2022 front diff noise again

At 1200 miles my daughters front diff starting making a noise that went away in 4wd. At the dealer for about 6 weeks waiting on new one without a loaner. Fast forward 17k miles and making the exact same noise and vibration. This has been a problem since my 2005 dblcab 4wd. Supposed to have been fixed a few years ago. I expect this from GM but not the mighty Toyota to not repair an ongoing design flaw. I know about the ECGS fix but you spend over $40k you expect better on a known problem.

 

Some dealers will use the ECGS clamshell, so ask them as it may work or bite the bullet and have it done somewhere else.

 

My dealer replaced my front diff due to the same noise and low speed vibration and that was on a 4 year old truck with 55k. Toyota extended care covered it. I had to be persistent though

 

seems odd you had to wait 6 weeks without a loaner.

curious as to the specific cause of the noise and vibration?

 

I have no idea how extreme the noise and vibration was in your case, but I suspect the reason Toyota has not changed the design is that they don’t consider a small noise and vibration on a small percentage of trucks to be a major issue. I have not heard any reports of the needle bearing actually failing prematurely.


It’s also possible that there are a lot of owners driving around with the same vibration, but not noticing it or complaining to Toyota about it. Again, I have not experienced this vibration myself.

 

Any mod info would also be helpful for future reference. Is the vehicle stock height or lifted? Oversized tires? I plan on leaving my truck stock and maybe just changing the wheels after I wear out the oem tires.

 

If it’s lifted AT ALL get the needle bearing replaced with the ECGS clamshell bushing. My truck is only lifted 1.5” (the right way) I went through two needle bearings before finally doing it. Save yourself the headache

 

this right here is most likely it!

 

I read Toyota actually made some changes circa 2018. My stock needle bearing was fine for two years on 3" lift. Only swapped it out for the ECGS bushing on opportunity when I upgraded my CV axles. The removed bearing still looks new. Another guy in my off-road club drove 60k with the stock needle bearing on 3" lift, and wore out his OME shocks before anything else went bad.

 

truck is bone stock and the first time they replaced complete front diff. Service dept. did not want to just replace the bearing. They were also aware of the ongoing problem, the reason for complete new front diff. Took it to another dealership but was told since the other did the warranty work it had to go back to them. Had something to do with being payed. At least this time she has 2022 Camry XSE with red leather, sweet ride.

 

After 3 days not counting the weekend, the dealership says they can not duplicate the noise. That is a load of crap, exact same noise and vibration starting again, just not as bad originally. Maybe the extra colder than normal conditions has an affect on it. Time will tell, she plans on giving it to her daughter in 3 years. Guess the ECGS repair will be in our future.

 

A stock tacoma shouldn't need the ECGS bushing. The stock bearing vibrates when the CV axle angle changes from a suspension lift.

 

There were a few 2nd gen guys that found a broken bearing when doing the swap. The inner edge of the bearing that holds the needles in broke off into the diff and lost a few needles. It's not common but does happen.

 

lol. how many years have they had rusty frames?

 

Are you sure they didn’t break the bearing during removal? I heard that was easy to do if you didn’t do things right. Bearings don’t normally fail that way. The needles (or balls) and races get worn in various ways.

 

I owned a new 2005 Tacoma doublecab 4wd for 8 years and I am well aware of all the short comings of this truck. My son also bought a 2005 doublecab 4wd and both had same problems. Both trucks had a shudder at take off, mine worse than his but mine was a long bed. With 4 adults in the truck the rear would bottom out. Took 3 years for Toyota to admit it needed another leaf in the rear. We both did a 3'' Toytec lift with an add a leaf to address the weak suspension. Who would of thought you would use the truck to haul with. I carried my 4 wheeler in the bed all during deer season but only after the add a leaf. Shimmed the rear to keep the drive shaft in line and actually that helped with shudder at take off. Living down South didn't have to worry about frame rot. I will say the engine and transmission were great.