3.4L 4x4 oil pan gasket change

I haven't seen anything on how to change the oil pan gasket on my 01 with the 3.4 4x4 TRD. Can anyone give me some insight on how to go about it? I imagine it involves dropping the front diff down some.

 

The oil pan is sealed with FIPG (toyotas name for RTV) so there isn't a gasket per se. I have never dropped the oil pan with the suspension in the way, but my advice is religiously follow the torque specs on the pan bolts, they are super easy to snap off. I would make extra extra extra sure it's the oil pan leaking, as it's a pretty big pain in the butt to access the pan with the diff and suspension cross member under there. If I had a stock truck I wouldn't touch the oil pan unless it was leaving oil spots on my driveway for example, if it's just weeping I would leave it. Due to the tight confines and the lack of an actual gasket, there is a high likelihood of not getting all the old material off and applying the new stuff wrong and having to re do the job.

 

It is the getting things clean that causes the major issue .

Your sure it is the pan leaking and not coming down from above .

It is one of those things remove everything underneath that is in your way.

Yank the engine out it all comes down to what you decide

It is the oil pick up tube that needs the clearance to get the pan out from under the truck.

I tried to remove the pick up tube with the pan dropped a few inches that was a big mistake.

 

Thank you! I do have a few spots in the driveway and a couple thousand miles after an oil change the dipstick shows 1/2 qt. low. I've got everything to change the valve cover gaskets so I just need to get on that. My Tacoma has about 177,000 on it now so it's time.