2016 Tacoma - metal chunks in front diff

Tacoma front differential - metal chunks found on magnet.

Hey guys. 2016 Tacoma, TRD OR access cab. 72K miles, about 20K miles offroad. Offroad once every week for the past 5 years.

Bilstein 5100s front and back, and the fronts on a tiny 3/4 inch lift via the shocks for the past 2 years. No other mods to suspension except for rear has Firestone air bags for load.

Front and rear Diff fluid and transfer case changed every 25K miles dealer does the work. So all OEM fluids.

Previous change 25K miles ago, and no issues or metal found.

Most recent diff fluid change 2 days ago. See dealer pic of metal chunks from front diff. No idea if more was in the drained fluid or not. Dealer did not check for that. Dealer simply stated front diff might need some work in the future.

Offroad every week, hard conditions but never abused. A lot of very bad washboard roads that rattle my chiclets loose every time.

A couple years ago I unsuspectingly hit a deep washout at 30mph. That blew my driver side wheel hub, CV axle and inner needle bearing . Passenger side was not affected. So had that stuff replaced on driver side. OEM needle bearing put in. For the past 2 years it has been fine.

Truck drives great. No noises or grinding or howling in 2WD or 4WD. I did 3 major offroad trips in the 2 weeks before these fluid changes, and no noises or issues engaging 4WD. Very quiet and smooth going in and out of 4WD.

The driver side CV at the diff is very tight still. The passenger side has a minor amount of play in it, but very little. Like 1/16th inch movement. Not enough to make me think it is the issue, but who knows. Maybe the inner bearing on that side is going. A couple of those metal pieces look like they could be from a needle bearing, but again the truck drives smooth and quiet, like a still new truck which is surprising after so much offroading.

Thoughts, suggestions? I am thinking pull and replace the pasenger side inner bearing. Other checks?

 

Looks like the needle bearing housing driver side get the eggs bushings replacement

 

Looks like needle bearings, probably from when you destroyed it 25k ago, and they are just now finding their way to the magnet

 

Have you changed you oil since your needle bearing replacement

 

this is it

 

I remove mine and replace with egg bushing. During removal, the housing kind of chipped off and cracked found it the next oil change. Looked similar to your magnet

 

I agree, don't look for problems that likely don't exist. [unless you have lots of money, you can send it to me instead]

 

I have a 2020 with 70k miles and found some concerning metal pieces during my last service. I do the changes myself and found almost no metal at the 30k service. I changed at 70k and found some small spirals, one large spiral and a ton of sparkle to the fluid, more than I have ever seen on a differential. Truck sees very little off road, maybe 2500 or so miles and mostly just dirt road / beach. Maybe another 1000 or so in 4x4 driving in snow on road. Front and rear diffs have always been quiet, smooth and no issues other than this.

Not sure how concerned I should be but I have never seen metal like this come out of a unit that doesn’t have any issues. I used to own a landscape construction company and did maintenance on small and large trucks.

 

FYI most dealers don’t use OEM fluids. They use bulk generic 75W90 full synthetic for all diffs and the transfer case. They pump it out of big tanks like any other garage. They tell you it’s OEM because they “warranty the work”.

I’m sure they use the right rating for either transmission. MAYBE the automatic transmissions get genuine Toyota ATF, doubt the MTs get the genuine stuff.

Not critical to the topic just worth remembering.

Good luck with the repairs down the road!

 

Yup, that is what I figured too. Not going to do anything, and just wait and see.

Yes, I did change the fluid one more time after the issue from a few years ago, so this is the second change since then.

However, it is very possible these pieces were trapped and making their way down now.

That time, the driver side was so blown, I could lift the CV on driver side at the diff a full half inch up, and down. Just a wee bit loose. Watch out for those deep washouts.

It is solid right now, and the passenger side has a tiny normal amount of wiggle.

Went out again today to test the 4WD after the fluid changes and all is well. Smooth and quiet, no vibrations and shifts smoothly in and out of 4WD.

Pretty good considering the amount of offroad miles.

 

The one there would make a good fishing hook.

 

That almost looks like a shim.

 

Well, magnets seem to be doing their job. It will be interesting to see if anything shows up next diff oil change.

 

Hopefully a fishing hook.

 

OP if your game, it could be worth doing an early change just to see yourself what the magnets holding? If it's just left overs maybe a couple fill and drains is all it takes to wash everything out and then your golden.

Please keep us posted, I have been torn in getting the ECGS bushing done before I need it just to future proof the truck.

Great looking ride btw!

 

Seems like lots of threads of 2016 Tacos failing apart. I mean it is a first year of new gen but damn.

 

I don’t know about falling apart. Mine is used primarily for some heavy duty offroad trips, often with up to 1,000 pounds of gear in the back.

The trails I am on are remote, ATV style deactivated trails. So remote I never see anyone and this on hundreds of trips through BC.

Under the circumstances it has held up pretty well to the hard going.

Inner bearings are typical wear items if you drive your truck offroad a lot.

I replaced inner needle bearings on my 1986 F150 and a 1994 F250.

 

Yeah I was thinking same, but going to wait for a few more offroad trips before doing it again.

 

Awesome! Hopefully just some old stuff