Busted front diff!! 98 Landcruiser _words of wisdom...

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COLandCrusher

COLandCrusher

10 Year 15 Year
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Apr 21, 2009
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43
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Location
Colorado
well, we are planning on a road trip out to CA and wouldn't you know it, i somehow broke my front diff. Here's what I did. I pulled up on a snowy (packed) side by the sidewalk across from sons school. When I came back out was unable to back out of my spot. So I engaged center diff and tried again. started rocking it back and forth but still not able to get out. Put it in 4 Low and started working steering wheel left to right, heard a loud crack and was not able to get out. Someone with shovel helped lended a hand. Then guy with jeep tow strapped me out. Went to drive away and heard and felt clacking noise every couple feet. It would shake the whole truck! Disengaged center dif and 4 low and pulled it over to get a tow.
Shop showed me the stripped teeth on my ring gear! 7 or 8. NOW the deal is this is not an easy fix. Dealer asked me to pay 1100 for Ring and Pinion for the 430 (43 teeth) set up. What I learned is the 98 year has a weak front diff. With only 4 spider pinion gears. they call it a 2 pin diff. The smartest replacement was for me to buy from JustDifferentials.net a 4 pin, more durable new front dif-6 spider gears still a 430 ratio. $1179. Part came in a couple days and the diff is being intstalled today or tomow. I called fron the US to Australia looking for a less expensive Ring and pinion, but this part is just not available anymore- Justdiff did have it for about $750 but I'd still need a few spider gears which would be a couple hundred at least and in the end I'd still only have a 2 pin diff.
Learned my lesson to not mess about with 4 low in the snow!

MORE INFO:
when i engaged 4 low i pulled as far forward as i could, then stood on the brake, went to reverse and hit it pretty hard, thats when it broke. i do believe my front left wheel must have grabbed some traction and sent too much torque down the line. I also feel that turning the steering wheel while doing this was not a good idea and must have contributed to the break. 155,000 + miles on it though.
 
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I also tore up the front diff in my 99 and broke several teeth on the spider gears. Luckily I did not drive far and my ring gear was okay. I found a very good deal on a newer 4 pinion diff and swapped it in myself. The diff was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up and I reused my ring gear. Had I been unable to find the deal I did on the diff I would've definitely purchased an ARB instead. For the amount of money you are spending you could put in a ARB in for about the same price. I wish I had done the ARB now but I've wheeled my 100 hard since putting in the 4 pinion upgrade and it has been rock solid. I've not herd of many people destroying the 4 pinion design but failure on the 98-99 2 pinion is very very common. If you hadn't already purchased a new diff I would've considered pulling mine and selling it to you as I will be doing the ARB up front soon...
 
Considering compressor installation wiring etc...it is alot more expensive then a complet new diff. But if you wheel alot the truck, then its obviously the preffered option.

rusty_tlc said:
ARB and forget it, problem solved.
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eleblanc said:
Considering compressor installation wiring etc...it is alot more expensive then a complet new diff. But if you wheel alot the truck, then its obviously the preffered option.
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He broke his diff in a parking lot. There have been many similar stories posted here over the years. You don't have to wheel to break a front diff in a 100.

I worked through the numbers once a long time ago. If you do the compressor install yourself the cost is not that much more than new gears or a replacement diff.

And you never have to worry about it again.
 
After spending the weekend and way too much money ripping apart my front end on my 99 for a front ARB...

...you have made me feel so much better for my choice.

I am sorry to hear that this happened to you.
 
My question here is:
Does the ARB front locker completly eliminate the busted 2 pinion diff risk, even if the front locker is not engaged when the front tires slip and suddenly catch?


And is the ARB spider gear just that much stronger than the Toyota?
 
^ Jason, yes the ARB is a complete replacement diff and it is much stronger than the Toyota 2 pinion and 4 pinion diffs plus have the ability to lock which no Toyota front diff offers.
 
Rusty i know, i did the math when i bought my own diff, Even if i didn't buy the compressor or make the arb operationnal it was more expensive. On top of the ARB cost you need to make sure it is properly installed in the housing, that mean paying someone to do this. It is not a big difference, but it is one to be considered if you do not offroad.

I've yet to read anyone breaking there diff with a 4pinion. But yeah i haven't been a long 100 section forum user ;-) so io might have missed someone.

rusty_tlc said:
He broke his diff in a parking lot. There have been many similar stories posted here over the years. You don't have to wheel to break a front diff in a 100.

