Rear Axle / Diff Problem. Solution? Help!

Hey guys,

I have quite an issue, and I am not sure what to do. I have searched the forums for hours, and have not found any decent advice regarding my situation. Please help.

What I have: 2014 Toyota Tacoma TRD Offroad 4x4
Axle: 3.73 gears, Factory E-Locker

Backstory: My rear end was making a humming noise in November 2022.... I pulled out my rear diff, and took it to a guy with a good reputation for a full rebuild. The guy rebuilding the diff said that my center bearing on the E-Locker spun out and started causing damage to the E-Locker. He got a new bearing kit, new e-locker from Toyota, ring and pinion. He rebuilt it and gave it back... Well, after about 500 miles, the diff started making a whining noise again. I contacted the guy that rebuilt it, and he said to send it to him and he would eat the cost and rebuild it again. He said he got new gears and rebuilt it again. After receiving the diff w/e locker the second time, the diff started making noise AGAIN after about 800 miles... I contacted the guy AGAIN, and he was baffled. He said he has never had a diff come back and does diff rebuilds every week. I have had friends that get work from this guy too and they have never had any issues. He was confused and said he wanted to do the right thing and give me my money back. About $2550 total refunded. I do not want to say the name of his shop, because I did end up getting a full refund. He said that there might be something wrong with my diff carrier that he didn't catch...

With all of that said, it has been 4 months later, and my truck is still down. I don't know what to do. I don't want to spend a bunch of money and just need my truck back so I can drive to work... But, I also live on a ranch and need 4x4 and a locker before next winter. Should I just say "screw it" and get an open diff and a year down the road get an ARB? I can't afford to do the ARB now and it is about 3k for another e locker axle... I am worried that if I get my diff rebuilt again, that it will go out again. I am looking for advice on what to do and how to get my truck on the road again.

Has anyone ever had this problem?

Additional questions:
Could my axle be slightly bent which is causing the ring and pinion to go out of alignment?
(if my axle was bent, the axle shafts wouldnt fit? The axle shafts slip right in without issues. So perhaps axle is not bent?)
Could there be something wrong with my Diff housing?
Should I take a gamble and get my rear diff rebuilt again? What if it goes out after someone else does the rebuild?
I am worried if I go to 4 Wheel Parts for a rebuild, they may not honor a warranty if my diff carrier ends up being bad...


ARB is cool, but I would have to swap out my entire axle, and I won't be able to do the ARB upgrade for another year or so... I would essentially be downgrading to open diff and loosing my e locker by doing that.


What should I do?

Thank you,

Pyro

 

I’d test the runout on the axle shafts, and take some side by side measurements from the flange to check for a bent housing. After that if you don’t find anything I’d just take the diff to a different shop for rebuild.

 

I've never tested the runout on axle shafts before. I will youtube it to see if I can find a good video on how to do that. Do you think the axle shafts can be bent and still slip into the locker okay?

 

On second thought, since I have never done the runout test before, should I just take the axle to a shop to get it checked? but then I run into more costs...

 

That's completely up to you. If you've owned the truck since day 1 and have no reason to believe the axle shaft(s) are bent or out of tolerance, you could skip that step all together and just have it rebuilt by a different shop. The axle shafts on the 2nd gen are pretty beefy I've never heard too many being bent before. I'd lean more towards the housing is bent if the truck was ever in an accident before.

 

Is it the same Center bearing failing every time??

All your saying is the differential starts to make noise.

Just what is moving is it the ring gear or pinion?

Any more the quality control of even the best parts is in question .

Supply chain issues can force the best vendors to source lower quality parts.

Something strange not allowing the locker to unlock even though the light says it has disengaged on hard surface roads at speed can cause interesting things.

Miss matched front and rear gears causing torque bind though in most cases the transfer case explodes.

My guess is the issue is on your end until the cause is found it will keep occurring if you can not figure out the problem. The complete axle housing instead of just the differential to be looked at.

Swap to a used complete housing.

The fact you were refunded tells me the rebuilder stands behind his work unlike far to many that do not.

Best of luck !

 

Yeah, the guy has a great reputation and I am appreciative he did a full refund including the parts and even the e locker. He said initially the center bearing spun out was the cause of the first failure. However the other two failures are unknown. He said he ordered parts from quality vendors, but I do see what you are saying. To me, it is odd that the ring and pinion got misaligned after the breakin period. I made sure to do a soft break in period and didnt put too much stress on the diff. So I am confident I broke in the gears properly. Also, it isn't my first time swapping out a diff... So it definitely has me confused. I think I might get an auto LSD axle.

My questions about the Auto LSD axle.... Does it have wiring? Will I have to do custom wiring for the Auto LSD to work or will the same air line going to the axle on the E-Locker be the same as the Auto LSD?
Is it possible to have the Auto LSD and add an ARB so I have limited slip and a selectable locker all in one? I keep hearing about ARB being the strongest, and that the Auto LSD is on the axle housing rather than internally... So I am guessing I can have both LSD and ARB combined?

I am concerned about the wiring with the Auto LSD... I am also hoping that if I go with the LSD and ARB that I can wire the existing E Locker switch to the ARB so that I still have my button and locker light on the dash.


At this point, I am nervous about using the same axle/diff housing.

What do you guys think?

 

You could always buy another TRD:OR 3rd member/locker and see if that fixes your issue?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ear-differential-and-housing-3rd-3-73.792350/

Shipping just the 3rd isn't too bad.

 

My logic is a bit opposite on this one. I'm all for "upgrades" when it comes time to replace/repair parts but in your particular case, i think I would replace with the same axle/diff housing. Reason is because, I think, the source/cause of your troubles is unknown yet. Adding an "upgrade" with more components might just be adding more variables to an problem condition.