Needle Bearing vs. ECGS

Going to wait for the next it snows

By the way, my stock needle bearing was fine for two years on 3" lift. Only swapped it out for the ECGS bushing on opportunity when I upgraded to RCV axles.

 

I’ve wondered the same thing. A needle bearing is for high speed low load situations whereas a bushing is for high load low speed situations. This case seems more like the former, so I don’t understand the advantage of the ECGS bushing.

On their website they say, “Replaces Driver side CV axle needle bearing with bushing to help control Vibration and shaft float common on these differentials”. They don’t explicitly say the bushing lasts longer. They say it reduces vibration.

I don’t have any vibration and I think I’m not generally prone to worry about small vibrations, so I’m not sure I need a replacement bushing. Time will tell.

Disclaimer: I’m not a mechanical engineer.

 

Toyota is also the one who designed the cast gears with excessive play and a needle bearing that goes bad. Their front diff design is not optimal.

I've never had an issue with my 4wd engaging and i've never seen anyone have an issue with the thicker oil blowing out seals. Mine only leaked because my breather was stuck shut from road salt.

 

As soon as I lifted my 2nd gen 2 inches in the front, I got the bushing vibe on the first test drive.

 

Bronze impregnated bushings have been used for years in certain CNC machines and lathes etc. These machines see far more stress and rpm then a cv shaft. It's a very proven Technolgy. There's a few guys on the 2nd gen forum that have over 100k on theirs.

 

I'm done, whenever someone brings up "Well that never happens to me" It's pointless to continue.

 

I didn’t say such bushings don’t have applications where they are optimal. I said that it’s not clear that they are the best fit for this particular case.

 

just giving an example.

 

Off the top of my head, I’m guessing bushings are optimal in a lathe because of of the need of tight tolerances under high loads and the lack of need for efficiency at high speeds.

 

Show us where you see these issues with people using heavier oil? If one of the biggest gear supply companies in the US recommends it, and issues aren't popping up on these forums then what's the issue? So many people on here do the ECGS bushing swap and run the thicker oil. By now issues would have surfaced. technically 85w-140 and 85w-90 gear oil will have the same cold weather properties

Remember Toyota also says its trans fluid is lifetime fluid and we all know what BS that is. Sometimes the Auto mfg. does not always know what's best and that's a fact.

 

Thicker doesn’t blow seals unless the breather is clogged, at which point any oil will blow seals.

On the contrary, on my last truck it called for 75W-140 full synthetic, which leaked like a sieve despite two axle shaft seal replacements (dealer replaced the full shaft rather than cut off bearings and press on new with seal), and since I was tired of that process, I dumped in 85W-140 conventional which never leaked another drop. No clue why and I don’t think 85W is special, but obviously it ain’t hurtin.

I’d only be against the thick stuff in an extremely cold environment, otherwise it really just doesn’t matter.

 

I live where winter happens and ran 80w90 in my 2005 after ecgs bushing install.

as a side note, why the hell did ecgs send me a puller tool that literarily had 2 threads on the threaded rod grabbing to pull the old needle bearing. Was there a shortage of threaded rod? Or did I get the end of the batch?

 

I said thicker is more likely, but I live in cold, so there's that.

But if it doesn't matter, why run anything but what oem calls for? Let alone a massive change to 85W140

 

I only run the thick stuff because I drive it hard. I wouldn’t say

$28 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 to 85W-140 is that massive. Yeah, big number change, but real world it’s not that big of a change in thickness. 75W to 85W cold is a small difference and 90 to 140 hot is a small difference.

I also have aftermarket gears waiting to be installed which call for it anyways.

 

For those interested, the bushing adds extra “bearing” surface to support the cv stub better.
It might be about .5mm smaller in ID.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ibration-thread.152173/page-184#post-13323869

 

I wonder if maybe the breather puking oil is a result of the ring gear picking up and slinging the heavier viscosity oil more violently and causing it to come out of the breather?

 

When driving in 2WD, the R&P aren’t moving. Maybe if they were in 4WD at the time of puking, but still I’d be surprised.

 

I never had mine in 4WD after filling with
85w-140. Mine puked once the outside temperature got to about 35 degrees F.

I put the fluid in in July if that year.
Never used 4WD between then and the time it puked.

I even posted about it.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/front-diff-leaking-gear-oil-from-the-breather.744067/

 

Did you have a clogged breather? I have a bone stock 3rd gen front diff with 85W-140 in it and no issues whatsoever. My assumption for you was the breather was partially clogged and the thicker oil was just thick enough to build up pressure more than the

$28 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90. The spider gears always spinning generates enough heat to get everything hot and pressurized in there.

Did you ever reach a resolution or just sent back to 75W-90?

 

No. Breather was not clogged.
Diff oil was coming OUT of the breather itself. I have no idea how fluid travels up the breather that far?

A clogged breather will result in fluid being pushed out the axle seal. Or if you are really unlucky, it will blow the seal out enough to cause it to leak all the time. I had this happen on the rear differential. I now inspect all the breathers regularly.