UH-OH, rear diff sounds BAD

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

BMThiker

BMThiker

I aim to misbehave
s-Moderator
SILVER Star
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Threads
235
Messages
10,854
Location
West of ATL
Website
forum.ih8mud.com
So I was on a few errands for work today out driving around. I notice a click..click..click. My first thought is that my diff skid has come loose and is rubbing the driveshaft yoke. I get out and check it out and nothing is loose or obvious.

Driving home, I'm thinking did it get louder? clack..clack..clack, definitely can FEEL it now. Made one stop on the way home and definitely getting worse now.

I notice that it sounds worse under acceleration and on an uphill climb. I'm taking it easy and keeping it under 35mph the whole way home. I call Daniel from ACC and he meets me at my parking lot.

We roll back and forth and can't nail it down. Then we put the rear axle up on jack stands and put it in drive...no question now it's coming from inside the diff. The timing of it as the wheel spins makes me think its the ring gear.

Dropped it off at ACC and will talk with them tomorrow so more. Can't imagine a second R/P have gone bad?!
 
Dang we are up late!

Don't you have the 'new and improved' ring gears? If it did go bad this sounds like a great time to go with 4.88's and an ARB up front! :grinpimp:

And yes, ACC does rock.
 
You've got and '07 right? And two diffs have gone bad? I know you wheel pretty hard but that doesn't sound right. I think Toyota should help out regardless of how you've modded the truck in this case.
 
I have considered regearing to 4.56, but just not this soon in the game. I have no desire to put anything bigger than 34's on Dig-Dug and may even step back to 33's on my next set of M/T's.

I decided a while ago that I don't want to lock my front halfshafts either. That's just lighting the fuse on the CV's.

I am still tempted to take it back to Toyota since I haven't done anything really tough since August and it seems like a weird way for a ring gear issue to show itself. I want Mike and Brian to take a look at first and get their opinion.

I was up late 'cause t'is the season to be wrapping gifts/baking cookies and this little episode set me back a few hours.
 
Sounds like ring gear to me...chipped teeth clackity clackity.

Sorry, hope you can get it under warranty, but I somehow doubt it with all the battle scars!
 
BMThiker said:
So I was on a few errands for work today out driving around. I notice a click..click..click. My first thought is that my diff skid has come loose and is rubbing the driveshaft yoke. I get out and check it out and nothing is loose or obvious.

Driving home, I'm thinking did it get louder? clack..clack..clack, definitely can FEEL it now. Made one stop on the way home and definitely getting worse now.

I notice that it sounds worse under acceleration and on an uphill climb. I'm taking it easy and keeping it under 35mph the whole way home. I call Daniel from ACC and he meets me at my parking lot.

We roll back and forth and can't nail it down. Then we put the rear axle up on jack stands and put it in drive...no question now it's coming from inside the diff. The timing of it as the wheel spins makes me think its the ring gear.

Dropped it off at ACC and will talk with them tomorrow so more. Can't imagine a second R/P have gone bad?!
Click to expand...


Sounds like it is time for some new 4.56 gears front and rear :D :D
 
I mean, I understand that the truck has been used and abused. But, it's been very well maintained as well. And this doesn't sound like something that should happen twice in less than two years. If I'm out of line please let me know (as I think much less than I speak) but I'd give Toyota a little attitude just out of principle.





I'm sorry I'M so irritated about YOUR truck being broke.
 
I hear ya J-Bo. I agree with you to a point, but I'm looking at this very pragmatically. I could go back to Toyota (I've got 3500 miles left on my powertrain warr.) and say this is absurd, but the reality is that we've got a holiday weekend. I'd have to tow it there (expense). They won't look at it this week with any degree of integrity. Nobody wants to pull it apart and wait for a third member to arrive when they've got all these oil changes and 30K service checks to do for twice the money. So it will sit until next week before it gets any real attention and then I've got to argue with someone on the phone or in person about if they'll cover it. I don't have that kind of time to spend on an outcome that I probably won't like. (And then have it towed back to ACC, more expense.) I've already had one replaced and they sounded like that was my one shot. They have screwed up the last two oil changes I had done at the dealer, so I'm better off with real experts.

I really should regear to at least 4.11's to match the 33's I'm running or 4.56 for the 34's. The gears are readily available now unlike a year or two ago. Yes it will spend some time in the shop for the regear and certainly cost me out of pocket money (that I don't have ;)) but at least the outcome will serve my purposes better and meet my expectations.
 
BAM, now cut the top off and we can be twins! :)
 
Understood. I figured you'd say that. Life lesson learned = screw 'em and do an upgrade.
 
A regear to 4.56 sounds like the ticket. I've read where several over on the blue forums have done it and were happy.

I'm dealing with warranty issues with Toyota right now and am not happy at all. I wouldn't hold my breath with getting ANYTHING fixed under warranty through Toyota unless you are bone stock.
 
Rick, you may want to try Cobb county Toyota if you've never been there...

Good luck with it :cheers:
 
OK small update: Talked to Michael and Brian at ACC and they quickly concurred that something is really wrong with the ring gear. Then they really, really, really (darnit) suggested I try the warranty route first. They see no reason the ring gear should give out so quickly - this one is about 18 months old. I cleaned up my truck and removed all my skids that might get in the way while at ACC. I used their tow service to get my truck to Atlanta Toyota. I called my service writer who covered the first diff defect and he seems willing to play (at least sounded that way). I'm headed to the dealer tomorrow to talk to the service manager. I doubt any major progress will take place this week, but I will probably find out if they will cover it. I'll keep you posted...
 
Last edited:
OK, BIG UPDATE now: I got an innocent little phone call this morning from a pleasant young lady telling me that she was very sorry, but that because of the holiday the third member that needed to be ordered would not arrive until Monday.
**Umm, that's fine, but is this being covered by warranty?**
Oh, yes she says, they are covering it.
**Do you know what was wrong with it?**
Well no, this is Nick's ticket and they looked at the problem and decided to replace the third member.

I was just getting ready to give them a call. So that's it, no follow up call from Nick, no discussions with the Svc Mgr, no arguments, just taken care of. I have to say I am a bit surprised, but Atlanta Toyota has pulled through again.
 
Good old Saint Nick!

:cheers:
 
Sweet! Nothing better than free Cruiser parts for Christmas
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom