Front Drivers Inner CV Axle Play

I recently purchased a 2010 Tacoma and within the past month or so I've noticed an increasing clunking "sensation" when going over small bumps or cornering (all my driving since I bought the truck has been highway, no offroading).

When I crawled under the truck to try and diagnose the clunking, I noticed that there is significant play in the front drivers side CV axle housing where it connected into the differential (there is a little play in the passengers side, but nothing close to this).

The following link is a video of the drivers side CV play on my truck.
https://youtu.be/2Gd3rJK-l4c

I have tried to take it into a shop to get them to look at it for me but with covid they are booking almost 2 months from now.

I think I can rule out that both the clunking and the play cannot be from a bad wheel bearing as I have just replaced it a few weeks ago, and this issue has stayed consistent since before I put the new bearing in until now.
I don't think it is the needle bearing within the diff as I am not getting any vibration or grumbling symptoms that indicate a bad needle bearing.
The play seems to only be coming from that outer "housing" that can be seen moving in the video. When I hold that housing against the diff case there is no play in the axle itself besides a small amount of in & out movement from the shaft, as well as regular rotational play from the gears meshing.

There is some oil that I believe is leaking from the main seal (tough to say from my oil spray). I have had my diff fluid levels checked at a shop twice over the last month and they have only put 1 "pump" of fluid total so it doesn't seem to be leaking a lot. I did notice tonight that there is a very small tear in the rubber boot on this same side of the axle but oil doesn't seem to be coming out of there (relatively "dry" for being winter).

Has someone come across an issue like this or have any ideas on if I just need to get the CV axle assembly replaced? I have seen that some vehicles have a wear sleeve that sits between the cv axle housing and the diff. I can't find any info on if there is a wear sleeve on these Tacomas or if something else has worn out.

I have read through a lot of the differential and cv forums on here and I haven't come across anyone who has had a similar issue as me. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

That play isn’t too bad. Looks normal to me.
The axle however, looks kind of rusty.
I’m not sure what you are calling the putter housing?
There is a dust seal, maybe that’s what you are referring to?

Here is the amount of play in mine. Taken before the ECGS bushing.
With the bushing there is still play, but not as much.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/too-much-play-in-cv-axle.732825/#post-26100461

Dust seal. Mine got bent a little prying the CV out

 

Replace the needle bearing with the ECGS bushing.

 

Normal

https://www.google.com/search?q=site:tacomaworld.com+drivers+cv+axle&sxsrf=AOaemvLUMjPHhmutOMxlZMQAAgtC8U661Q:1643075570744&source=hp&ei=8lfvYfPEKvG40PEPusGf-A4&iflsig=ALs-wAMAAAAAYe9mAk-tXEjgsgq0N0CasE_04cmRSOHn&ved=0ahUKEwjzhey95cv1AhVxHDQIHbrgB-8Q4dUDCAk&uact=5&oq=site:tacomaworld.com+drivers+cv+axle&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6BwgjEOoCECc6BAgjECc6BAguEEM6BwguELEDEEM6BAgAEEM6CAgAEIAEELEDOgsIABCABBCxAxCDAToLCC4QgAQQxwEQrwE6BQgAEIAEOgsILhCABBDHARDRAzoRCC4QgAQQsQMQgwEQxwEQ0QM6DQgAEIAEELEDEIMBEAo6CwguEIAEEMcBEKMCOggIABCxAxCDAVD1AljTMWCkMmgDcAB4AIABWIgBqQ-SAQIzMZgBAKABAbABCg&sclient=gws-wiz

There are many many threads on this lol

It's good that you are checking your truck out though haha.

 

It's nice that some of you are actually helpful... I haven't done any work on diffs and transmissions before so I'm not too sure what some stuff is called.

The outer housing I was referring to is circled in red in the picture below. It seemed when I moved this piece, it was only this piece that was moving quite a bit.
If you guys are saying that this is a typical amount of play for what I am concerned about then that'll be a relief.

@TnShooter, was your axle shot or were you removing it to put in the ECGS bushing?

Even if this amount of play is normal, should I still look into getting the axle replaced since the rust, leak, and tears in the boot?

Thanks in advance

 

The play your seeing is in the diff, not the axle itself.

Replace the needle bearing, most of it should go away.

If the axle is good, don’t replace it. If the boots are ripped, just reboot it.

 

I did the Taco around 30k now the 4R is getting noisy at 100k, just ordered another one, glad i kept the tool.

https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-8536125-toyota-8-clamshell-bushing-eliminates-needle-bearing.html

 

Thanks for the info Steveo27.

I am looking to get the ECGS bushing installed however it'll be a few weeks from purchase until it gets delivered.

I haven't looked into the price of rebooting the axle, do you know how expensive it is? I have a parts hookup that quoted me for an OEM/slightly better than OEM equivalent axle for $120 CAD. I would either pay manufacturers cost on a new axle assembly or toyotas stupid high prices for a boot kit.

 

Don’t they have Parts stores and independent mechanics in Canada? Any decent mechanic can do a reboot.

 

The soonest that I can book my truck into a shop in my area is March 3rd so I'm looking into just doing it myself. I would need to change the seal on the diff side anyways since the leak is slowly getting worse, so I figured it might be best just to replace the axle (the new axle I'd be getting comes with the seal as well).

