OFFICIAL 2nd gen 4x4 front differential bearing vibration thread

Took my truck in for the old diff vibration (2014 with 28k miles and stock aside from front end leveled out). No issues getting it fixed under warranty and had it back the next day.

 

I dove mine with the vibration for about 12k miles, haha. They didn't mention any additional damage when they fixed mine.

 

Just replaced my crap needle bearing ('12 sr5) with the ECGS bushing. Had the growl for maybe 2 months, noticed right after I ordered the bushing and seal that gear oil was starting to leak from the diff at the cv. Havent driven very far yet, but no noticeable growl or vibe, and havent noticed any leaking oil.

 

I think I will be doing a replacement soon. I have a growl around 20 mph. Sometimes the steering wheel shakes at highways speed.
I have not put it in 4wd to see if it goes away, but I did just go out and shake the drivers side axle shaft and have some movement up at the pumpkin. I guesstimate around 3/16 inch movement. Passenger side moved some, but not nearly as much.

So, how much movement should the axles have? From reading it seems it should be very little. What about passenger side? Should it be replaced too?

 

Okay I will do that. The needle bearing puller. Does anyone rent it or want to sell? If this is a common issue we maybe should have one we share/rent out.
The 240 I use to own needed a special tool for something I forget what, but people on the forum would pay 20 bucks, have it shipped to them, then someone would pay them 20 and it would be shipped to the next person. Worked out well. Although ecgs would probably not like this, and they did us a favor by making the bushing. From what I read the bushing is the way to go.

 

Winning! Thanks bud.

 

I just did it with tools rented/borrowed from auto parts stores. The bearing puller w/ a slide hammer worked for me. Can do it w the 3 arm puller, or the I think it was called pilot bearing puller. I also rented the bearing race driver for driving the bushing in. The biggest pain for me was getting the wheel hub assembly off of the spindle. Read in another thread that if you have an issue with this you can place something between the 4 bolts that mount the hub to the spindle, so when you loosen them it will push the hub off. That would have saved me about 1.5 hrs.

 

Are you talking about getting the outer end of the CV shaft out from the hub? I've seen a guy on YouTube put the ball end of a ball pein hammer on the little hole in the end of the CV shaft and whack the flat head of the hammer with a 5lb hammer. Popped right out.

 

Yeah, I used a big 3 claw puller with the claws on the hub assembly and the middle pin on the end of the shaft, it popped right out after that, but that was after fighting it for quite a while. The thread I was using for reference said to use a screwdriver and work a little around the edges and "pop off it comes". Didnt come off so easy for me.

 

Interesting, never seen the screwdriver method.

 

In the how to cv/wheel bearing removal thread it was one of the suggested methods.

 

Couple of things:
1. The steering wheel shake is probably a wheel balance problem and not related to the differential side bearing. If you rebalance both front tires and it is still there, assuming you do not have a bent hub or wheel, you may have to road-force balance them per Toys TSB on the matter to get the steering wheel shimmy to go away.

2. I have stated a number of times earlier in this thread and elsewhere that the left and right sides are entirely different designs. The left side is where the vibration is coming from. The CV shaft directly enters the needle bearing on the left. BTW if you are under warranty, they will only replace the old needle bearing with the new TSB needle bearing.

On the right side, the CV shaft enters a ball bearing. There should be a little play on the right because that is the nature of ball bearings. If it were too tight it would burn up.

However, there is an identical needle bearing on the right side as on the left and is immediately adjacent to the diff. However, it does not see the same side loads as the left as it is at the very inboard end of the ADD tube. I replaced both needle bearings on both of my Tacos because I found scoring on the stub shaft that rides in it on the right. Having said that I am not recommending that the right side be routinely replaced because you just do not read of vibration problems that have developed on the right -- even on trucks with very high miles.

 

I have had the tires balanced multiple times using road force and not. Still shakes occasionally.
Its the most peculiar thing. Same road, same speed, same direction, somedays I get the shakes, some days no shake and it rides like its on glass.
Im hoping the needle bearing fix will help this.
Thanks for the other info.

 

^^^But did they use the 'Haweka' adapter along with the Hunter road force machine and proper hub centering rings (if you have aftermarket wheels)? Toyota's TSB requires this. The TSB has been in effect since 1996 and dealers are periodically reminded it still applies, no exceptions. It is not optional or suggested but required. Not all road force balancing is the same. I discovered this the hard way by spending lots of $$$ on both traditional balancing and road-force balancing like you. I always got mediocre balance work until I decided to get smart and find out why.

Many tire shops do not have the Haweka adapter so they will try to smoke you by saying they have something as good or equivalent. No, no. I also found many shops shy away from the Hunter machine because they have not been properly trained. Been there done that. Sadly, some dealers do not know either.

I got sick of the incompetent balance jobs and the conditions you are experiencing and broke down and bought the Haweka adapter. The next step was to show them how to use it. I found a young guy in a shop that was persuaded by $20 to humor me. I now get 100% smooth as glass all the time balance jobs all the time.

 

Awesome! Mine have never been balanced correctly.

 

Tsb needle bearing completed at dealership under Lifetime Powertrain Warranty they offer.

So far, so good. I am utterly amazed at how bad it really was now that it is fixed. I drive spaceship miles...will report back periodically on status of new bearing.

 

Road forced my Method's. Had steering wheel shimmy. Also had the front diff vibe. Got the TSB and the steering wheel shimmy was virtually gone same day.

Just my experience...

 

Tsb bearing is the same as original designed bearing right? Not a different design?

 

Ah. Okay. Just checked my vin number and I am not covered under tsb. Bushing is my best option at this point.

 

What year is your truck?

To be eligible for the tsb you have to be in warranty I'd think and a 4x4