Needle Bearing question/opionion

So last month I traded the Sequoia for my first Taco and have not regretted one second of it. It is a 2011 TRD Sport, that being said about 2 weeks after getting it I noticed a low grumble in the front end. At first I thought it was a wheel bearing but after doing a ton of research I climbed under the truck this weekend and low and behold the driver side shaft has play in it. So now I am leaning towards the needle bearing, I did purchase the extended warranty from the dealer and my deductible is $250. My question is should I get the parts and puller from ECGS and do it myself or should I bring it to the dealer and have them do it?

 

Some say the replacement bearing is a higher quality part. If they'll do it for free...that's hard to pass up. I have the ECGS bushing and I'm glad it's there. If you go with doing it yourself, the learning experience will be of great value, on top of the savings. I felt it was above my ability and had a mechanic install it. Now I wish I had done it. I know I could have.

 

I'm getting ready to do mine also (self inflicted results of lifting). Did you get a price for having the dealer replace them? I'm leaning toward switching to the bushing.

 

I didn't get a price but it would be possibly covered under the extended warranty which will cost me $250 deductible out of pocket.

 

I thought it was free under the service bulletin

 

It's a bulletin but they did not extend the coverage past factory powertrain if I remember right.

I'll get a copy at work tomorrow, noise supposed to go away in 4wd as part of the diagnosis

 

Mine does not go away in 4x4 that's why I was thinking it was not the needle bearing but the axle has play in it. I read that sometimes it does not go away in 4x4.

 

If it's really bad, the sound won't go away in 4x4. This usually only happens on much older trucks than yours.

If the TSB applies to your truck, the bearing replacement should be free. Some dealers have installed the ECGS part in place of the factory replacement part.

After installing my first lift, the noise was immediately there. I drove like that for 15,000 miles. Many of them were very hard miles. Upon pulling the bearing, it looked brand new, as did the axle. My mechanic showed them to me.

 

It's not that hard to do. It will help a lot if you have a friend to help you. Use a flat pry bar to take off the axle. A small magnetic extended magnet to hold the base of bushing tool for getting it behind the needle bearing. Once you get it at an angle take a flat punch and hammer and drive it behind the needle bearing. Once I got the threaded shaft threaded onto the base and started turning it the needle bearing started turning. Just ran the second nut down and it came right out. The friend helps with putting new axle in. Keep it straight and compress it and drive in with hammer and block of wood. Took me about two hours. There is a thread in the sticky section under mods and it's titled changing the axle and bearing out.

 

Here's the bulletin from Toyota, only covered under powertrain 5 year 60k

 

Btw the Toyota dealer replaced my needle bearing with the ECGS bushing.