front end growling noise

My newly purchased 03 TRD 4x4 AUTO has the same issue. Searching on the forum only brings up these posts regarding 2nd Gen folks.. no idea why lack of info on 1st Gen. However, I don't doubt it's not the same issue.. On my truck, the rumble strip vibration occurs at 22mph and at around 31mph.. both during acceleration or deceleration (even in Neutral)

Truck is stock.

 

I had the same problem the day i put on my 3" lift. I had 24,000 miles then and I took it to one toyota dealership. They changed out the differential and said the bearings inside the front diff gave out. They couldn't explain why. At about 30,000 miles the same problem happened and i took it to another dealership. Turns out the people who put on my lift didn't install the differential spacers that came with the kit. Luckily the technician found what the problem was. I got my spacers, and i'm taking the truck in tomorrow to get my new diff.

 

I have the same Problem. I started out by putting in a 2.5" leveling kit. No noise. Then I moved to a 3" spacer lift with aal and the noise started. I now have moved to a Totec ULK and have diff drop with shims in the rear. The noise is still thier but I haven't gotten my aligment done yet. I will take to toyota and see what they say when they do the alignment. I have 24000 km so I still have warranty. Hopefully they dont care about the lift.

 

Hugebergen, Please do let us know what happens. I hope you get your situation resolved quickly.

 

Thanks, I got the wheel alignment done today. Sound is still there maybe a bit better now. I called toyota and ask them if putting a 3" lift on my truck would void the warranty. They said no as long as i didnt damage anything putting it in. So as far as the noise goes im going to just drive it as is untill it causes a serious problem then I will take it in. Untill then im not going to worry about it.

 

anyone else who got this issue fixed?

 

bump

 

Which issue? There are several listed in this thread. And I'm not sure on the differences between the 1st gen and 2nd gen (since you're listed as having a 1st gen).

If you're talking about a pulsating grind/vibe between 20-50 mph (or higher) that goes away in 4wd, yes I just recently paid to have my front differential replaced. This vibe's diagnosis is that it will go away in 4wd (even when the transfer case engages but the front actuator hasn't yet). The driver's side bearings in the front differentials in the 2nd gen are crap (as are the ones in the Tundras which is why they have a TSB for the Tundra).

 

My symptom is identical.. took to a driveline shop today thinking this is their bread & butter.. but they don't think it's a diff issue even though I kept saying it goes away when in 4Hi.. the think it might be tranny..

I'm afraid to ask how much $$ did it cost you? Was it not worth just replacing the bearing?

 

The bearing is about a $90 part. But to get to it takes tons of hours (along with a lot of specialty tools). So if you have to pay someone, it's cheaper to replace with a new front differential (I considered a used one, but that had too many of its own risks to cost me more and with the Toyota reimbursement the new diff ended up being less). Front Diff cost was $1,706.14 + gear oil + 4 hours labor. Total with my $100 discount was $2,215.72. But thanks to a reminder from the guys over on TN to call Toyota Corporate and complain, I remembered cases where others were out of warranty and Toyota split the cost with them 50/50. So I took the 15 minutes to call them and they agreed. Just got the e-mail confirmation today that they received the copy of the receipt and are processing a reimbursement check for $1,107.86. So out the door cost to me will be $1,107.86. BTW, I now have over 90K miles on the truck.

Here's some more reading on the front diff if you're interested:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=338228&highlight=vibe

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=335992&highlight=vibe

 

Moose05, glad you got your truck fixed up. Did you have a 3" lift on your truck? Is that what caused the excess wear in the front diff?

 

Moose: any concern that this might be a design defect? meaning it might come up again in the near future with the new diff?

Also any qualms with buying toyota parts online? I see a few toyota OEM dealers online with prices for the Diff about $400 - $500 less than what my local dealer charges..

