Broken rear differential

Shit happens man. Good on you for taking the feedback well.

I've torn out a rear end or two in my life tho I don't have any decent replacement recomendations.

 

Basically, when you're in a low traction situation and you get one wheel with traction and the other spinning...

...and you give it a lot of gas to try and get free

...but the wheel with no traction just starts spinning fast and the rpms increase

...and then you bounce the truck or shift position or whatever

...and then suddenly the wheel that's spinning with a lot of speed and momentum temporarily finds traction

...and then suddenly the tiny little spider gears in the diff have to transfer a *huge* power load across the diff from the wheel that had previously been spinning freely over to the other wheel

... which is a sudden jerk-load transfer it was never designed to endure

... it breaks.

So, when wheels are spinning and you start bouncing - let off the gas. Do it sooner not later.

If you're in a variable traction situation and you're spinning one wheel a lot and you've got a locker - lock it up.

 

Ok that makes sense.

 

What bjmoose said. The Toyota Rear end isn't weak, it is perfectly suited for what it was designed to do. It isn't the weakness of the rear end that is tearing them up. It is the abuse. Just to be 100% honest about it. I have been driving a long time and have never torn out a gear in the transmission or rear end of a truck.

The truck is not or was not designed for 33 - 35 inch tires etc... If you are going to install tires etc and abuse the truck you should beef it up to withstand the mods that you install.

 

what modes would that be?

 

The factory alloy of the second gen diffs is probably weaker than it should be. It seems a lot of second gens have blown the rear end when they shouldn't have.

Pics

 

i assume you're talking about the spider gears being made from a softer alloy?

 

When you re gear just get a nice alloy one instead of the stock metal.

 

No its seems to be the ring gear everyone eats in situations where they should not have blown up.

 

Gotcha, yeah I was going to go with nittro with my regear, whenever that happens. I read they are top notch.

 

never heard anything bad about them. But Nitro, Yukon, and most of the big names are all made in the same factory in Korea. From what I understand the big name gears usually pick the stuff with less imperfections.

 

If you want it to be stronger, upgrade to an ARB air locker.

1. The carrier itself is stronger
2. You can lock it in a low traction situation, which reduces the chance that you'll end up loading it in a way that forces breakage.

Ultimately, anything mechanical can be broken. Drive to avoid breaking stuff.

 

Thanks ! So I've been looking into getting a ring and pinion but I don't know which brands are good . I've read good things about Yukon but Im wondering how it compares to OEM. Any suggestions ?

I know there trucks have a strong rear end . I've done tons of wheeling on it for the past 6 years and never had an issue . But me being stupid and not waiting to get pulled out when I got stuck Is what cause my gears to break.

 

OK, I can't disagree with you because you are right, but I do think the 8" diff is pretty much the minimum for a stock V6 Tacoma. Compare that to the early Toyota trucks with a similar 8" diff and less than half the available engine torque and a much lighter truck, they were far more "abuse resistant". That said, anything can be shock loaded to failure if you try hard enough - I've seen an 18" ring gear blown into three pieces much like some of the photos shown here, operator abuse was unquestionably the cause.

 

You know like huge tires....

 

I went from 88 4runner to 06 Tacoma. The 4runner was clearly overbuilt, the Tacoma I would call adequate.

 

I need some advise as what you guys think I should do.

1.So for a local shop to fix my diff is 600 for a used oem ring and pinion with with a new install kit.
2.East coast gear supply is 2000 but They will re-gear both front and back, with new install kits and put a ARB front locker.
3. Junk yard complete 3rd member for 750, but east cost gear supply will buy my broken 3rd member for 450. So I would only be paying 300 out of pocket.

Since I'm already spending money should I just regear and lock the front since that's what I eventually wanted to do in the future but wasn't counting on spending the money right now.

Thanks

 

Do it now. I would.

 

Only TRD offload, they the ones that have common gear split.
Again most likely to 3.73 + e-locker combo. So getting different set (like 4.56 should mitigate that)

 

First question is how long you want to keep your truck? if you planning for next 10 years I think you should go with ECGS, they do excellent work and you will have locked truck the way it should be done.
#1. and #3 means you will risk somebody locally instilling gears and unless they have full trust in them it may not work as good as ECGS.
Just things to consider