ECGS Bushing - Is it a must?

Yea i was tempted to just fill with what i had already at home and i didnt want to drain it. Toyota puts the diff oil in a can that you have to open with a can opener or something . Geez they gotta be rebels all the time and do crazy stuff like that

 

Well guys finally getting this done on my 2017 yota original owner with 158k miles. parts are shipped doing this next Saturday along with new upper and lower ball joints + new wheel hub assemblies. My passenger wheel bearing is starting to go . Too much high speed cornering lmao

 

Anyone have a bearing removal tool and/or a bushing install tool they'd be willing to sell?

 

There is a "pass it around" thread on here. You might want to search for it. Could save you some bucks.

 

Couple questions...

Is everyone who has had vibrations, and removes the bearing, seeing a broken bearing? Or, can it look fine, but you still get the vibrations?

And, how much play is OK in the CV shaft? Where it enters the... transfer case, I think. The drivers side definitely has more than the passenger side. Both up/down, and in/out. But, not horrible. The passenger side moves a little, and the drives side is about twice as much..

I don't get any growling or vibrations that go away in 4wd.. But, I am replacing my CV axle due to a torn boot.. so while I'm in there... Thinking about this bushing.

Thanks a lot!

 

Differential.

What truck are you driving?

 

Yeah, differential, thanks.
The in-out play there seems large on the drivers side.. I want to say 1/8th of an inch, but I don't know.. I wasn't thinking about measurements when I was looking at it earlier. It has a little up/down, left/right wiggle.. I don't want to try to guess the degrees at the moment, but could measure it tomorrow. It's not much, but like I said, about twice what the passenger side wiggles.

2012 Tacoma standard model (not trd offroad or anything). It does have the towing package, from what I can tell.

 

Well, I decided to search, and it seems the in/out play is normal. Even people w/ the bushing are saying they have it.

I'm still wondering if there was visible damage to the bearing, when people who had noise/vibration issues, replaced it.

thanks

 

In and out play is nothing to be concerned about. It is a spines shaft into the side gear. And the whole axle is captured between hub and diff. It isn't coming out unless something serious goes wrong. The up and down play (or side to side... they are the same) is where the bushing changes things. The bushing has tigher clearances and after the install, the drives side has about the same play as the right side. There are millions of Toyota's out there with the factory needle bearing that have run for decades without a problem. Even factory lifted Tacoma's in recent years. Unless you are lifted and having issues changing it is completely up to you.

 

It's also a cheap enough piece of insurance that I would say go ahead and do it. I've been running with a 2-in OME lift for years before I put mine in and the needle bearing came out looking better than factory. Think I still have it in a box come to think of it. But I put the bushing in as insurance for the future.

No doubt on the 4th gen Toyota will fix the driver side wheel bearing issue (by moving it to the passenger side)

 

Exactly why I changed mine, especially since I was already in there doing the lift and upper control arms... only a couple more bolts.

 

Mine looked absolutely mint when I removed it.

 

I've got a little in/out play on my driver's CV (more than the passenger) after installing the bushing. I replaced the seal while I was in there and haven't had any leaks or explosions.

Yet.

 

I have a set of ECGS tools for sale.
Bushing install and removal tool, plus seal Install tool.

Pm me

 

I had to replace mine in my 2012 Gen2

 

I might have to check this out

 

does this apply to 2wd models?

 

no