 

This all happened with zero lift. All stock. I first discovered it when I replaced the front shocks (put on 5100's) at 88K miles. I eventually set the fronts to .85 and still had the grind/vibe. Then I added a front diff drop which brought it down to stock angles on the front axles. Vibe went away...until I got newer tires which were quieter than the BFG AT KO and then I could hear it again. So it probably started a long time ago, but I just couldn't hear it over the tire tread noise (I expect this will be a bigger issue as time goes on for those running MT tires because they won't hear it until it's really loud!). Mine started getting worse and worse until I figured I needed to do something about it before I went on a 2K mile trip (just got back from that trip last Saturday). So this is a design defect with front diff bearing on the driver's side. I'm guessing that whoever makes this part for Toyota in the U.S. also makes it for the Tundra because the Tundra has a TSB out for this same bearing failure in their front differentials.

See my response to Crom about design defect. Yes, I'm worried about the new one too. But there are a lot of people out there that have a lot of miles on their trucks without having this problem. So it seems to be the luck of the draw. I'm hoping I don't have one of those that lasts only 30K miles, but rather one of them that never goes bad. My old one at least laster longer than anyone else I've run across with this problem.

I hadn't thought of the online option (but then I had to do something quick before I went on my long road trip). I considered a used one from the wrecking yard, but then it could just have easily had a bad bearing too and I didn't want to pay multiple times for installation...plus the time issue I was under. And since I plan on keeping the truck forever, I figured might as well go with a new one. Too bad they haven't fixed this problem yet because there are a lot of people with newer models (Tacoma and Tundra) that have this bearing failure.

 

05Moose, Thanks for the detailed response. I have read close to 40 hours of stories about this particular problem. I was trying to find the root cause, or common denominator which it seems is impossible.

Based on the cumulative information I have read I do concur that it is hit or miss, some people have the condition right away, with others it develops over time and miles. The 3" lift seem to accelerate the process for some. The fact that you did not have a lift is very telling that it was a defective part. It is nice to know too that Toyota paid for 50% of the cost to replace the diff out of warranty.

I did not know that about the Tundra having a TSB for theirs. Thanks for that bit of info too.

Thanks.

 

Bugger!
I had a minor noise at highway speeds before added a 3" lift, and now its super bad at 50-60kph the noise totally disapears when in 4x4 high or low. When I run the truck in 2wd on a hoist its quiet as soon as I put it in 4x4 its back.
Freekin front diff. Tomorrow I'm going to change the fluid and see if that changes anything.

 

Please let us know what fluid you put in.. I changed it with Mobil 1 syn and it had no effect.

 

The book calls for 75w 85 I think.
I may put in a thicker oil just to try.

 

So, I changed the oil to 75W90 castrol synthetic (both in the front diff and the t- case) and Surprise... no change.
I removed the front drive shaft and checked the U-joints and the plunge joint they all seemed ok. while I had the front drive shaft out I took it for a test drive and it had no change with the noise. Strangely even with the front drive shaft removed the noise is still gone in 4 wd. Some how when the front axle engages it changes the load on the bearing I suppose.

Now the question is,
Do I leave it until it gets really bad to take it for warranty (I have 58,000km remaining on power train)
Do I take it in for warranty and hope they don't say anything about the lift? (I've had the truck in for this problem at least twice before I had the lift installed.
Do I let it get bad, Take the lift out and get them to warranty it?

The lift was professionally installed with a diff drop and was professionally aligned post lift and I have factory as purchased tires on it.

 

Take it in now before it's too late. The first person over on TN that diagnosed this problem had his front diff replaced twice under warranty...and he had a lift installed at the time. The problem is only going to get worse with time.

If you take a look at post #33 on page 2 of the other thread going on this topic (link below), one of my posts includes the applicable pages of the FSM. The reason the vibe also goes away without the front drive shaft is because the front actuator locks the front diff which (I believe) eliminates the use of the bearing as a bearing (the bearing doesn't need to spin because the inner shaft in the front diff is now locked with the front axles and they're spinning together not separately). And I think the reason it goes away when the transfer case engages (but before the front actuator engages) is for the same reason except I believe the front drive shaft is linked to the driver's side. Maybe someone can read through the FSM and explain it better. I'm just deducing from the symptoms and the FSM pictures.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...-30-40mph-after-5100s-installed-1-75-a-2.html

 

what is discouraging is that the same issue comes up multiple times with brand new replaced hardware... What the F kind of Toyota quality is this?

The other question is.. how bad is it to continue driving with this rumble unfixed? When they took out the front axles, do they see any abnormal signs of wear in the splines?