OFFICIAL 2nd gen 4x4 front differential bearing vibration thread

Glad to hear your vibe free....

 

Finally...it was driving me nuts.

 

Just an FYI, for those that need the bushing..ECGS is offering 10% off right now with coupon code "thanks". Makes the bushing $54 plus shipping.

 

Sub'd again for my 2015

 

Well headed back in to the dealer tomorrow. Did some searching of my own today, greased up the drivelines just incase, then grabbed the CV's. The passenger one has slight movement in and out which is normal for a CV seens how it just pops in. But the driver side has the same movement plus side to side, which I know isn't normal. They tried to tell me it is my AT tires we will see how tomorrow goes

 

Have them drive it and pop it into 4x4 and out, the vib will go away. So is this tires?!!! They will then tell you in a mater of fact way that you should just keep it in 4x4 all the time. (try not to toss the guy out the door at 60mh) Give them the option of changing the bearing for a bushing, or replacing your diff every year for ever. I cant believe this is still an issue with Toyota! You would think they would fix this once and for all and just put bushings in there and do a recall.
Oh yea....15,000 and still no vibrations......Love this site!

 

I flushed the RP with Dyno oil this past weekend. The RP was thin and felt like slick water as Chase described. Do not notice any sounds/vibes/driving difference but Chase has been right on with the bushing. The only difference I noticed was how high I lifted the truck to squeeze under, must have been all that turkey!

 

1. Toyota's quality control has nothing to do with an after market dealer installed coil spacer Revtek lift, your problem is with your dealer.
2. The is no such thing as a " control arm lift ", only an adjustable CO will gain you any lift without a spacer of some sort.
3. You don't need a new diff, or a new CV unless you have more going on than what you have described. The bushing alone to replace the bad bearing should solve your problem.

 

Went back into Toyota yesterday with a printout of this thread and told them I found the problem, it isn't my tires. The tech looked at me odd, funny part is I used to work at a dealer for over 5yrs so I know the game but without even driving it he jumped under there and saw that the driver CV had to much play in it. Then he jumped right to the "this could be do to the lift" comment. I replied so what happens to the two lifted Tacomas on the showroom floor or even a TRD Pro when it comes in for the same issue are you guys going to blame the lift. I have had to many lifted Toyotas and the lift doesn't cause this, it just calls it out.

Just the fact that they sent me away saying the truck was perfectly safe and it was my tires, just for me having to research this and do there homework for them they should have to change it. It would have been different had they called out the bushing and lift issue first I would have been more inclined to just buy the upgraded bushing, now I'm going to push for warranty even if it only makes it another 10k before failing again.

 

Got the truck back, with no luck on warranty yet. Talked with the service manager after dealing with the moron service writer. Apparently warranty will cover it if it "fails" not if it is "failing". Meaning Toyota will install a new front end if need be but won't replace a failing part. I ordered the ECG front bushing and will have it on Monday. The manager said that their Toyota Rep would be in on Wednesday and I can go for a drive with him to show him the issue and see if he is game to fix it. I think at this point it is worthless with these guys, I can fix the issue in a few hours and be done or go back and forth for ever wasting my time with them.

 

I wouldn't quite say it's a failing part. There are occasions where. The needle bearing will wear out. When I did mine I had about a 1/4 inch of cv axle movement at 120 thou KM. The needle bearing was perfectly fine. Still I replaced it with the bushing. Very nice tight fit with the axle now. After a test drive I really had to think about what the vibe was like before I changed it and it was only a slight difference. My truck may not have had as bad a vibe as others but I still wouldn't call it a failure unless it's 100% the cause of bearing failure.
Either way with the amount of complaints on here and I'm sure others not noted on this website you would think their RnD would solve the problem already.

