Is a howling ring and pinion a common issue?

This base Regular cab, 4 Cyl, auto, has been racking up the miles as my work commute distance changed. Often sitting at 75 for long periods, I had noticed a howl, that I though was tires. Needed replacing anyhow, and asked for quiet road tires, and they are much quieter! But,.. Now the howl is very noticeable, and actually annoying for my 1 1/2 Hr one way. I have found that at precise speeds, it is very loud, and I can even feel it in the wheel. When at full cry, I can slightly change power, and the noise will vary. I'm thinking that would be ring and pinion. Is this something common in these trucks? It's at 80K now.

 

Have you had the diff oil replaced at the regular intervals? Every 30k? Is there any seeping/leakage happening around the seal?

 

Common no but it does happen. Check to make sure you have proper fluid level. And or change it. If it is already fried then your best bet is east coast gear supply for a new third member. I have seen a pinion bearing fail and the rest of the internals were fine though. If you are capable of pulling the third member i would check it out

 

No, the gear lube has not been changed while in my keep. Last week when changing tires, we did check level, and general look to see if leak of bearing noise could be found. We did pull the drain plug to see if any metal was evident, and none found. I believe bearings would not be noisy on the rack, and must be loaded to really show. Later at home, on jacks, I had it running and used a mechanics stethoscope to listen to the wheel bearings, and they are quiet.
So, Replace the lube, but likely the damage is done. East coast gear supply is on the other side! I'm not a truck builder, but do have some backround. Any mid-CA shops you fellows trust? What lube is recommended here? I need to find a good shop manual, my Highlander Haines is only so-so and want a good manual for the Tacoma.

 

How many miles you got on the truck?

But sounds like you toasted your pinion bearings, which inturn has probably killed you ring and pinion. Pretty common to happen if you never change the oil in the rear diff.... there is a reason why my break in rear diff oil got changed at 6k miles and will get changed again at 60k miles.

 

Yes, I'm sure you are right!
The truck has 80K on it now. The man that bought it (sitting next to me) got it local at the dealer, who used it as a delivery truck prior to selling it a year later as "new". He gave it up at 92 years old, on his own accord. The truck has heavy springs and is a rough riding truck. My guess would be it was abused by the delivery boys while at the dealer. No idea if the scheduled maint was done, or if the break in oil WAS drained on time. It was not noisy until recently, which I attribute to the extended higher speed long commutes. In any case, what's done is done. I guess if I really want to fix it, it's just a simple matter of how much I want to spend. I'm sure it will get worse........

 

Yup, id bet pinion bearings which chewed through ring and pinion. You can try to change the gear oil first and see if that helps. But it will likely make the noise worse as all the sludge will come with the oil change.

 

What part of cen cal are you in? Also ECGS will ship to your door.