Read Diff failure at 72k

Anyone else have an unexpected rear diff problem requiring replacement shortly after the warranty expired? I have 72k on a 2017 TRD Pro and, despite reporting a clunk in the rear for 3 years, the dealer said Toyota won't cover it (they are replacing at a discount). No hard off-roading. Shavings in the fluid and some "looseness". I wanted to just re-gear but without knowing what is creating the unusual wear, I can't really do it (getting the internals is apparently impossible outside the dealer network), and since it's a daily driver, I can't have it parked for weeks waiting for ECGS to rebuild it (they have no rear diffs to build pre-builds). Anyone else had this experience?

 

Do you have documentation the "clunk" was reported? I'd fight hard on that one. When they investigated what did they do? I assume they changed the dif fluid each time and that's how they found metal shavings? It seems like whoever was working on it and keeping record ignored the severity of it and chalked it up to "normal wear and tear" instead of just fixing it to avoid a future issue - something they should have done being under warranty. I want to know more here. Subbed.

But no, sorry, I have no experienced this personally. I think others on this forum have reported early dif failures though. Sorry this happened to you.

 

Some have had diffs replaced unnecessarily for gear whine which is hit or miss.

Do you have a catastrophic failure? Shavings and looseness don't sound catastrophic. Sorry if I'm skeptical but issues like this seemed to be misdiagnosed with regularity in today's times.

Not sure where you're looking but internals are definitely available outside of dealers. Maybe not the side gears, spider gears, cross pins, and such but definitely replacement carriers/lockers, bearings, rebuild kits, and ring and pinions.

 

This ^^^^^

However, if it is your problem, I'd not have the dealer fix it.

Had a friend with a similar issue in another marquee that the dealer could never get right. I sent him to a local shop that is a differential/axle specialist and he got fixed up right in less than 2 days, never had an issue again.

So. If you live in a large enough community to have racers, street rods and off roaders, someone will know who the local guru is.

 

There’s plenty of wrecked Tacoma’s on eBay. I’d price some rear diffs there and see what the price comparison would be. Sorry for your luck.

 

I heard some whine from mine and the dealership replaced it at 30k miles. supposedly was chunked. I had just finished a 3200 mile road trip.
hopefully new one is good.

 

Any upgrades to suspension or tire size?

 

Good point. Dealer would charge outrageous prices.

 

It's the side gears, spider gears, and carriers...ECGS doesn't have those to re-build, and says they're hard to get (and pretty pricey).

 

How much is it running you with the discount? Buddy needed a new one on his STSV recently and got priced some $4k+, wondering how the taco + discount would compare

 

Dealer ordered a new rear diff and installed it for $2k. Retail, the diff is $2700. I have the old one. Mechanic said there were actual shavings in the fluid and enough metal particles to form flux bands in the fluid when exposed to a magnet. That said, he didn't spend any real time looking at the old today.

 

Wescott lift and Icon add a leaf a few months ago. I just run 275s.

 

I considered used, but my local 4x4 guy said junk yards charge a lot and you don't know if the internals are good or not, so I'd be in the same place as I was before today's work. I really wanted to re-gear, but it's going to have to wait.

 

The likeliness of you getting a bad differential from a truck that’s 5 years old or newer is pretty slim. There’s not a whole slew of people reporting common major diff issues from these trucks, can it happen? Sure. But it’s just not all to common. But do whatever makes you feel confident in the truck.

 

Rog, it's just that I wouldn't know until after I bought it and had someone tear it apart, then if I was unlucky enough to find a bad one (unlucky enough to have mine go bad already), there's no returns. The dealer's offer had an expiration, so if I ran into any trouble with any other option, I'm down to renting a car for however long it takes to get parts and space in their shop for someone else to do the work. I ended up picking the one option I knew would work, even if it puts me back where I was, gear wise, rather than where I want to be.

 

Last time I did a whole rear end I got it cheap and redid the internals too. Granted, that was in 2014 ish and it was for a Blazer. You should be good but get new axle seals because they are cheap and why not.