Needle Bearing Failure With Lift (How Many)

This forum has a decent percentage of 3rd gen owners who lift their trucks (whether to take off road or not). It is a well documented fact on TW that the driver side needle bearing fails on some trucks when lifted. (And in a smaller amount without a lift). It would be interesting to hear from as many people as possible, who have lifted their 3rd gens, and find out if they have experienced (or are experiencing) noise or vibes from the front end that are likely caused by the needle bearing issue. Also to hear from those who have lifted and experienced NO issues as stated above.

It could show a very rough estimated percentage of trucks that get away with a lift without experiencing the issues and the ones that have the failures due to lift. This could be used to either convince MORE people that the bushing fix is practically mandatory, or give others a more calculated risk factor of not doing the mod. As someone who is about choose a lift / lift height / and needle bearing delete ... I know this info would be telling.

It would be great to keep the info you post to only include
Year 16 or 17
Amount lifted
Vibes / Noise (bearing issue) or not
If you did the Bushing mod before you had an issue... mention that as well

Hopefully this will gather useful info.

 

And like a dork I misspelled Vibes in the Poll

 

2016, lifted 1.5", developed the vibrations immediately after lifting.
I replaced the needle bearing the very next week. Smooth like butter now.

 

Good idea for polling this. I'm going to lift my truck in the next few months but I was contemplating waiting for the needle bearing issue to show up before I went and spent all the time and money on something that may not even actually occur after lifting.

 

The gamble is effectively $200-$300 worth in extra labor or 3 to 4 hours of time if you can DIY. Only reason is because they'll have to pull apart the driver's side front suspension again to get in there and replace it.

 

If your lifting the truck i would just do it and say good riddance. The truck will be apart for the lift anyhow and whats a few extra hundred bucks for peace o mind.

 

OP, you could also add one option for those that have not lifted and have had the bearing fail. Like myself.

 

I think the big determining factor for me would be if he's installing the lift himself or not.

If you can install the lift yourself you're saving a ton of money in labor right there. So paying out of pocket to have someone go back and replace the ECGS bushing isn't going to hit your wallet as hard.

If you have to pay somebody to install the lift ($400-$500 in labor) then go back and pay the same sumbitch to pull the drivers side back apart and put together again you're going to be out another $200 to $300.

 

I just think it's good information to present so people can take calculated risks. Speaking for myself... I am a capable shade tree mechanic. I can do a suspension with no issue. When I get into using a strange tools on unfamiliar vehicles (bearing puller) that I could potentially drop a piece into the diff with, I might more consider taking it to a shop that knows Toyota front ends. If the poll shows only a small percentage have issues, I might be more inclined to do the lift first and the bearing only if trouble arises (and pay someone to do that part).

 

Mine vibes at 40/45. After OME lift. Gotta do the bushing.

 

2016 Sport, did front 5100, set at notch 4 (1.5"). get vibes now. thinking about moving them back to 3rd notch (1.1") to see if that helps for now..

 

Needle bearing is shot. Replace it.

 

Just do the ECGS Bearing & be done!

 

2.25" right now. No vibes so far.

 

is it the height of the lift causing needle bearing failure
or will any amount of lift trigger it?

 

I test drove stock trucks with the issue.

My truck is a 2017, lifted with 887s and had vibes the same day I lifted it. Would come and go at first but eventually became a constant at 40 mph. Replaced it with ECGS bushing and its been quiet since.

 

There's a design flaw with the way Toyota designed the CV shaft to sit installed inside the carrier, there's about 50 thousandths of an inch of play. Toyota didn't machine the carriers, it's just cast inside there...so there's more slop for the spider gear to sit in. So the spider gear is supporting the CV shaft (as installed by design) as much as the needle bearing is. If you add a lift to it, it exaggerates the angle and the amount of runout, causing more movement and vibrations due to the slop and pressure on the needle bearing.

The ECGS bushing tightens up that clearance.

It can fail on non-lifted trucks as well. Just ask @swimmer

 

I got the vibration after installing 5100/OME 886 (2.5") on my 2016. I've had the vibration for about 1500 miles. HOWever - now that it's getting warmer out, the vibration has gone away. I know it still needs to be replaced sometime this summer before it gets cold out again, but for now, I am vibration free.

I wonder if the heat somehow affects the fit of the needle rollers in the bearing, creating a tighter fit. We're talking about 40 degrees though so that's a little hard to believe. Anyone have any thoughts on this phenomena?

 

Heat causes metal to expand. A little more heat can cause tighter clearances leading to less slop. See my explanation of why it vibrates above for the correlation.

 

Second gen guy checking in. Had a 2.5" 5100 lift installed and the vibes began. I got the dealership to do the TSB on it at no charge. Figured I lucked out because they never mentioned the lift at all, just did it without question. So far, so good 1000 miles later.