Carrier Bearing failure - 4K miles

Dropped off my ‘17 Offroad this AM for the 5k mile Toyota Care servicing (no I didn’t pay for this, my dealer dropped that charge when I bought the truck).

I mentioned to the service advisor that I had experienced a ‘clunk’ coming from the rear end when coming to a stop. I attributed the issue to the shitty transmission as it felt like a rough gear drop, and chalked it up as another 3rd gen annoyance. That and I only experienced ‘clunk’ when the truck was still cold. Once it was at normal operating temps it seemed to stop without too much drama. I also told her I’d noticed what I suspected to be the infamous rear diff howl.

I had zero faith in Toyota to be able to replicate, or own up to hear/feeling either issue, but still wanted both complaints documented and on record.

A couple hours later I noticed I had a voice mail from the advisor requesting I give her a call. When I called her back, she proceeded to inform me that my driveshaft is broken and they are ordering a new one To say was shocked is an understatement. The truck has under 4K miles and has seen only pavement duty with light towing/hauling thus far.

She couldn’t provide much more detail, but said she’ll get a tech to put it on the lift and go over it with me when I go back later to get a rental. I’ll report back when I have more information, and hopefully pictures. I asked for a 4Runner as my rental, but they claimed to not have any available right now. Gonna be stuck in a Highlander until at least next Thursday

Update:
Turns out it was a seal around the center support bearing assembly that had lost too much grease. I commented that it probably was low from the factory, along with various other fluids. The tech didn’t really say much but smurked. I’m not fully convinced replacing the driveshaft will permanently resolve the ‘clunk’ and certainly not th howl, but at least it’s all documented as a complaint and an attempted ‘fix.’

My issue may have resulted from the possible out of balance shaft others have mentioned. Regardless, they’re replacing the whole driveshaft.

 

At least they found the issue

 

Interesting. Take pics and note the are of the driveshaft that's broken. Mine does this too. Especially when feathering the brakes when coming to a stop. I'm def interested

 

Wow. Glad they found it. Keep us posted.

G.

 

Hey guys. I don't know if the two are related, but when I took delivery on my new truck I lifted it and then took it into a driveshaft shop to have the shaft lengthened for the lift. The tech told me that not only was my shaft too short now as I suspected due to lift, but ALSO it was out of spin-balance FROM THE FACTORY. The balance is not affected by height, only the weighting of the shaft itself so this means that Toyota or whoever made the shaft (I think it's a Spicer shaft but that may be just the u joints) balanced it incorrectly he said that had I left that unchecked there is no telling what would eventually have been made of my transfer case, transmission, and rear diff seeing as all the vibrations would be transferred straight through. It's always a good idea to check that sort of stuff as you go, that $70 rebalancing fee probably saved me 10k in repairs down the road

 

Never mind. How is Toyota responsible for this??

G.

 

The fact that it is out of balance is either Toyota or Dana/Spicer's fault for shipping a shaft that was misblanced. That is absolutely something that should have been performed by the factory.

As I said the lengthening of the shaft for the lift is on me.

 

Please give more details when you can. I have the same exact issues. I’m worried that Toyota will never fix it because all they’ve ever said about any issue I have is that they can’t duplicate it.

 

A broken driveshaft in 4k miles on a brand new truck that's under warranty? How are they not to be held responsible?

Edit: I just read about the lift, that part makes it a grey area and entirely up to the dealer in my opinion. They could easily say they won't warranty it (which would suck but I personally wouldn't blame them if they did), but if they're willing to then let them have at it.

 

It's the lift part I was refering to. You're right. If they'll fix it good for him.

G.

 

Yeah I probably COULD have brought it to Toyota and demanded they pay the 70 bucks but honestly I wasn't worried about it. My Toyota dealership hooks me up normally so I wouldn't want to muddy the waters by making a stink about something so cheap to fix. Plus I kinda figured they might keep my truck for months trying to get the new shaft in like some of those guys with the TSB for leaky diffs!

 

A Highlander? A Highlander! You can’t roll like a G in a Highlander. Edit: ask them what color so you can find matching shoes

 

Haha! I know I know. Along with my insurance card and ID, I’ll be handing the gal at the rental counter my man card.

 

Keep us updated.

 

Could be worse... "Sienna"!

You'd have fun in a mommyvan with your matching purse.

 

This thread made me laugh at the replies....

The dude that lifted his truck is not the OP.

OP, you'r driveshaft didn't break (as in snap). Your carrier bearing is failing. Or it appears so anyway.

 

Fully aware my driveshaft didn’t snap. I’m not a mechanic, but I know what’s going on below deck. I use the dealer for servicing to stay within my warranty specs. After that it’s all driveway wrecking.

But you are correct as it does appear to be the carrier bearing.

 

I'm not not sure what this statement means? Toyota care is free on all new Toyotas 2yr/25,000 miles.

 

You're gonna like the Highlander so much you may trade.

 

That would be me falling for a sale tactic. Apparently I was sold a truck with a ‘free’ care package, that was already free

Feel free to flame me

In my defense, this is only my second new vehicle I’ve ever purchased. All others have been used vehicle purchase, with the majority being private party sales.