Leaky Diff. 2007 Tacoma 2wd

Leaf spring was wet with diff fluid, but not the brake hub... I narrowed it down to a leak that is hidden directly under the spring aligner that is welded to the differential case (OEM). I just cut the bottom of the spring aligner out today and cleaned up all the rust. From the inside of the case when I have the passenger side axle removed (aside from the heat marks from the factory welding) there was a faint brown rust spot that I spotted with an extendable mirror and flashlight. I was able to get a tiny probe to poke through it without much force at all. This tiny hole caused my entire leaf spring to become saturated in diff fluid. It was NOT (I repeat) was NOT coming from the seal, although I will be replacing that due to the extensive work I currently have under weigh on the diff case. My plan is to braze the hole and re-fabricate the bottom of the alignment plate from a piece of 1/4" mild steel. I'll chamfer the edges of the fabricated plate and weld it back in place. I have all the tools, so why not?!?

Interested in pictures? If 4 people ask I'll grab the camera and post for you to see. I bought a harbor freight needle gun today to clean all the flakey rust off the diff case. Some whopping 1/4" chunks came off! I think it'll be fine...

EDIT: I'll be posting videos of the restoration. You can find them here.

https://youtu.be/VmbAO-GkVzY
https://youtu.be/f0Pf68aVEk0



Anyone else got this going on? I'm so lucky Toyota left all the other rusty goodies for me to fix after they replaced the frame!! =D

 

Welcome to TW

 

Welcome aboard new member
I'll bite
Let's see pix please
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rust-prevention-treatment-consolidation-thread.355928/

 

Welcome to TW!

 

I’m down for pics. Let’s see it.

 

Thank you for the vid!

 

Welcome to TW!