I worked through the numbers once a long time ago. If you do the compressor install yourself the cost is not that much more than new gears or a replacement diff.

And you never have to worry about it again.
Click to expand...
 
PFRAN broke his 4 pinon with 35 inch tires, next on my list is ARB in the front.. I know I am running on borrowed time. I wonder what the avg price for install and locker is ...

I have been quoted as high as $2400 and as low as $1700, for the full install including compressor.
 
Wow, I guess it is just a matter of time before my 99 UZJ100 front diff goes. $2400 for a new ARB diff is alot of $$. I am going to have to baby my cruiser a little more until I can get the diff upgraded!
 
I feel like I could do the ARB install myself if I stayed with the same gear ratio. It would basically be similar to what I did when I moved my ring gear and installed the 4 pinion diff. The pinion depth is already setup so it's not like setting up a brand new set of gears or a new ring and pinion. ARB was giving their small compressor away free with ARB air locker purchase awhile back and there are other cheaper/better compressor alternatives out there IMO. I am seriously considering going to 4.88's and that will require new gears setup on both front and rear and likely more that I would do myself. At this point I feel like serious consideration of going ARB front and rear should be given. I should probably mention that I believe ARB warranty is voided if their locker is not professionally installed although plenty of people do it on their own. Also worth mentioning is Carl's 100 from justdifferentials has 4.88's and he runs a ARB up front and stayed with the Toyota electric locker in the rear. He is obviously an expert on gears, diffs, etc so I'm sure keeping the factory locker is just fine as well.

Where are you guys getting the figures for the ARB lockers? You can buy one for $900 all day long no problem? I guess you are factoring in labor to install?
 
eleblanc said:
Rusty i know, i did the math when i bought my own diff, Even if i didn't buy the compressor or make the arb operationnal it was more expensive. On top of the ARB cost you need to make sure it is properly installed in the housing, that mean paying someone to do this. It is not a big difference, but it is one to be considered if you do not offroad.

I've yet to read anyone breaking there diff with a 4pinion. But yeah i haven't been a long 100 section forum user ;-) so io might have missed someone.
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Setting up gears cost the same for an ARB as any other gear set you might buy. If you are replacing the gears set up cost is moot when comparing the ARB to other options.

Again, you don't have to offroad to break a 100 diff. Just transitioning from and icy patch to a dry patch of road can shock load the diff enough to break it.
 
SanDiegoCruiser said:
Wow, I guess it is just a matter of time before my 99 UZJ100 front diff goes. $2400 for a new ARB diff is alot of $$. I am going to have to baby my cruiser a little more until I can get the diff upgraded!
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Slow down... it's not "just a matter of time". With proper care and driving technique, everyone stands very little chance of blowing the front Toy diff. And all of us increase our chances if there are driving techniques that push the truck to the extremes, such as rocking the vehicle in slippery conditions while flooring the pedal, or locking center and 4Lo and then cranking the steering to full lock on a pavement, 4x4 conditions with extreme articulations and/or ATracking it too roughly, etc.
 
jgray said:
^ Jason, yes the ARB is a complete replacement diff and it is much stronger than the Toyota 2 pinion and 4 pinion diffs plus have the ability to lock which no Toyota front diff offers.
Click to expand...

Does anyone know (price-wise) where one can get the best deal on a complete front ARB diff? I'm thinking about this with my 99 if it decides to go out on me (at this point I've never had an issue) and these stories make me think twice about it.
 
rusty_tlc said:
Again, you don't have to offroad to break a 100 diff. Just transitioning from and icy patch to a dry patch of road can shock load the diff enough to break it.
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Couldn't you say this for just about any internal part of any car under the right circumstance? I mean we all agree without a doubt there's a chance you can break the diff but for 99% of the driving circumstances (on the road) there's lil chance of breaking any of the major components on a 100 of any year. It would take some more extreme conditions or driver misjudgment to break the front diff while in a parking lot.
 
lexi4darin said:
Slow down... it's not "just a matter of time". With proper care and driving technique, everyone stands very little chance of blowing the front Toy diff. And all of us increase our chances if there are driving techniques that push the truck to the extremes, such as rocking the vehicle in slippery conditions while flooring the pedal, or locking center and 4Lo and then cranking the steering to full lock on a pavement, 4x4 conditions with extreme articulations and/or ATracking it too roughly, etc.
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I really wasn't doing anything extreme when mine broke. :meh:
 
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