Looks like they are shared with LC300. IMO that's great news. Same as Tacoma, non-hybrid Tundra as well. Unifying all of the powertrain should make aftermarket gearing easy and available. Presumably the off the shelf GR Sport front locker diff is a bolt in swap??
I had some other questions/comments if anyone has seen the inside of the LC300 diffs:
I notice that both front and rear diffs have replaced the outer pinion bearing with a ball bearing instead of an angled roller bearing. I don't understand why exactly they would choose to do that. How does that work with the bearing preload. I can't think of any other application I know of where you are preloading a rotating assembly with a roller bearing on one side and a ball bearing on the other. Ball bearings generally don't tolerate side loading as well as roller bearings and I would expect the ball bearing to wear faster and lose the preload more quickly in this case than the old roller design.
EDIT: On closer look - it appears to be a single row angular contact ball bearing (basically a ball bearing that is designed for high axial load in one direction). But then why use a ball bearing instead? Friction? Sealed bearing? or ?? Any experts in bearings that could help me understand why?
Additionally, you would typically use setup bearing races to set up the pinion depth. How is this done with the roller bearing that doesn't have separate races? Do you have to press the thing on and off every time you adjust the shims? And how is it pressed on? Can it be pressed out with just a shop press or is a specialty tool required because roller bearings normally are not preloaded at all in a sideload. You normally just capture the center race, but here it presumably requires the outer race to have a very tight friction fit into the case and the inner race then presses onto the pinion shaft. Can you get that out without destroying it? Or is it a one-time use item? Pushing the pinion out seems straight forward. But getting the bearing back out after looks challenging.
Is the crush sleeve gone? The pinion is now very short. But I don't see a crush sleeve or room for one. What is used to set bearing preload? Shims? Nothing? or ???
Is it a sealed bearing? That could be really useful if so. Possibly that's the reason for the change? Sealed pinion bearings would be a potential game changer for use as high pinion in other applications. Outer pinion bearing oiling has always been a challenge for higher angle diffs. This may end up being a very popular differential for afermarket use in old junk like my FJ40 where pinion oiling is a constant worry to me due to higher angle required by the short wheel base.
Second area of interest is the left hand side inner CV shaft support. The dreaded needle bearing! Teh diagram doesn't seem to show any bushing or bearing on that side (green arrow). Anyone have any idea whether that's a bushing, bearing, or ??? Does it just ride directly on the carrier machined face? The other similar images from prior units clearly shows the needle bearing. This one has nothing but an oil passage it looks like.
On the right hand side the support bearing is now much smaller. Probably still adequate, just something I noted compared to the prior design.
Sorry for the grainy pic.
Old one:
I had some other questions/comments if anyone has seen the inside of the LC300 diffs:
I notice that both front and rear diffs have replaced the outer pinion bearing with a ball bearing instead of an angled roller bearing. I don't understand why exactly they would choose to do that. How does that work with the bearing preload. I can't think of any other application I know of where you are preloading a rotating assembly with a roller bearing on one side and a ball bearing on the other. Ball bearings generally don't tolerate side loading as well as roller bearings and I would expect the ball bearing to wear faster and lose the preload more quickly in this case than the old roller design.
EDIT: On closer look - it appears to be a single row angular contact ball bearing (basically a ball bearing that is designed for high axial load in one direction). But then why use a ball bearing instead? Friction? Sealed bearing? or ?? Any experts in bearings that could help me understand why?
Additionally, you would typically use setup bearing races to set up the pinion depth. How is this done with the roller bearing that doesn't have separate races? Do you have to press the thing on and off every time you adjust the shims? And how is it pressed on? Can it be pressed out with just a shop press or is a specialty tool required because roller bearings normally are not preloaded at all in a sideload. You normally just capture the center race, but here it presumably requires the outer race to have a very tight friction fit into the case and the inner race then presses onto the pinion shaft. Can you get that out without destroying it? Or is it a one-time use item? Pushing the pinion out seems straight forward. But getting the bearing back out after looks challenging.
Is the crush sleeve gone? The pinion is now very short. But I don't see a crush sleeve or room for one. What is used to set bearing preload? Shims? Nothing? or ???
Is it a sealed bearing? That could be really useful if so. Possibly that's the reason for the change? Sealed pinion bearings would be a potential game changer for use as high pinion in other applications. Outer pinion bearing oiling has always been a challenge for higher angle diffs. This may end up being a very popular differential for afermarket use in old junk like my FJ40 where pinion oiling is a constant worry to me due to higher angle required by the short wheel base.
Second area of interest is the left hand side inner CV shaft support. The dreaded needle bearing! Teh diagram doesn't seem to show any bushing or bearing on that side (green arrow). Anyone have any idea whether that's a bushing, bearing, or ??? Does it just ride directly on the carrier machined face? The other similar images from prior units clearly shows the needle bearing. This one has nothing but an oil passage it looks like.
On the right hand side the support bearing is now much smaller. Probably still adequate, just something I noted compared to the prior design.
Sorry for the grainy pic.
Old one:
Last edited:
