OFFICIAL 2nd gen 4x4 front differential bearing vibration thread

I think people have used both with success. If I can't find an ECGS tool available near me when I get a chance to do mine, I'm gonna try the auto parts store tool. I think someone said the largest adapter in the autozone kit fit our needle bearing exactly.

 

Does anyone know the id/od of the bushing. I have access to a machine shop and will make a puller if necessary.
Which autozone kit?

 

They only have one bearing puller kit for rent.

 

Thanks for the reply. An your right i just tend to over react when crap like this happens. Off work tomorrow. Gonna dig a little deeper. An see what dealer says. Anything i could check that would give the same symtoms first?
My vibe does go away after driving it 10 to 15 miles i found. An of course when i go to 4wd.
Feels like bearing going bad on a shaft to me. That seems worse at speeds between 25 an 45. Faster i go seems like it fades away an cant really feel it when going slow. I didnt hear it but wife said she heard a slight clicking noise from my truck when i got home yesterday. No clunks like i have had when ujoints went out on old trucks in the past. An really doesnt feel anything like driveline shutter that some tacos have. I have felt that to but this is different. Take off an stop are smooth an normal. Just that waaamp waaamp waaamp sound once u first take off ever few seconds untill u have got it nice an warm. Then all i can hear is my loud 285 mts. Also my truck has a very very slight vibe when u first start it cold till engine temp gets most of the way to normal. It is just very brief an very light but constant intervals untill engine has almost gotten warm. But isnt felt anymore after that when warm. An can only feel it really while idle. But the vibes feel alot different. I dont think they have to do with each other. Truck runs fine other then that. An most people wouldnt even notice it. An unlike the first vibe described that only happened after lift this vibe at idle has always has been there since new. Other then that i dont feel or see anything wrong. Thanks in advance.

 

Anyone in the kentucky tn area with same issue? If i dont have any luck with dealer i will be buying the ecgs tools an part. An would be happy to lend them when im done granted it is indeed whats wrong with my truck an it fixes it.

 

The first vibe you describe is very likely the driver-side differential bearing, like you thought.

The "idle vibe" is something entirely different and will be difficult to show to the dealer as your truck will be warm once you get there, pita. Could be a engine mount, but I am doubtful of that. Could be alot of things. Maybe tell the dealer what is going on and ask for an inspection/bolt&nut torque check, hopefully covered under warranty.

 

Your right again. I have already taken the truck in to the dealer about the idle vibe. An like said they didnt find anything wrong. Well they actually said at first they didnt find anything wrong or feel it then later they said they didnt find anything out of the norm for tacomas. So... Anyway had my kids with me so i just took it on the chin an walked out. I figure if it is what i think it is it will fail totally way before my warrenty is out so i was trying to forget about it. Then this happened. I was hoping to take my new truck on vacation starting in april. Going to daytona then sarasota with wife an kids. An was hoping to use my truck to drive on beach a little too. Looks like we will be taking the wifes 14 kia sportage. An i have to say it has been a far better experience then my my last 2 new toyotas. Really sad cause i have been the most die hard toyota fan that has ever lived since i started driving. Things change i guess. Im pretty good with my hands. I do industrail hvac an maintenance for a living. Only part im worried about is the old bushing coming out an getting the new one in. So another reason if i get the "omg you lifted that 4x4 truck 2.5 inches you have caused a melt down" at the dealer im gonna order everything an prolly a 2 bushings from ecgs. I would be tickled to spend 2 or 3 hundred bucks an put down a half a day of elbow grease just to put this to bed. Without further issues. How many days does it normally take the ecgs guys to ship everything once order is placed? I have read so much over the last week im sorry if this has alreafy been discussed guys please excuse me

 

^^ They are usually real fast. Put the ECGS bushing in the freezer for a few hours to shrink its diameter. I grab a $1 chunk of dry ice from the grocery to do the same. Its not that hard of a job. The driver that ECGS sells to install it is the same one that Harbor Freight sells and a wise thing to use IMHO. Just don't drive the bushing in too far and hit the spider gears. I make sure to drive it in no further that what the ECGS removal would allow it to be grabbed from behind and pulled back out it out in the future if need be. If you buy two of their bushings and only use one PM me as I might consider the other.

 

Can you be more specific to the harbor freight driver? Which one?

 

It a great kit.

 

@Speed Freek installed my ECGS bushing two weeks ago. Boy did he do that fast - he'd done a bunch of them and knew every trick to make it easier. I did not have vibes to start, this was preventative maintenance on a 2015 with only 6000 miles on it and a new lift going on at the same time.

There was one bit of excitement during the install, the OEM needle bearing broke during extraction using the EGCS tool! Jason had installed a bunch of these and hadn't seen this happen before. We got the pieces out with a magnet and reconstructed it to make sure we didn't miss one.

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^^^Good move on your behalf because they used the old junk needle bearing in your '15, simply amazing. BTW the new '16 gets the new junk TSB needle bearing.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I went over truck today. Didnt find a anything that would point other wise. So im gonna order all the stuff first thing tomorrow to do needle bearing. Only thing i found was the front diff fluid level maybe a little low. But i could reach it with pinky through fill hole. Should i top off for the time being till stuff gets here? An i noticed again this afternoon after driving 10+ miles or so it goes away complety. Wonder why it does this? Also the sound seems to change just a lil bit when i turn the wheel left an right. Man i would feel like a dummy if i change this after all this an it wind up being a wheel bearing. Prolly just wishfu thinking. Starting to here grinding noise in my sleep. Wife is rdy for fix too. Think im driving her nuts worrying bout it. Ha

 

hollandhunter, you are not going to go wrong with the ECGS bushing so just consider it an upgrade. The factory manual sez that the gear oil should be within 5mm from the bottom of the drain hole when on level surface. It does expand a bit when warm. I fill mine until it runs out and then quickly put the fill plug in. Sometimes I jack the left side of my truck up to actually overfill. This was discussed earlier in this thread when it looked like the needle bearing might not be getting enough oil.

I would suggest to anyone doing this, even on a truck with low miles, that you drain the gear oil and refill with fresh lube. The reason being is I put neomagnets (the extremely strong ones) on the drain plug of mine and got some swarf after doing the job. I think it is possible to peel a tiny bit off the bore both during removal and during installation. In fact I did this twice again in relatively short order until the gear oil cleared up, meaning I got minimal stuff on the magnet. Gear oil is cheap and it only takes 1.9 qt. so if you feel guilty bout this remember the used stuff is going to heat some poor starvin'-Marvin's house.

 

Whew, thanks for the reminder that I gotta get a bottle of gear oil before I do mine!

 

Further convinced my vibe is coming back. It's not cyclical like the first round though. Seems more constant when in the 28-35mph range. More subtle though. Granted that's how the first one started... Subtle initially.

 

Is this after the bushing or did you have the needle bearing replaced?

 

Yea i dont think i can go wrong with the ecgs. My taco is going to keep the mild lift as long as i own it. Im gonna say it again. Icant help it. I can not beleive toyota hasnt fixed this. But all trucks have there highs an lows i guess.
Im just a pm guy myself so i will be getting a better drain plugs asap. Havent owned the truck but a month or so an have already changed the engine oil 3 times. Ha

 

I had Toyota replace the needle bearing under warranty with their "new" TSB bearing. After install it was beautiful. But I think it's coming back. Going to let it progress before I go back to tell Toyota though. 12k Miles on the truck.

 

I have the tool and parts, hoping to get it done this weekend but the hubby and I are dreading this job horribly.... Lol