Rear axle locking up?

So yesterday, I was pulling my boat out of the water, the ramp had a lot of wet sand that had accumulated all morning and my rear tires spun when I tried to pull up the ramp, so I put it in 4wd once I was up the ramp, put it back in 2wd. All was fine, later when I got around to unhooking the trailer to head out somewhere, the truck wouldn't move. Made sure I wasn't being stupid and still had the e-brake on, which it wasn't. I put it in 4wd again, and the front wheels moved the truck but I noticed both back wheels wouldn't spin and were just dragging in the grass as the front wheels pulled the truck. Quickly stopped, when I put it back in 2wd, I heard a loud clunk in the back, and the rear wheels moved fine then. And everything has seemed fine since. Any idea what the issue was? Haven't had that happen before in the year I had the truck.

 

I would keep switching 4hi and 2hi to see if i will happen again and if not you are good to go.

 

do you have the rear diff breather mod done?

also, did the rear axle get submerged while pulling your boat out

this sounds like you got water in you rear diff and destroyed/wrecked it...

 

^Possible, also e-brakes do stick once in a while. But his theory sounds better.

 

change your rear diff fluid... before you do anything else.

 

X2, check wheel bearings also

 

No rear diff breather mod. And no the axle didn't get submerged. An inch high on the rear tires is the most I let the water touch the truck when I'm putting the boat in or out.

 

Then e-brake may have stuck, or brakes in general if they were hot and rapidly cooled when submerged

 

I would still change out the differential fluid. I have seen many a Jeep rear ends messed up for this exact same reason.

 

problem is the drum brakes, not with the differential. not only tacomas, but other trucks will lock up if you get the inside of the drums wet by submerging them into water. The brake dust inside the drum acts almost like glue if you get it wet and let it sit. If tacoma came with rear disk brakes then this wouldn't be a problem.

 

I hope it's just the brakes being stupid and not the differential preparing to grenade haha.

Also important to note that my brakes did start squealing at times ever since I started using the truck for the boat a month ago.

 

Sounds like the rear brakes locking up. Where I fish I sometimes have to put all four tires in the water to launch and when I come back after fishing my brakes will occasionally make all sorts of noises for a bit before the rust/grime is gone. I had them lock up once too. I freaked for a little bit before I thought about the rear brakes not releasing and rusting to the drum.

 

Carry a ball pein hammer

 

Bumping this old thread because I’m starting to have the same issue. Was this ever resolved? I’m at 283k miles and wondering if my rear diff gears are starting to bind up. It seems to happen when unhooking my boat or ATV trailer. I’m aware it might happen so I’m very careful when pulling away. If I feel it catch, I’ll put it in neutral, pause and then reverse; then repeat back into drive. It’s seems to free up whatever is catching.

I do have a rear diff breather mod and fluid was changed back in March of this year. Any thoughts or options are appreciated!

 

I second the bump because it also started happening to me... only on dry land (it's never been in the water)... and my (2007) Tacoma still has less than 60K miles on it. No mods of any kind. Same exact symptoms, though.

Thinking brakes, and thinking the severity of the lockup pointed to a cracked brake drum, I even replaced the drums... and it still happens.

Mine's left-side-only (so far). I'm working on-and-off on it today. Next step will be to remove the left drum and try it again.

I get about 1/4 (1/2?) turn frontward or rearward before the wheel stops abruptly.