Rock Impact: Diff & Oil Pans Replaced - Advice needed

[Diff Kraken]

Hey all,

I had a very unlucky rock encounter recently and am seeking thoughts/advice. Essentially a rock pierced the OEM skid plate (they call them "splash guards") and cracked the front diff, pushing it into the lower oil pan, which in turn cracked the upper oil pan. I shut the truck off immediately after impact to protect the engine and had it towed to the closest Toyota dealer.

The dealer didn't seem intimidated by the needed repairs and they seem to have done good work on it- they replaced the front diff, diff bracket/s, upper and lower oil pans, seals, and OEM "Splash Guards". Luckily the rock was on a public road and I was able to file an insurance claim and have these repairs covered.

So now I have essentially a brand new truck with 4,000 miles on it that has had these parts replaced. I did a visual inspection of the repairs up on the lift at the dealer before taking possession of the repaired truck, and everything looks and runs just as it did from the factory.

My plan when I bought the truck in April was to drive it for 20+ years and rack up the miles and drive this to far away places as an off roader. Besides the obvious need for upgrades to skids, suspension, tires, sliders- hoping to bounce some ideas off of you guys:

1) Do folks think that it is safe to assume the truck will be as reliable now as when it was factory new?
2) Should I keep it or move it along if my intention is to have a solid reliable vehicle that will hit the 500,000 mile club?

Any thoughts welcome. Certainly not what I was hoping for or expecting with my first ever new truck.

 

[Jacket]

To me - those repairs are fairly basic. And in the case of the diff, it sounds like they dropped in an entirely new unit, so you aren't dealing with any sort of rebuild. I would just keep an eye out for develop leaks in the repair area. While I am sure they followed a script for reassembly, there is always a chance that you don't get a 100% good seal on the oil pan, or maybe one of the diff seals. That would be totally on the basis of the quality of work by the tech that did the repairs. Other than that I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[Diff Kraken]

To me - those repairs are fairly basic. And in the case of the diff, it sounds like they dropped in an entirely new unit, so you aren't dealing with any sort of rebuild. I would just keep an eye out for develop leaks in the repair area. While I am sure they followed a script for reassembly, there is always a chance that you don't get a 100% good seal on the oil pan, or maybe one of the diff seals. That would be totally on the basis of the quality of work by the tech that did the repairs. Other than that I'm sure you'll be fine.

Thank you for your thoughts here. I'll keep a close eye on the seals over the next couple of months. Hopefully they seated correctly and won't need any additional tweaks.

 

[r2m]

1) Do folks think that it is safe to assume the truck will be as reliable now as when it was factory new?
2) Should I keep it or move it along if my intention is to have a solid reliable vehicle that will hit the 500,000 mile club?

1) YES. As what Jacket stated, that would be the last thing I'd worry about sans banging it again.
2) The simple question is: what else is there other than a Toyota product that has ever been made and known to consistently go hundreds of thousands of miles??? Sure there are stories of maybe a Chevy, Ford or whatever with that many miles but that is the "one in 10 million" lottery win getting a vehicle from them that can pull that off. Almost every Toyota can do that, providing it has always been properly serviced and cared for.
I would almost guess the probability of getting a Toyota product that does NOT last that many miles is about the same as getting a vehicle from another manufacturer that does last that long.

The last half dozen Toyota's my wife and I have had, we got rid of them with well over 200,000 miles and it wasn't because of the drive train. Our last two Toy's were both 100 series Landcruisers. She traded her LC with 285,000 miles for a 4x4 crewcab Taco. I traded mine for this GX. Mine had 265,000 miles. Both of them we could have driven cross county in a heart-beat. Nothing wrong with the drive train at all. We got rid of them because the paint was all burnt out, clear coat peeling all over, leather seats were trashed. They were just very tired looking. We use our vehicles a lot for surf, ski, hiking, camping, etc. so they see a lot of muck on the interior.

So the short answer is: Yes you have the right vehicle, or at least the right manufacturer.

 

[Diff Kraken]

1) YES. As what Jacket stated, that would be the last think I'd worry about sans banging it again.
2) The simple question is: what else is there other than a Toyota product that has ever been made and known to consistently go hundreds of thousands of miles??? Sure there are stories of maybe a Chevy, Ford or whatever with that many miles but that is the "one in 10 million" lottery win getting a vehicle from them that can pull that off. Almost every Toyota can do that, providing it has always been properly serviced and cared for.
I would almost guess the probability of getting a Toyota product that does NOT last that many miles is about the same as getting a vehicle from another manufacturer that does last that long.

The last half dozen Toyota's my wife and I have had, we got rid of them with well over 200,000 miles and it wasn't because of the drive train. Our last two Toy's were both 100 series Landcruisers. She traded her LC with 285,000 miles for a 4x4 crewcab Taco. I traded mine for this GX. Mine had 265,000 miles. Both of them we could have driven cross county in a heart-beat. Nothing wrong with the drive train at all. We got rid of them because the paint was all burnt out, clear coat peeling all over, leather seats were trashed. They were just very tired looking. We use our vehicles a lot for surf, ski, hiking, camping, etc. so they see a lot of muck on the interior.

So the short answer is: Yes you have the right vehicle, or at least the right manufacturer.

Agreed- and good point. I guess I instinctually worry about having had the engine opened up this early in it’s life. Like the hermetic seal has been broken. I suppose it really could be a non-issue that just sounds scary.

And I also am wondering if I had a different Toyota truck, like a 100 or 200, if it would have been less likely to get damaged as easily just because of how they are so purpose built. I had assumed the 4Runner would be just as “tough” as a 120 being based on the same basic design. The 120/GX got me through the same trails several times without issue. Maybe it really was a one in a million bad luck rock strike that would have killed any Toyota.

I do now have an RCI front skid, 1” front spacer and 255/75r17 ko2s ready to go on this weekend. I assume once it’s outfitted with these it will be durable enough not to worry about bringing it back out to the trails- we tend to have larger rocks on all trails here on the East Coast (VA, NC, PA).

 

[Diff Kraken]

Update post in thread '5th Gen 4Runner pic thread'
5th Gen 4Runner pic thread - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/5th-gen-4runner-pic-thread.1222932/post-14253930