front differential side bearing replacement.. done!

good thread... i blew out my driver side axle seal on the last wheeling trip... according to the FSM there should be 3mm play in the passenger side driveshaft...


To address a few unanswered questions here are my theories

i dont think the carrier preload is off or else there would be tons on tacomas with failures. 3mm play is alot imo but 3mm at the cv is not much the closer into the assembly. people wonder why the passenger side doesnt have play but it has a larger bearing and a different set up so there is no play. the CV on the driver plugs right into the carrier. if there was no play at all the bearings would be too tight and likely fail from too much preload.

as far as the bearing being small, it doesnt carry weight, it is more or less a guide. not like in the video with the larger rear bearing that carries the weight of the truck plus weight in the bed etc.

in ifs the wheel bearings carry the weight not the axles

ill look mine over good today when i do my seal, hopefully its ok

im hoping my seal went from a plugged breather or something not a bad bearing... front end of my truck is nice and quiet so well see

 

I tore my front end apart last night and i think i found the issue.

In my differential, after i pulled the CV out, i stuck a screw driver in there to push stuff around to see if i could see where the play was coming from. The inner spline (where the cv shaft plugs into has alot of play.) at first i though the theory of the carrier not being shimmed was correct! However, i then notice with all of the prying and moving, the center pin of the diff and housing was not moving and therefore the carrier was not moving.

I believe the slop in the front diff is actually do to the side gear moving around (the side gear of the spiders are what are splined). When you put the truck into 4wd the side gear inner shaft on the passenger side becomes engaged by a sleeve that slides over the end of the inner shaft. When this happens the play in the side gear on the drivers side reduces. thus why the noise goes away in 4wd...

the play still concerns me but the backlash of the spider gears is still tight. ive seen 2nd gens with 150+ thousand on the odo and they have no more and no less play than me... i still dont know why my seal went though

 

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Phukkin' subd

 

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I finally got around to changing out the bearing seal and axle, all went well (sorry no photos) I have no more vibrations at 40mph. Hioefully the bearing/axle last a while, parts in Canada are much more expensive. Thanks for the help.

 

This is depressing, my 2010 has this issue all for a 2" lift. It doesn't pay to mod.

 

mine had it stock. 50k miles later, still running strong no additional slop. i just had to replace a seal because i got some sand in it and tore it up

 

What are the symptoms of this issue?

 

play in the driver side cv where it inserts into the diff. A light growl/hum on lifted trucks.

 

A slight to severe cyclical vibe (sometimes audible too) most noticeable around 35-40 MPH. Goes away in 4HI.

 

Never really noticed that. I'll check for it though, thanks guys!

 

So if it is a bad bearing, why does it only do it between 35 and 40mph? It should do it all the time. I dont cruise between these speeds anymore.

 

It does it at other speeds, but it's most noticable in the early stages at that speed. As the bearing gets worse, you then start feeling it outside that range. Why that speed initially? Why is any cyclical vibe more noticeable at any given speed...

 

Tips for easy CV removal?

 

That's funny..."easy CV removal"! Okay, easy for some, PITA for others in that it wouldn't come out. Short pry bar and a BMFH FTW!

 

Yeah. You need these:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00943288000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

And a 4lb engineers hammer. Not a 2.5lb hammer.

This will allow you to work in a confined space and drive the CV Axle exactly parallel to the axle splines.

The more you have to drive it on an angle, the more likely you are to be unsuccessful.

When reinserting, make sure 4wd is engaged and the truck is in gear, so you can rotate the cv axle and make sure the splines on the cv axle are lined up with the splines in the bearing housing in the diff. If they're not lined up, you can hammer all day and into the next and all you'll do is flatten the splines on the CV axle.

 

Actually, several people have recommended using the slide hammer with hose clamp as seen in this writeup:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...axle-replace-front-wheel-bearing-2nd-gen.html

 

Help me understand this. My truck has 6600 mi now and was about 4k when I did the lift. I got this dreaded vibration ( I feel it at slower speeds 5-40mph) immediatly after putting on the lift. So is it just defective? and how is the new bearing any different then what I got in there now?

 

I wish i knew how your diff at only 6600 miles has this vibration. I replaced my bearing 12k miles ago and its fine still. 78k on truck, 66k when i replaced it from the original