Vibration @ 30-40mph after 5100s installed @ 1.75

So does this vibration going away in 4h mean a bad differential bearing?

 

I started having a terrible vibration when towing my boat until it warms up... now, I get it all the time. When towing the boat its so bad its like driving over the rumble strips on the side of the highway. With out the boat its very faint... like driving on a gravel road. Next time I have the boat back there I will switch to 4x4 and see if it goes away. I was wondering if I was having a tranny issue... now Im wondering if its this.

Does the vibration get worse the higher the front end is?

 

Yes

Definitely YES! You should have heard mine with the 5100s set to 1.75. It got a lot quieter at the .85 setting and even more quiet when I added the diff drop. The higher the front end, the worse it will be. But regardless of how bad it is, it will always go away in 4H.

 

I started a similar thread over in the suspension forum:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/124505-urgg-lifted-2-5-now-i-have-wicked-vibes.html


So far, the consensus here seems to be that this shot bearing problem is not caused by lifting the truck, but is instead a pre-existing problem that is just unveiled by lifting a truck. But what evidence do we have to support that notion? Sounds like a lot of folks have had this happen immediately after lifting a truck with very low mileage.

As far as I'm concerned, this could be a result of any of the following:
A - Bearing failure caused by driveline angle changes created by lift
B - Bearing failure caused by something related to the installation process of lift
C - Bearing failure caused by wear prior to lift, but manifests symptoms after lift
D - Bearing failure caused by shipping the brand new truck from factory to showroom floor
E - Bearing failure caused by full moon


So which is it really? My truck drove like it was on glass at 120K before I tried lifting, now the vibes came. I have driven it a total of 4 miles since the lift has been on it. I am going to reset the front 5100's to 0" tomorrow and re-align and see what happens.

This is starting to sound a lot like a major design flaw among 2nd gen 4x4's, much like the one that Pathfinders experienced with their trannies back in the early 1990's.

 

So i took my truck to the "stealrship" today and they said the warranty doesnt cover the differential. they wanted to charge me 700-800 bucks just to open it n look at it... i went back to the offroad warehouse to see what they'd say and they advised me to use a diff drop kit. i'll see how it goes after i install it...

also, if the noise doesnt go away, what would be the best way to go about it with toyota corporate so they can help me out!!!!!

 

Try a different dealer. How is the differential not part of the "driveline"??? My dealer has no problem claiming it under warranty.

 

My guess is you're outside the powertrain warranty (since you have an '05) and are using an extended warranty? In which case, you'd have to read your fine print in the warranty. It wouldn't be the first time parts aren't covered. But also keep in mind how some of those work. We once had an extended and the driver's seat belt light kept flashing. The sensor in the seat belt unit was bad requiring a whole new seat belt. But it wasn't covered under our extended warranty. So I said to forget about it to the service advisor and said it was too bad because it drove me nuts how it won't retract on its own anymore. The service adviser said, "But that's covered." And they replaced it fixing my original problem. So it may be that it's not covered under one situation and is covered under a different situation. So read your fine print and see if there's a loophole in there.

And if you end up calling Toyota Corporate...if you've had all your servicing done at the dealership (rather than taking it elsewhere or doing it yourself) then they will usually split the cost with you 50/50. But you'd still be out $1,100 or so (50% of the $2,200 total). So instead, I'd subscribe to this thread because it may be cheaper to fix after all (gets good on page 3 as we're finally getting somewhere):
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...unk-found-questions-about-front-diff-now.html

 

Yeah they did say that my powertrain warranty expired in July of this year... I barely bought the truck in March so I'm not sure where the previous owner would get it serviced at. I have been doing my own oild changes and stuff. I only have 50xxx miles on the truck and will definetly look in the fine print for any "loopholes".

 

I'm probably going to go to .85 on my billies because I still think there is a mild vibration in my gas pedal and also i really dont like the barely noticable .5" height difference in front after leveling. It funny how its barely noticable but once you notice it you see it all the time. I would put a aal in the back but im done with vibrations and it seem like most people who put in the aal get more vibs. I will just put some bigger/tall tires and hope for no vibs.

 

Guys,

Long story short after having this problem, and spending hours trying to read every forum I could to solve it. I have a 2006 Double Cab TRD Sport. Replaced the oem shocks and struts with Bilstein 5100's, and a 2" add a leaf in the rear. Also purchased the Toytec diff drop kit.

Had the lift professionally installed, and noticed the vibes as soon as I drove the truck down the road. They dissapear as soon as you put it into 4 high. Took out the diff drop kit, still mostly the same but a bit better.

Took it to Toyota, they replaced the needle/pinion bearings in the front differential. Truck now runs perfectly.

Yeah, I know it doesn't seem to make sense, but if you have experienced this problem it is the differential bearings. Sorry to break the bad news.

 

Colin, did they replace your bearings with the diff still on the truck or did they remove the diff to work on it? Would you mind sharing how much the procedure cost?

 

x2

 

To be honest, I don't know if Toyota removed the diff or not to fix the problem. They were a bit secretive about exactly what they did other than I know I don't have a new differential, and the only parts they replaced were those needle/pinion bearings.

My truck is 5 months out of warranty, so I first approached Toyota Canada and asked them about warranty. They told me that I had to find a dealership and talk to the service manager about filing a goodwill warranty claim with Toyota Canada. I ended up splitting the cost with Toyota Canada, the dealership, and myself. Let's just say it was very cheap for me, but don't want to get into specifics.

I know that the new diff is somewhere around $1100 CAD just for the part up here from Toyota. Not sure what labour would be. I also did some research, and found a shop close to where I live that only works on differentials. They quoted me around $1000 CAD plus taxes for putting in a master bearing kit in the front diff including parts and labour.

Thanks Toyota for standing behind your trucks!

 

subed ..........

 

Does this vibe happen with just 4wd or does it affect the 2wd too? I want to get billies at 1.75 to even out the truck and dont plan on putting in aals anytime soon.

 

This problem is only for 4wd as it's a problem in the front differential (4wd only). So lift it and enjoy.

 

Sorry for the long post but I need some advice.

08 Quad cab long bed with 37k on it, bought used in January w/ 32k on it. 4th toyo truck, 3rd tacoma.

Installed 5100's @ 2.5 with a diff drop and a 1.5 block in the rear. Vibes immediately. Screwed around with the carrier bearing and then stumbled onto the diff problem via this forum. Switching to 4wd eliminates the problem. After 3 visits to the stealership and a full assessment by the regional rep (removal of CV with tech), I now have been denied 3 times due to the lift but have not tried corporate yet. Vibe is noticeable but not audible and seems to be staying the same for now. I'm pissed off at Toyota but have more important things to deal with right now. I still might try and give corporate a call when I get some time.

Here's my problem, I'm getting married in VT late this Summer and planned on driving to and from in the truck (From Salt Lake, Utah, 2500 miles each way). Dealer will replace the diff bearing and CV for around $800 and the lift shop that I had do the work will do it for just under $500. Or, do I just leave it since there don't seem to be any failures yet? I've got another long trip in two weeks (700 miles each way) so that will be another good test. Vibe goes away just after 40mph.

So, should I even do the work? If I do, should I just have the lift shop ("Jack it" in SLC) do the work and save the $$$ since Toyota is bound to deny any more warranty claims on my diff from here on out...

Thanks Guys!

 

Your dealership said they would replace the bearing and CV for $800? That's pretty rare to find a dealership that will do a diff rebuild -- most will only do diff replacements. I haven't been able to find a dealership in my area that will do a rebuild.

To answer your question (sort of), I doubt the vibes will get much worse over time or risk any kind of catastrophic failure on the road...so mostly it's a question of whether or not you can put up with the annoyance of vibes for a trip of that length.

 

x2. I don't worry about mine now since I experienced a much, much worse case last year. Last year, it was a horrible grinding sound that was audible over the radio even with windows down. If it's simply a vibe, I wouldn't be worried because it's nowhere near as bad as mine last year yet.

 

well just finished my putting my billies on at 1.75 and a 1 3/8 block with a small taper on it in the back ( yes i know blocks suck i dont off road) and i am finding myself subbing to this thread. im going to try putting a washer on my carrier bearing and see if that helps. have not tried the 4x4 check yet either, truck is going for alignment tomorrow so ill mess with it after i get it back.