Driving with a Broken Front Differential 2001 LX 470 (1 Viewer)

[iSpearfish]

Hey IH8mud. First post here so I hope I got it in the right section. I'm on the road with limited time to search old forums so I figured I'd post my question here if ya'll got any advice to give. I'll keep it as short as possible.

Got my first LX470 a month ago. A 2001 great condition. Driving from Moab to Salt Lake City 2 days ago in a blizzard, no cell service, car started grinding and locked up, came to an abrupt halt and shut off. After a long night and a 20 mile putt to a hotel, the next day I found out my drivers side CV axle had popped out at the joint. After a trip to a Jiffy Lube and a Lexus dealership, $300 later I had the CV axle inspected and put back in. However Lexus flushed the differential and found metal shards/shavings in there. So I know there's an issue with the front diff. They wanted a couple thousand at least fix, nice try dealership.

So my main question is in the title, can I continue to safely drive with the grinding and broken front diff? I've already driven maybe 50 miles on it. From what I'm aware of the only negatives would be losing 4wd, damaging the front diff further making a rebuild more challenging, putting pressure on other parts possibly damaging them. I'm on a ski trip with some freinds so stopping from driving is not an option. The show must go on!

Called around all different shops and yards, hard to find a new/used one. Plus theyre usually over a grand from what I'm seeing. I've got a guy willing to rebuild it on the east coast for around $700, but I plan to be driving it from Utah to Colorado in the next few days so was wondering if anyone has one handy, would be willing to take the broken one off, or any comments or suggestions I'd appreciate it. I'd be willing to go out of the way and meet if it makes sense.

 

[3_puppies]

did you see the metal they are claiming was in the diff?
is it making any noise?
I'd run it for a month or two and drain the oil and see if there is any evidence of an issue.

 

[gregnash]

If you are in the Utah area give Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters a call (@cruiseroutfit ) and see if they have something they can get you in contact with quickly.
Honestly you are due to do some serious damage if you keep driving as is. You could potentially disconnect the front drive shaft, completely disconnecting but then you are going to lose 4wd all together.
While not opportune, you have to weigh the options of doing catastrophic damage vs. delaying your trip to fix the issue. While I know that neither is opportune you are better off fixing than trying to run and potentially do much greater damage.

 

[saucebox]

Cruiser Outfitters is likely your best option. Hard to imagine a better area to break a cruiser.

Japanese Auto Wrecking in Lehi (still more-or-less the SLC area) may have something as well. (801) 768-4424, Stephen has always been a good guy to deal with. There's also State Automotive—great mechanics. No idea if they'd be able to help or not. All these guys have or drive a 100 series daily.

If it truly is the diff, none of the options will be all that wallet-friendly. Good luck

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Sounds like it was the c-clip on the end of the CV, shouldn't affect the diff. A very small amount of metal shavings on the magnetic plug is normal, chunks are not.

 

[TLCJC]

You’ve probably learned the hard way that Jiffy Lube is not the place to take a 100 too.

Good luck with the fix. I’ve got 223,000 miles on my 99 LX and still kicking.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Give us a shout @ Cruiser Outfitters on Monday, we would love to help. Obviously like anyone we're not going to be able to tell you what's going on inside your differential but no matter what we'll have the parts or can overhaul the diff too.

If Lexus was concerned enough about it to mention it, perhaps they took a photo for you? As @Trunk Monkey pointed out a little bit of flake debris on the drain plug is one thing, chunks are another and you should not drive it too far or you will damage more in the diff.

 

[Skidoo]

You can isolate the front diff and drive in 2 wheel drive and go long distances that way if the front is toast.
The How To is in our super cool FAQ.
Hub flange removal writeup - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/hub-flange-removal-writeup.794740/

 

[iSpearfish]

Thanks for the replies everyone. So I made the drive from Utah to Denver area, a straight shot cruising 55mph. I've probably driven over 400 miles on it now because like I said, the show must go on. The grinding has lessened a bit while giving the car gas but it still has a pretty bad grind when coasting and for some reason, going downhill. Now that I'm in the Denver area for a week or two I am looking for someone to help take it off and give everything a look to assess what's the problem.

I'm in contact with Cruiser Outfitters now for a possible rebuild on it, but here and now it seems my first step is to take off the front diff and give it a look, and avoid driving more on it.

Also, Lexus got back to me and described the metal that came out in the diff as "shavings" as if sharpening a pencil. They said it was pretty consistent as in there was a decent bit of shavings coming out.

Trying to avoid driving on it as best I can, if anyone recommends a guy who may be willing to help I'm in the Breckenridge area for the next 4 or 5 days.

 

[saucebox]

2021's most expensive lift ticket. Glad you made it back.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Thanks for the replies everyone. So I made the drive from Utah to Denver area, a straight shot cruising 55mph. I've probably driven over 400 miles on it now because like I said, the show must go on. The grinding has lessened a bit while giving the car gas but it still has a pretty bad grind when coasting and for some reason, going downhill. Now that I'm in the Denver area for a week or two I am looking for someone to help take it off and give everything a look to assess what's the problem.

I'm in contact with Cruiser Outfitters now for a possible rebuild on it, but here and now it seems my first step is to take off the front diff and give it a look, and avoid driving more on it.

Also, Lexus got back to me and described the metal that came out in the diff as "shavings" as if sharpening a pencil. They said it was pretty consistent as in there was a decent bit of shavings coming out.

Trying to avoid driving on it as best I can, if anyone recommends a guy who may be willing to help I'm in the Breckenridge area for the next 4 or 5 days.

There is a removable diff cover that can allow inspection without full disassembly of the diff fwiw.

I'm super curious what you do find, keep us posted!

 

[roadstr6]

You can remove the front driveshaft and the drive flanges at the front wheels and drive it as long as you need to as a 2WD with no worry that you will cause more destruction than you already have.

 

[jboylan]

Follow up to this guy's question but I didn't want to make a whole new thread.

I also blew up my front diff a couple weeks ago. Pulled the front diff and CVs and ordered a new ring/pinion. Got told then to expect at least a couple weeks on the ring/pinion. Thinking of just reconnecting the upper ball joints and driving in 2WD with no diff/CVs installed. Does anyone see an issue with exposing the backside of the hub where the CV would normally seal? I'm not next to the truck but don't think the wheel bearing is really exposed if I do this. Perhaps just make a plastic cover temporarily?

 

[ramangain]

There is a non-load-bearing bearing pressed into the back of the spindle. That needs to be protected

 

[MongooseGA]

You can drive a 100 with a blown front diff.

@sammybones What did we do for yours? Removed the hub flanges only, right?

 

[Jerzywerzy5]

Follow up to this guy's question but I didn't want to make a whole new thread.

I also blew up my front diff a couple weeks ago. Pulled the front diff and CVs and ordered a new ring/pinion. Got told then to expect at least a couple weeks on the ring/pinion. Thinking of just reconnecting the upper ball joints and driving in 2WD with no diff/CVs installed. Does anyone see an issue with exposing the backside of the hub where the CV would normally seal? I'm not next to the truck but don't think the wheel bearing is really exposed if I do this. Perhaps just make a plastic cover temporarily?

Leave axles in, pull flanges and front driveshaft. Easily done with wheels on the ground. Cut a piece of cardboard or plastic to cover hub. Be prepared for mind blowing 16mpg in 2wd

 

[jboylan]

Leave axles in, pull flanges and front driveshaft. Easily done with wheels on the ground. Cut a piece of cardboard or plastic to cover hub. Be prepared for mind blowing 16mpg in 2wd

Yeah that's what I would do, just saying I already had the axles and diff out since I didn't expect the ring/pinion to take weeks to get delivered. Been borrowing a car from a friend so trying to limit my burden on people. Was gonna save myself the trouble of putting everything back in and just leave it out for a couple weeks while I wait for parts. Plan I think is just gonna be to make a plastic cover for the inner side.

