hot rear axle

I just made it home from about a 15 mile drive and crawled under my truck to find the rear diff to be very hot. I know its gonna get hot but this seem excessive,so i compared it to the wifes suv that was driven the same distance and its a considerable difference. Any ideas??? Is it the mud tires thats putting the extra resistance one the drivetrain creating more heat? the suv is running streets. thanks for any thoughts

 

Whens the last time you changed your differential fluid?

 

I checked the fluids after i bought the truck and they looked fresh and clean.idk I may just change it anyway. what additive do i need to add to the diff oil for the e-locker and how much? thanks guys!!!

 

No additives needed for the elocker. I'm not sure how much off the top of my head, it should be in the owner's manual though if you still have it.

 

Off Roader? Do the differential breather mod! A hot pumpkin dropped in cool water will cause contamination to pass by the axle seals!

 

the toyota servive guy said it needed a lsd additive to the gear oil. not sure if he really knew what he was talking about. Got to do the breather mod.

 

it does not need the additive. You don't have a LSD.

 

Yeah that guy doesn't know what he's talking about. You don't have a lsd so there's no need for the additive even with the elocker. I've changed the differential fluid in my 03 TRD and all I added was the owner's manual recommended gear oil. Differential breather mod is very easy too.

 

cool, thanks for the info fellas !!!!

 

No, I mean the axle seals...

Water can't get in through the stock breather as it is a one way check valve that will only let hot gasses out of the differential.

What the breather mod does is put the breather used on our front differential (which is mounted remote and high up) on the end of a hose off the rear differential, high up.

This 'front breather' that we also use for the rear mod is a 2 way breather... lets gasses/ air move in or out of the differential. It is now a breather and a vacuum breaker... so, when you drive into deep water (18"+), instead of the the cold water being drawn towards the hot differential (through the axle seals), 'cold' air will break the vacuum created by the temperature difference. This is how it works on the front differential.

This was all explained in the various rear differential breather mod posts... but maybe not as clearly as I just did here.

 

Ummmm......then why would you bother re-positioning the breather in the first place?

EDIT:

Ok so your using the two way in the rear...got it.

 

To stop the rear differential from being contaminated with muddy water! Happened to my truck when it was only 5 months old going to Mision Santa Maria... Had the differential serviced when I got back because it was dirty. See the MSM photos... http://vivabaja.com/msm2010/

 

80w-90 gl4 or gl5. Amsoil Severe Gear works well!

 

Yep x2

 

Thanks Jerry!