Needle Bearing Failure With Lift (How Many)

Perhaps......

Unless it goes away when you're in 4-wheel drive then you need a new needle bearing or install the clamshell bushing.

 

Has anyone read any complaints about the ECGS bushing going bad or needing replaced ever?
It just seems odd to me replacing a bearing with a bushing sometimes, haha.

 

I've come to terms that my truck will be a pavement princess, besides the occasional dirt road & washout to some hiking trails. Would a spacer leveling kit cause these vibrations or only when you do a real adult lift to your truck?

 

What exactly am i looking for? Vibrations when driving at low speeds? Certain sound? Im barley at 4k miles i get vibes only at highway speed but thats because i have large ass AT tires i would assume... now this thread has me worrying about somthing i probably dont have

 

I can’t find it again but someone said they drained the front diff and refilled with 85w140 and the vibe went away without doing anything else.

Anyone comment on this?

 

I know this has been brought up in past. Most here say differential drop does nothing on 3rd gen. My dealer does lifts on a lot of there truck for sale, they always install diff drop, and they have not had any come back for needle bear replacement, yet! They are installing my TRD Pro lift PTR13-35150 on my 18 next week. and will only do so with diff drop. They say with diff drop it lessons the angle/outward pull of half shafts which is causing the needle bearing failure/ vib.

Don't know what to think, kind of makes sense. Let the bashing begin...

 

Good thing i got the dif drop installed. Also helps having a 5star suspension company install it. They usually know what they are doing

 

Read about the symptoms here and decide if you have them or not.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/front-diff-vibes-ecgs-bushing-fix.464941/#post-13883949

As for the other guy asking about a spacer lift, some trucks have needle bearing failure even with the stock height.

If you feel vibes in 2wd, put it in 4wd and see if they go away, if they do you likely need to replace the bearing.

You can also jack the truck up and check for end play on the driver's side axel.

 

It's your truck, maintain it as you wish.

 

I did this along with my suspension install - it's a no-brainer preventative maintenance item that you should stop and do while you have the drivers side torn down to install new shocks.

I was able to do it with the ECGS tools in my garage on jack stands.

I would suggest going straight to the "Sledge and cable" method to pull the CV, as the "pry bar" method did not work at all for me. This was the only hard part. Once the CV is out, it takes 10 min to extract the needle bearing and pop the ECGS bushing in.

 

So is this preventable if you had installed a Dif drop before the lift? Also why is it only on the driver side and not the passanger? Doesnt the passanger side have needle bearing as well?

 

Can't answer on being preventable, I was just saying what dealer service mentioned what they due. As for passenger side, it's a different bearing, not needle bearing. Ball bearing I believe, as I read here.

 

Are the Toyota dealerships replacing the needle bearing with an upgraded part or just the same one? I doubt they would install the ECGS...

 

Just did both diffs with 85/140. Helps a little as you would imagine, but not a cure. My issue is pretty bad and didn't get any better with the oil swap. I think taco lean has a big effect on this issue, I am installing the Trd Pro kit next week to remedy that, if it's still an issue then it's going to the dealer as it has all toyota parts installed.

 

Pro's don't have diff drops

 

Seems the poll is a close one, could be a small amount of vehichles that have this defect?

 

Haha just found this thread wtf

 

The issue is from the housing on the driver side. Its not machined where the bearing goes... Its cast. So the tolerances suck on some of them depending on how casting went. The bushing has a machined and precise hole for the axle.

Toyota replaces it with the same part. I wouldn't even bother with that.

A spacer lift can cause the vibes just like anything else that increases the angle of the CVs. That is why a diff drop can help. It lessens that angle.

 

Explain more about the “sledge and cable” method please. I’m installing mine Friday. Haha.

 

Just picked this up when I do my install in a few weeks.... if it doesn’t work at least I tried, and I’ll go the other route truck has 250 miles on it