New Differential

https://youtu.be/Om3C1EpHLGs

 

Mind if I jump in on this circle jerk?

Had a 2011, double cab, off road, 2wd, automatic. No rear end noise. Had a slight vibration appear as my tires wore down and alignment started going off. Nothing surprising there.

Traded that in December of 2015 for a blue, in case that matter, 2016 double cab, sport, 4wd, automatic. Removed air dam after probably 100 miles. No rear end noise. Somewhere around 10k miles I noticed a very slight noise from the rear end that appeared traveling the same roads, same speeds as I did when it wasn't there. Didn't bother me as I knew there wasn't anything that could be done as there wasn't "a fix". Traded this one in April 2017 with around 26k miles on it. So thats roughly 16k miles with a slight noise that didn't change anything.

Had the Silverado for three months but missed the tacomas. Decided to get the same truck I had but this time a manual. So, I went back to another blue, 2016, double cab, sport, 4wd, manual this time. Removed the air dam immediately when I got home. The very same roads and same speed I traveled the first one with, I travel with this one. Between roughly 55-60mph there is definitely a howl back there. The manual has the larger diff compared to the auto sport. I knew the potential of the howl and even heard a little during the test drive. My point is, regardless of what some users are saying, some of these trucks are in fact louder than others. Not sure what causes it, but having two same trucks other than one an auto and one a manual traveling the same speed on the same roads, truck number 2 is way louder.

 

You are implying that mechanical howls from 80s era trucks and vehicles with 20-40 year old technology are acceptable in new, modern vehicles.

IBT"Hyuck hyuck it's a truck. Omgersh it needs to shake rattle and role so you know you are a mans man"

 

Hear hear.

@aero90, you've echoed my sentiments exactly. I went though the same process with my howler. It's s terrible noise to have to deal with.

Let us know what you end up trading it for. I'm looking around, trying to find a suitable replacement. Once I find something and the math works (so I'm not losing too much) I'll be jumping ship.

If Toyota fixes it before that happens, then I'd stick around. The truck has grown on me and it would be the perfect truck for me. This is the last major issue I have with it. (Hopefully no more major issues pop up)

 

Mechanical howl, tranny whine... you may think it's not acceptable. But that truck my grandfather had is still running, and my 01 has 220k miles on it. It's still running like a top. I think mostly I'm implying that yes, you're a woman.

Lighten up. Was it the John Mayer thing?

 

HE HAS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL!

 

great points, also along with the tires making noise, the type of road surface you are driving on highly influences the sounds you will pick up while driving, I would be only assuming that most folks who are going hysterical over these normal sounds while driving a truck, are used to a quieter sedan/car that has a suspension/cab tuned for comfort and low/no noise and expect it with the truck and also are wrongly influenced by a few that the rear differential is substandard and doomed for imminent destruction and they will have to bear the financial consequences for it, wrong.

 

Not trying to get into an arguement here, just stating what they're trying to fix on my truck. @TheCookieMonster, I do hear the howl in the videos, along with the other noises. I had a 2016 Colorado that had the same issue. Chevy ended up replacing ring and pinion gears. Some.other issues started to surface, so I decided that experiment was not going to end well in the long run, and went back to a Tacoma. I am almost certain the new diff won't resolve the issue (and remember, I only took it in to get it documented).
As I stated, I had the front diff replaced in my 2005 SR5 4x4, along with TRD suspension and added leafs due to bottoming, new manifolds that didn't fix the ticking sound, and a 40-50 mph vibration they never could figure out. I never, ever felt like that truck would let me down though. I drove across the US at 85 mph for 13 hours a day one thime, and it just kept on humming along. Man I loved that truck!
The bottom line is, I have full faith in Toyota to eventually resolve the issue, and that's why I got it documented.
I know this is a long shot, but had anyone tried changing to a different gear oil? I had chatter issues on my 2005, and after trying Mobile 1, Royal Purple, and Amsoil w/additive, Red Line was the only one that resolved the issue.

 

I forgot to mention, they did put my truck on a rack and verified the noise is coming from the diff.
@OffestPlayer2 do you hapoen to know if the Sport MT and the Off-road AT maybe have the same diff? Just a thought....

 

If you look thru the giant Howling Diff thread several guys changed out the fluid hoping for a better outcome but no dice, I'm sure they will eventually come up with a fix as it's expensive for them to keep swapping out diffs. The salesman at my dealership even told me that one of the Tacoma's he sold had to have one swapped out, was nice that they were honest about issues.

 

That's why I keep saying it has nothing to do with tires or some phantom wind noise, those diffs are very pricey and they isolate the sound before changing. I do think the Sport Manual has the larger R&P but it just would not have the locker so I don't know if that would make a difference

 

Absolutely the surface has a say in it.
The first time i crossed the new I-10 bridge span in Pensacola FL years back when it was first opened, I nearly chit on myself as i though my rear diff was falling apart or at least till i gained my composure and common sense took over and i realized it wasn't my good old faithful 4R dying lmaoo!

Also most HD diffs do make some type of sound, its just par for the course. And the trd OR has a beefier ring gear and new lighter weight oil which may or may not contribute, and new k tires which are good tough tires for on & off-road but nothing's perfect so it's much ado bout nothing imo.

Cheers!

 

I picked up my truck last night with the new diff installed. They gave me the parts list and told me they are the same as what was already installed, and "maybe the original just had a defective". I could hear a very faint whine with about 15 miles on the new one. I wasn't surprised at all, but it has been documented, which was my main intent. I'm going to put Redline 75w90 in it after about 1k.

 

yes I believe the MT, regardless of sport or sr5, has the larger diff like the OR has. I plan on changing the diff oil shortly, but I don't think it'll get rid of the noise. Think it is what it is until an actual fix is found. I'll mention it when I do my 15k mile service, but I won't let them experiment with it. It's under warranty for now so I'm not too concerned with it. Just annoying.

 

I hope that the diff change cures the problem, maybe the first one was just set up wrong.

 

It's always good to replace the differential fluid after an initial break in so definitely do that. Don't expect it to have an impact on noise though. 85w-140 makes no noticeable difference in the sound. The good news is that it doesn't make a noticeable difference in gas mileage either.