Front Diff Noise & Vibrations - Needle Bearing - Fixed

For reference:

• 2007 Double Cab V6 4x4 6sp.
• 3rd Gen Front Coil Assembly + 1/4" driver side spacer (1.25" lift).

Hi all,

In the past few months I've noticed an oscillating feeling/noise coming from the front end. It creates a feeling right through the floor boards (maybe 2k miles since suspension install).

A friend and I put it on his lift to check for wheel bearings/axle play and noticed when free spinning the front driver side wheel that there is a loud noise and you can actually feel the vibration while touching the diff. When driving in 2wd its the worst, when going into 4wd most of the noise/vibration goes away but not completely.

I've done a lot of reading into the needle bearing issues and the ECGS bearing replacement and leading me towards thinking it that.

My question is, would i have that kind of vibration in the diff while touching it with a bad needle bearing? Or do I have a more serious issue going on up there?

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

 

noise goes away in four-wheel-drive is your best indicator that it’s the needle bearing, if it’s that loud you will probably see a large discrepancy in play between the two CV shafts if you grab them and give them a good shake.

Your front hubs/bearings could be toast as well

this was essentially my truck, needle bearing and all four wheel bearings, fortunately all somewhat easy work to do your self/not too crazy money to pay somebody to do it (except rear wheel hubs)

I say it’s likely both, some noise goes away in four-wheel-drive, but still bad sounds from the front, the exact symptoms my vehicle had edit: after adding 3rd gen suspension as well

 

Thanks for the reply. I had a feeling that it's most likely that.

My only major concern was the fact that I could feel grinding/play on the diff itself when touching it. I'm hoping there isn't more going on in there.

 

Oof yeah I hope so too for your sake, I suppose the fear is that one or more of the needles has been dislodged and traveled inside the diff and has just been going ham in there, ya know, in case you didn’t want to sleep tonight

 

Haha my luck would be exactly that

 

It sounds like both to me. If you go with ECGS you’ll be replacing the gear oil. the plugs in the diff have magnets so you may see if anything looks off. Just make sure you get a good 10mm hex for the plug and loosen the fill plugs before removing the drain plug (don’t ask ... ha). You could always do that first and see, but it’s tempting to knock it all out together since you’re in there already.

 

Both as in Needle Bearing and Diff damage?

 

You could give the ecgs a shot and see if the problem goes away. My needle bearings are bad and I can feel/hear it by removing the outer cv from the wheel hub, keeping it in the diff and rotating it by hand. You can also feel in/out play in that inner knuckle. I haven't felt the front diff recently with the truck in gear, but I know for my rear diff some noise and vibration is normal.

Unless you've been playing truck tug of war and doing burnouts all the time I can't imagine your diff being that bad off. And I can say from experience new gears aren't always as quiet as the factory ones. So my 2 cents is to start with the ecgs bushing and go from there.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I meant needle bearing and wheel bearings. From your description the needle bearing is a no brainer. I'd bet that removes most of the vibration that you feel, but you still note a slight bit while in 4hi. For that, I guess it could be any number of things. Wheel bearings, alignmment or balance or tire pressure, driveline shudder, possibly something internal on the diff, or maybe just a hyper-awareness now that you're searching for it (I'm now cursed by this hyper-awareness lol).

In my case I went the reverse order. I had vibes underneath along with what I'd call reallly loud tire noise. The wheel bearings fixed the tire/wheel noise and then I moved onto the floorboard vibes. ECGS cured that. Then I got to the shudder and wobble. UCAs, a better alignment, and plenty of driveline angle trial and error knocked that out (all this on a 2005 after a 2-2.5" susp lift). If it were me, I'd definitely do the ECGS, change the diff fluid and see where it stands. Then move onto the next problem. However, if you're in there with the ECGS it's very tempting to put new wheel bearings in at the same time -- there's a guy on here that presses and sends new ones that have great reviews. That and the ECGS were the 2 best things I added to the truck.

 

Thanks for the replies. Agreed, I've never done anything in 4H other that a few short trips in the winter snow. I run it in 4H about once a month for a few kilometers in a straight line to keep it lubed.

I'll definitely start with the ECGS and work my way back towards the hub. I wouldn't be surprised if I have a bad bearing as well. I definitely have the hyper awareness going on lol

 

@05Taco4x4

 

Here's the link for front wheel bearings, if those end up being a problem
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/537080/

 

@05Taco4x4 thanks a lot for the link. Once i do the ECGS bushing and if I have issues with my wheel bearings, ill PM you once the borders open back up.

I tend to have all my stuff shipped to NY since I'm from Canada, and pick them up there. Saves me a lot of shipping and customs.

 

Hopefully that fixes it and no need.

 

@05Taco4x4 That's what I am hoping. I originally thought it was my bearings up front but after getting under the truck, theres way too much play in the CV that I can feel by hand.

 

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

Swapped out the needle bearing for the ECGS bushing and the issue is gone. No more noise/oscillation in the steering wheel and the wheel bearings are tight.

Good thing I caught it when I did, the bearing was broken and some of the needles were loose. Could have been much worse.

 

Congrats! Glad it all worked out for you.

Please consider changing the title to this thread to make it easier for searching in the future. Something along the lines of
“Front Diff Noise & Vibrations- Needle Bearing - Fixed”. Just a suggestion. Feel free to tell
me to go pound sand

 

How many KMs on the truck? I'm closing in on 200K KMs on my 2010, and curious how long I have before I need to do this. Seem like when not if.

 

@PzTank Thanks! And not a bad idea. That would have helped my searches too. I'll definitely change it to help others.

@JAGCanada I have just around 215,000km. I didn't notice a thing until I added the 3rd gen suspension. I assume that was just enough to put more stress on it. My friend that changed it for me worked as a mechanic at Toyota and now for Lexus. He had never even heard of the issue until I brought it up. The change was very smooth and we had it done relatively quick.

 

if you don’t already, you need to put a spacer or a differential leveling kit on after lifting your truck. If you do not put this on the CV axles are not aligned properly with your wheel hub and this causes premature wear to the CV axles and differential components. You can find these kits here in the link provided they are very simple to put on and take minutes. I did not read the rest of the thread so if the problem has been addressed already, I do apologize. https://www.extremeterrain.com/supr...ping&msclkid=405494a15c291a3bc3f3f76caaf92cc2 Tacoma Vehicle Medium&utm_term=4577129471723818&utm_content=AT Driveline - Other&gclid=405494a15c291a3bc3f3f76caaf92cc2&gclsrc=3p.ds#4577129471723818