Needle Bearing Delete fixed my high speed vibrations

I lifted my 2nd gen DCLB back in Feb. I kept it minimal and did a 2” lift. After the lift and alignment I was getting crazy vibrations at high speeds around 85mph. I had read everything under the sun about the Needle Bearing in the front diffs and fully planned to eventually do the swap for a ECGS bushing.

But because EVERYTHING I read and watched on YT told me the needle bearing typically only creates low/mid speed vibrations usually 20-40mph and is gone after putting into 4H. I assumed there was NO way this could be my issue since I was only getting vibrations around 85mph. I still planned to do the NB swap. But it wasn’t high on my priority list.

I started debugging - cheapest options first. I got two different wheel and tire balances. The first didn’t work so the second was a full road force balance where all the tires were taken off the rim.

I had already installed 2.5* axle shims on my leaf packs. So the next step was a CB drop kit. Added that for $20. Still getting vibrations although the speed at which they started seemed to change. So I thought I was onto something.

Finally my ECGS bushing and needle bearing removal tool arrived. So this last weekend I swapped my needle bearing & driver side CV axle since the factory one had 120k on it and I was already in there. The needle bearing was fully intact when I got it out. Took me about 4.5 hours with a few breaks to help watch my little monster (7 month old)

Lo and behold after taking my Tacoma for a test drive after the swap. The high speed vibrations are completely gone!! I am so freaking happy. I was losing my mind trying to figure out what was causing them.

Long story boring, Has anyone else out there experienced this? I thought for sure the needle bearing would only cause low speed vibrations because that’s what virtually everyone said.

Curious to hear if anyone else has experienced something similar. Also wanted to put the good word out there in case anyone else was beating their head off of a wall like myself trying to figure it out.

 

Awesome thanks for the update. Most people just disappear.