Did you get all the installation and removal tools for the bushing? I am a university student so I'm trying to get a proper fix as cheap as I can, but I don't want to to half-ass the job and end up having to keep replacing more in the future.

I figured my best bet right now is to replace the axle/seal and then install the bushing when it comes in. Any thoughts?

 

Sounds like you have to do what you have to do. When I did my Tacoma i bought the tool off of someone on the forum used, people still sell them on here once in a while. I already had the seal driver set. A reman axle may be the way to go for convenience, sucks you have to pay to have the job done twice as the needle bearing is right there when you take the axle out. You will likely have to replace the axle seal yet again when you finally get the ecgs bushing done just to be safe. Cant you expedite ship the bushing and tool? Fedex? It would be worth it if so rather than paying to have it all taken apart again. Maybe search for another shop or an experienced TW member in your area to help you out.

My guess is if you are capable of doing the CV axle and have the right tools you can so the bearing too. You’ll need a slide hammer, some pry bars, and a torque wrench for the axle nut, iirc its 173ft pounds to torque.

 

FYI somebody on TW is pimpin out the bearing removal tool

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/whoring-out-ecgs-bushing-tool.630638/

 

I have the mechanical knowledge to do the bushing as well. Unfortunately, its the spending the extra $$$ for the installation/removal tools. I'm going to do some shopping around today and see what kind of price I'm looking at to get a shop to put the bushing in for me.

I'll look on that forum to see where that tool is at. its too bad any kind of expedited shipping is still around 1-2 weeks minimum from where im living

 

If I've decided to do the axle , I guess my question now is can I get away with putting the new axle and seal in now and have no issues in regards to the axle when I'm getting the bushing put in?

As in the axle can be removed from the truck and put back in without damaging or needing to replace any of the axle parts, aside from that main seal (assuming I'm careful and correct with the install/removal)?

 

Be careful and you can remove / replace without new seals. I would take a step back and try to get confirmation on the clunk/noise. Unless I’m mis-reading there isn’t confirmation and you’re about to spend a lot of time and or money and not be sure it’s the fix.

I say this because I’ve been chasing a very random metal on metal type clunk that is hard to reproduce consistently. I thought it was the CV - boot was torn - I have a spare so I swapped and have rebooted the old as another spare. Still clunking. I then moved to the UCA (boxed DirtKings). One of the 4 bushings is definitely bad and the inner metal sleeve is moving pretty freely. Theory is that is hitting the outer washer and ‘clunk’. I replaced them last night, cleaned it all up, and couldn’t get the clunk back on my shakedown drive last night and this mornings commute. Bushings for the win.

As for ECGS the tell tell sign is a vibration under the pedal that goes away in 4WD and I haven’t heard that reported so while that may be helpful it may not eliminate the clank.

Also - you note in the original post “there is a very small tear in the rubber boot on this same side of the axle but oil doesn't seem to be coming out of there (relatively "dry"for being winter).” - that boot holds in a lot of grease which keeps the 3 bearings/star (?name?) lubed and spinning freely. A reboot is all that is needed and is much less than a new axle.

good luck!

 

Thanks for the info dk_crew.

After all my reading, I'm quite sure that the initial clunk that I was looking for is not coming from the CV axle. However, with the tear in the boot (plus a shop mentioned that some of the slop in my initial video could be from worn grooves where that 3 bearing/star piece rides along inside the axle). I am either going to replace the axle or reboot anyways.

As for the ECGS bushing, I am not getting any vibrations under the pedals at all (just some random rear end vibrations that I'm not currently worried about). If there are no symptoms of the needle bearing going and it looks good when I pull the axle out, should I just leave the needle bearing for now? I've read some people have lucked out with getting some higher KM on their bearings.

A shop did mention in the fall that my sway bar bushings looked pretty rough so I have ordered new bushings for the sway bars as a start. If the clunking is still there after I install these I will look into the UCA. Do you think the clunk would be from a bad ball joint in the UCA/LCA? Or is it typically caused by bushings going?

 

I'd remove the sway bar and see if it goes away. You can remove it easily and put it back easily. then you can either fix it or rule it out. Are all these parts you're talking about OEM with a stock suspension? how many miles?

 

~235,000km on the truck. I know the previous owner had a 2" lift/level put on but everything else is stock.

You're talking about removing the sway bar altogether and driving like that to see if it goes away? Will this be an issue since all my driving is highway?

 

When you have some spare time remove it and see if you can re-produce it. You can always put it back on. Many people ride w/o a swaybar but probably have aftermarket coils up front that are a bit stiffer. You can find a boatload of info/opinions on it here by searching 'tacoma swaybar removal'. Many others remove it while going off-roading for the addtl flex. You can always put it back on. Just drive cautiously knowing you don't have it on and you should be OK. Then put it back on once you know if it is / isn't the issue.

I can't comment much on the LCAs. I have 290,000km on my truck that has had a 2.5" lift for the past 64,000km with a lot of slow off-roading and haven't had an issue with the OEM/stock LCAs. Could it be? sure, but I don't know. Those boots are sealed so if there's no leak I would think you're OK. But I don't know. My side bushings look awful but they're somehow still pretty quiet.

 

If you have a rubber mallet start smacking components(swaybar, links, shock mounts, exhaust, etc) to see if you hear any clunking or rattles.