 

[thebeedeegee]

If you just don't want to burden anyone with borrowing the car I'd just cover it up somehow and run it. I don't know how you could cover the back side effectively but if you could figure it out do it.

If the back side is covered and your dust cap is on I don't see how dirt could get all the way into the spindle. Keeping the cover on would be the challenge. Post pics of what you rig up.

 

[Topoguide]

So my front diff just went as well...

I have reviewed the FAQ thread by Muddy Bean, read through multiple posts, and watched several videos. All of which leave me with a couple questions. If someone knows the answers I would appreciate any help.

After removing the drive shaft I have to do something with the hub plates. I see one of two options:

1. Removing the plates entirely seems to allow the CV axle to retract towards the diff which would allow dirt to get into the bearings from the back side, even if I cover the front with a piece of plastic.
2. Machining the splines off the hub plates, then replacing them, gets everything sealed back up; but the snap ring would now be mostly stationary as the plate spins around it causing friction and heat.

Option two seems like a better option if the snap ring isn't an issue, but I don't see how it wouldn't be. Also, how many miles is either option good for?

I am supposed to be leaving on a trip in a few days from AZ to ID with it. I don't know that there is enough time to get it fixed properly. Which is why I am asking about longer mileage usage. - I will say I am fortunate it happened within a mile from my house literally right after we got back from Mexico with it.

NOTE: I pulled the dust caps off and checked the splines. It all looks good at the plates, and putting it in gear produces zero movement at the hub. I then got underneath from the front and the grinding is definitely in the diff.

 

[iSpearfish]

Hey everyone,

I completely forgot to reply to this thread. So I figure I'll give a little conclusion as to what happened to the best of my ability. I'm not a full gearhead and I got it fixed up by a shop in CO a few months ago.

And I'm sure a lot of people reading this in the future will either be looking how to diagnose and fix theirs, or to see if they can continue to drive with a broken front diff. So to answer those questions:

>I can definitely say I made it out okay with driving on a broken front diff. In fact I calculated I drove at least 800 miles on it, the grinding became less but was certainly still there, still mostly while going down hills and deaccelerating. I'm thinking that maybe had to do with the angle of the car or something. Might have made it worse but, she went.

>I cannot say exactly what was broken in the diff and why it happened. However I suspect that when my CV axle popped out at a joint, and I continued to drive another 30 minutes on it to get out of a blizzard on my way to SLC, the pinion/something else in the diff got screwed up. What I do know is the pinion was loose. And either that or something else was spinning, grinding on the walls of the inside of the housing. I took some pics of it all which I've attached.




(no vital info past this point)
To summarize this s***show of a story , I did about 3 weeks of car camping while it was getting fixed. It took me a few days to find a reliable shop at the end of February in the Denver area, and when I did they diagnosed it as the front diff. So I had them take off the broken front diff and put the axle back in, as far as I understand how it works, so I was able to drive it. They then ordered a "brand new" diff and I spent about a week skiing having a BLAST using RWD up in the snowy mountains waiting for the part to come in. Came back to the shop a week later when the part came in only to find out the box got damaged, or someone had sticky fingers. No new diff. So they reordered and I flew to Cali to see a friend for a week. I flew back only to find out that there was a botched shipping job and nobody actually shipped the reorder. So bam, at least 2 weeks in. I continued to ski for another week or more as the new diff finally shipped over, which was rebuilt on a weekend in Denver and put on the 'ol LX in 1.5 hours on a Monday. At this point it was almost April.

So I was good to go at that point. A solid 2.2k spent getting it fixed ($1176 for the diff, ~$500 for the rebuild, ~$300 for an overhaul kit, and the rest for oil, seals, tax) But it hasn't failed me yet. That very day I got it fixed I started a long haul to the east coast and I drove maybe 1800 miles on it in 2.5 days while towing a trailer with a body of an FJ40. No problems at all.

As for the shop I went to, they are Western Drivetrain in Aurora, CO. Really nice guys and can't recommend them enough. The price ended up being a little more than I was quoted but hey that's just how it goes.

Also I kept the broken front diff if anyone wants to buy the parts off me