3rd Gen Poll: Rear End Noise howling when feathering throttle

With the amount of off road trucks out there with the bigger diff with this issue they are Completely aware of it!! There just giving you the dumb act that there told to do that's always been the Way it's been with Toyota.. my service manager is completely aware of it, and Toyota is as well... Don't sweat it They will get this Right as a previous owner of 3 Tundras they always did the right thing with all my Trucks...

 

Just had mine in this morning from Toyota in Mathews (Charlotte). They were able to duplicate the sound both on lift and on road between 54-57MPH. I was told that this is "normal" due to the gap (backlash?) designed between the ring and pinion gears. At that specific speed it is causing a known noise - but non-damaging.

He informed me they would submit something (DPH?) to Toyota...oh well, it is documented, but 'normal'.

 

1-800-331-4331. Is it still "normal" if it gets louder with time?. As others have mentioned they track and trend consumer concerns based on call volume. Maybe we need to make sure everyone with the issue calls in. Who knows what the dealers are doing with the info.

 

Not all Rear Diffs do it, you should have asked how could it be normal?

 

Its not just the Off Roads that do it though. I have a Sport...

 

They are full of it!! Totally not Normal in any way whatsoever!!

 

I'm due for another call.

 

I bought my Tacoma trd offroad double cab in October 2015. had about 50 miles on it when I drove off the lot. I have about 26,000+ miles on it and have definitely noticed a howling sound but had no idea what the hell it was. I'm glad to have signed up to this forum because it has shed some light as to what that god awful sound is that I have been tolerating for the past year and a half. has anyone gotten this fixed? Did Toyota cover it?

 

I agree...it is documented, I called the Toyota 1-800 number and got a case number for it and I'll make sure it is written up again at my 15K mile service. The only frustration I had with the day was when I asked if they'd do the LCA T-SB and was told "no, but next time you come in tell us that you have wind noise at 25MPH (vs 55) and we'll do it...we can't do T-SB's at a customer's request...."

 

That's good you got it documented and have a case number, as far as the LCA- TSB they should of taken care of that with no Problem that's crazy!! I have been getting every TSB on every Tundra done with Toyota for the past 20 years, I would go to another Dealer especially since the bull they gave you on the Diff besides refusing the TSB...

 

Many did get the rear diff replaced under warranty. On a side note, both my front and rear diffs were replaced on my T4R and the dealer said they have no idea why they are failing and will probably need to replace them again.

 

From my personal experience, at this point in time you can get your diff replaced with a brand new one from toyota (fully covered) that will howl just the same under the same exact conditions. But the 2nd one, when that howls, the toyota engineers themselves will say "must be normal, call corporate if it fails or gets a lot worse."

That was my experience. They did give a good will complimentary warranty, which I will say is really nice of them and I am grateful for it, but a warranty doesn't help fix "normal" issues.

EDIT: Just to give you an idea of what "normal" is considered. I can hear it over having a CD playing at volume 30. As a comparison ive heard that other manufacturers consider excessive differential noise to be hearing anything with the radio OFF, but the AC blowing between middle/high. I'm going to push the dealer again next time I'm there to talk to Toyota. My service advisor and his team have been great thankfully.

 

Ding ding ding. Winner winner chicken dinner.

 

Agreed. What good is any warranty when the dealer can't fix anything without a prior auth from Toyota Corporate who is free to deny coverage.

 

Has anyone actually taken there taco to a differential specialist? If we could get a professional diagnosis it would eliminate all the guessing.

Ted

 

Unfortunately that would be a cost out of your own pocket, but it would be great ammo for Toyota to call them out on the real cause to get this issue right...

 

It would only eliminate all the guessing if they actually paid to have it fixed, nobody wants to do that because most are still under warranty and are hoping for a fix from Toyota. I would really like to know if the whine was gone for people who have re-geared their trucks.

 

I'll be your huckleberry. It'll only be a single dollar donation from 500 of you...

 

Take to gear specialist, they find a problem, you take back to Toyota to have it fixed; warranty now voided for having tool marks on rear diff.

 

Exactly, they would blame the gear specialist.