Nitro (they make 4.3 ratio).
Click to expand...

This is the best advice you can get. Post your location (add it to your profile) and maybe some other members in the same area can point you to a diff specialist.
 
hoser said:
41110-6A171 supercedes both other part numbers listed. Perhaps they improved it?

I would suggest going to a Diff specialty shop and have them (or yourself) take apart the diff carrier to see if it is salvageable. Replace differential with ARB/TJM and replace, if necessary, gears with Nitro (they make 4.3 ratio).
Click to expand...

This is not a bad idea. Honestly if it was mine I would probably go this route. If you are never going to wheel the truck then the ARB is probably pointless though. You could always buy the diff from one of us vendors (like CDan or myself) and get it at a pretty good discount. The dealer is def always going to be the highest on labor also. Where are you located? 120 seems high to me but it fluctuates a lot depending on location (ours is 95 btw).

Just for reference, your cost on that diff through me is $1527.58. About 500 bucks less than the dealer quoted.
 
Thanks so much for all the responses! I am from Morristown, NJ, and updated my profile.

Tomorrow I'm going to have little time to take a look myself. The dealer saying that it woulnt hold gear oil sounded strange. I'll find out where it's leaking from, if at all. I'll also take your advice and open up cover and see of there are any metal shards or other damage.

It's interesting about the one part number replacing both of the others. That makes me assume the three parts are interchangable. Good question, is the new carrier improved? It should be for double the price.
 
I recently had a similar problem with my rear diff. Long story, condensed. One dealer heard the noise and quoted me a complete rebuild, 2500 bucks. The mechs did not have enough experience to properly diagnose. So I took it to another dealer with some seasoned mechanics that actually opened the diff and properly diagnosed the problem. Fixed for 500 bucks.
 
Last edited:
Wow, $500 sounds good to me at this point!

I finally spoke with the Lexus tech... He said that when he filled it with gear oil, it literally poured out of the "Tail Shaft Seal" I guess this is where the drive shaft connects to the pumpkin?

Sound reasonable?

-H
 
To clarify... I just realized that the last post sounded like the Lexus guy was going to fix it for $500... That's not the case. My comment about the $500 was @f5driver.

I am still with a broken rig.

-H
 
I had the front diff grenade in mine. I upgrade to the newer 4 pinion. I don't have the number with me but I do have pics of the assembly, box and part number at work.

I do know the price from a Lexus dealer was/is more than if you order the same one from a Toyota dealer.
 
If you want some 4.3 front end gears pulled out of my 2001 at 140K miles, let me know. My gear installer said that my gears (front and rear) still looked like brand new. He was pretty shocked. I have the differential available as well.
 
4.30 gears

We've now solved the old problem with availability on aftermarket 4.30 front gears. Previously 4.30 Ring & Pinion was about $1k from toyota, we now have aftermarket Nitro Gear 4.30's for these. This now makes it cost feasible to repair your existing front 3rd member in the event of a failure. This also allows for a stronger than stock setup utlizing an aftermarket ARB or TJM locker, solid spacer etc. Which IMHO is better than a OE stock setup of course.

http://www.nitro-gear.com/news/2012...inions-for-1998-toyota-landcruiser-70100.html
 
justdifferentials said:
We've now solved the old problem with availability on aftermarket 4.30 front gears. Previously 4.30 Ring & Pinion was about $1k from toyota, we now have aftermarket Nitro Gear 4.30's for these. This now makes it cost feasible to repair your existing front 3rd member in the event of a failure. This also allows for a stronger than stock setup utlizing an aftermarket ARB or TJM locker, solid spacer etc. Which IMHO is better than a OE stock setup of course.

http://www.nitro-gear.com/news/2012...inions-for-1998-toyota-landcruiser-70100.html
Click to expand...

I was close to pulling the triggers on lockers...however the steering rack sucked the life out of my bank account. What upgrades are there for a stock 4.3 carrier that are relatively easy to install yourself that doesn't require pulling the differential and opening it? I wouldn't mind spending a little bit to beef it up. I'm still waiting on a diff guard on the rear.
 
2000UZJ said:
I was close to pulling the triggers on lockers...however the steering rack sucked the life out of my bank account. What upgrades are there for a stock 4.3 carrier that are relatively easy to install yourself that doesn't require pulling the differential and opening it? I wouldn't mind spending a little bit to beef it up. I'm still waiting on a diff guard on the rear.
Click to expand...

Just about anything that would help (new gears, new carrier, crush sleeve, cryo-treatments) requires a full tear down and rebuild.

OP, I would seriously consider pulling a yard diff from a newer street driven cruiser if you can find one, it would be cheap and you could swap it in at home.
Otherwise, get ahold of Layonnn and get his old stuff and have a reputable local gear shop (not just any 4x4 shop) put it all togather for you.
Best option, buy a new diff and have a pro swap in an ARB, still probably less $$ than the LX dealers $3500.

I recently had JT's (Carl) rebuild my unbroken '99 diff with an ARB / solid sleeve, and with shipping it came out under $2k. Holding up great, broke in nicely.

If you have the skills, set it up as a 2x4 while you work this out.

Good luck!,
 
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