This came out of my Front Differential ????

I changed the front diff oil last week and in amongst all the metallic gook stuck on the magnet was this little piece.





I am getting a slight vibration/growling/shimmy feeling in my gas pedal when doing about 60 mph. I was thinking wheel bearings but someone had mentioned front differential. Does anyone know what the hell that little piece is and could my front differential be on its way out?

Thanks

 

Flattened snap ring

 

Makes sense, Thanks

 

Been wheelin' in the ocean lately? Looks like a barnacle.

 

Is your truck lifted?

 

haha, I thought the same thing...only I don't know of any metal barnacles.

Nope

 

Okay so no lift... Good. Then I would do the obvious things first and have the tires inspected and balanced to see if your vibes go away. How many miles do you have on your truck?

 

Just over 60 thousand miles, I'll do the tire thing one day this week. What are some obvious signs that the front differential is failing?

 

The oil was black, the only metal was the glob at the end of the magnet. It looked like it was way past due for a change.

I don't hear any grinding or crunching while driving, only a shimmy type growl that comes and goes and you can feel it in the gas pedal. It is starting to drive me nuts. It has to be either the tires, wheel bearings, or front diff but I'm hoping it's one of the first 2..I'd hate to replace the differential.

 

Nope

 

Will do, I gotta try something. Thanks for your help.

 

Just picked up an '06 Tacoma with 18,000 miles. In changing the rear diff fluid (it's actually still draining now) I got the EXACT same metal piece. I'm also experiencing a very low grumble at 60 mph or above, but only when the throttle is applied. You feel it more than hear it.

I'm doing the front diff and transfer case this weekend too, as well as cleaning the throttle body, MAF sensor, and hopefully the IAC sensor. Plan to change out the manual trans fluid on monday once I receive the Redline MT-90 that I ordered.

Hopefully all of these together will get the truck up to par on maintenance.

 

i work in a machine shop. thats exactly what it looks like.