Snapped Diff Bolts (3rd Member Removal)

I noticed a little bit of gear oil seaping out of my diff cover, i snugged up all the bolts and for 2 weeks it was fine. Yesterday i noticed it again but this time 2 of the bolts were snapped off.
I plan of upgrading all of the studs to something a lot stronger but i know i have to remove the 3rd member. is this the same as the 2nd gen were you can do it without removing the brake lines and just sliding the axles out 3 or 4in?

 

Out of interest, what location were the bolts at, that snapped? BTW, im sure you are aware that's not the diff cover.

 

yes its the actual diff, but the 2 studs were at the 3 and 7 o'clock position

 

That's not the back of the diff, that looks like the back of the transmission.

A tiny bit of a print of oil is fine, a tiny bit of seeping can occur from the factory, but it's not a concern if you don't have drips under the truck.

You overtightened the fuck out of those if they snapped. Put the impact wrench away, and step away from the Tacoma.

 

i snugged them up they were finger tight when i first noticed it!!!

 

Very easy to fix. To remove the stud remove the 3rd member and use two bolts on the stud and back it out

 

I'd think you could back them out without removing the third member.


I've done the same on my older truck.

Just need a good set of tools.

Easy out etc

 

Guess im confused, I thought you tighten the diff cover, the picture is of the opposite side of the diff. But to answer your question, im not sure if you can pull the axles without brakes and such to gain clearance to pull the 3rd member.

 

I would suggest to continue to use the OEM studs, they are the strongest available and are about 2 bucks each to replace. Trail-Gear has a kit to replaces all of the studs with their own bolts but that kit sucks ass. The bolts they use are button head with a hex and thread from the inside out which is a total pain in the ass. The bolts are low quality and beging to stretch over time allowing for leaks because they never stay tight. I had a set in my crawler that I regret installing..

 

I reread the original post.

I'd remove the third member to replace all the studs.

The problem of not removing the brake lines is they're hard lined. Might kink something.

Take the time and do it right IMO.

 

the studs dont seem to be a high grade after looking at the snapped one if i gonna pull it anyways it would make sense to just replace it with a grade 8

 

Easy out !!!

Edit ....with the nuts now gone , there is zero load on the studs .
There are only 2 studs broken and very accessible with a left hand drill bit and left hand easy out .
If everything went well , I think a technician could have this fixed up in 20 minutes .
The broken studs will come out very easy
No need to remove the diff

 

I dont think it's neccessary to replace all of the studs, only the broken ones.

also read this DIY diff removal to learn how to deal with the brake lines, not very hard. Or the other option when removing the 3rd is to remove the brakes lines and bleed the brakes when all done as the final step.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-installation-of-e-locker-3rd-member.193828/

 

Ah the hangers. Clever.

I agree though just switch out the broken ones. I replaced mine with Toyota oem with no problems.

 

I would advise against that, but if you do go that route make sure to use copious amounts of red thread locker to glue the bolts in place. Youll be threading in the bolts from the inside out so that means when you torque the actual nut on each bolt the bolt stands a chance of backing out. That was one of the problems with the Trail-Gear kit that I experinced.

 

only 2 things that destroys OEM studs..

• over-torqueing, each nut should be torqued to no more than 18ft. lbs/25Nm
• damage to the bottom studs from scraping rocks while on the trail

 

do you have a part number for the oem studs?

 

Truck looks damm good the way you have it !

Love the black grill and all.

Where did you get the front bumper with the fogs in it btw ?

 

Here is a parts list up to 2013 . I cant see why the studs would be different
2013 Toyota Tacoma Pickup.pdf