 

Thing is I would hate to drive it until it did fail or have something else go wrong then Toyota say sorry it's due to your lift. Good old warranty always there when you need it

 

Just changed out my royal purple 75w90 per recommendation. It had been in for about 15,000 miles. When draining it, it appeared to be as clear as the day I put it in. It felt thick and like it should to me. I've been working on cars for over 20 years, but I am certainly not as much the expert on this subject as Chase is. Admittedly, I am in 2wd 98% of the time as my truck is a daily driver. There was a small amount of build up on the drain plug magnet, but not more than I'd expect to see. Just sharing my findings. Once again HUGE thanks to Chase at ECGS for the fix!

 

I just want to clarify for people reading this at the tail end of the thread. If your OEM needle bearing fails, and you replace with ECGS bushing, you really need to change your CV axle as well.

This is why.

In most cases you can get a needle bearing with an inner race of hard material for the needle rollers to run on. The inner race is very though metal and will not wear out for billions of revolutions. In some cases there just isn't enough room to accommodate an inner race.

In the Tacoma we use to have a nice thin bushing doing this job. Some engineer (If any one knows who please tell me....I'd like to visit him) decided that replacing the bushing with a needle bearing was a good idea. (needle bearings are terrible at absorbing impact by the way)

They discovered they just didnt have the room for the inner race, so instead they case hardened a piece of the CV shaft and ground it to size to act as the inner race. This is commonly done on industrial machinery. (I do it too on some machines, but not ones turning billions of times)

When you get bearing failure or wear it is distributed between the rolling element (needles) and the race (CV shaft) You may not notice it by feel or sight, but only a couple though is enough to mess it up. If you dont replace the CV shaft you are leaving play between the new ECGS bushing and your CV shaft, and may retain some of that vibration you are trying so hard to get rid of.

In short. Replace both the Bushing and CV shaft.

Hope this helps those who dont have time to read 3 years worth of thread...

 

I don't think replacing the CV is needed in most cases and that would be an unnecessary expense. You can feel and see any scoring should there be any. The hardened steel of the CV axle will be very difficult to damage unless you drive it for a looooong time with a bad needle bearing.

Back on page 70 in this post

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...-bearing-vibration-thread-70.html#post7890440

I posted these pics of my CV axles where the ECGS bushing had been installed at 294k miles and then photographed at 346k miles ( 52k miles) when CV axles replaced due to torn boot.

Normal surface condition on CV axle

 

I work with precision bearings and shafts. We make industrial machinery for aeronautic, space and military. You dont have to trust my opinion, however bearing and shaft wear can not be seen by eye or feel. The image you posted actually shows scoring on that shaft where the needle bearing sat.

This is not to say that you HAVE to change the CV axle because its going to fail. It would take forever for that, but if you are looking to get rid of this vibration than the CV shaft should be changed, or re chromed and ground (too expensive)

Dont take my word for it, see what your local bearing distributor tells you. Maybe buy a Micrometer and measure the wear and then decide.

I got my shaft for $100 + shipping.

 

This is not a precision application, there is play in this bushing even after the ECGS bushing is installed. No scoring could be felt using the edge of a feeler gauge. Good enough by far for this application. I am a Mechanical Engineer, but you don't have to trust my opinion either.

Do you have an example of one that failed? If so, please post.

The example I posted went 52k and did not look or operate any different than it did at install on a CV that had a ton of miles on it.

Few of the $100 CV axles are of OEM quality and you are telling people to automatically replace their CV axles when they seldom would need to do this.

 

I read all of the posts up through about page 30, and then skipped to the end, so I apologize if my post is redundant. I saw a few posts asking about Baja edition trucks and if they would have the vibration problem. Well, I just hit 15k on my 2013 Baja and the vibes have started.

I'm going to go with the ECGS bushing, but would prefer to have a professional do the installation. Can anyone recommend a good shop in the central Ohio/Franklin County area? I doubt the dealer would agree to install an aftermarket part, but I haven't asked yet. Any help is appreciated.

 

I would love to see what the dealership's excuse would be with one of their own factory lifts doing this would be. I can hear the back peddling now

 

i went to an independant Toyota shop to find out what they would charge me to change it out and they wouldnt even consider it....Said it would fail I guess they didnt want my money.. lol