Rear Differential locked up while doing 55MPH

How many miles do you have?
IIRC, that is a 5,000 mile service interval under "Special Conditions" and 15,000 under "Normal Conditions".

 

Differential bolts coming loose are most likely the bolts that hold the ring gear to the carrier.

If Locktite was not used during install, they will back out and contact the housing as the diff rotates leading to catastrophic failure and complete lockup.

I've seen bolts come out and get wedged between the gear and the housing, causing the housing to grenade.

 

Mine were both low by 16% of the correct amount .

 

I'm having a hard time believing something as major as inadequate diff bolt torque made it past the factory QC... If this was indeed the cause of the failure there is a much greater chance that the bolt(s) were touched after it left the factory and not torqued correctly.

 

They have a well documented history of forgetting to put in enough transmission fluid. I'm not sure you can rule anything out at this point.

 

Not dismissing the possibility, but do you really think the dealer service benched his differential?

 

Thats probably not going to happen. Have them fix the truck and just move on with it. Crap happens.

 

Well, Frank you parachuted in tonight in the middle of some recent "interesting" 3rd Gen threads; you may have wondered at some of the strange response from the TW members. Some of us, me included, believed some other 3rd Gen issues/opinions to be less than honest or "trolling" Clearly you are not and perhaps we need to throttle back on our sarcasm (but damn its hard sometimes when you hear so much) . So apologies for that.

Glad to see you are ok and no one around you got hurt.

Now. My 2 cents if my brand new vehicle's differential "locked up" at 55 mph on a public road in traffic.

1. I would not drive the vehicle. I would not have my family in that truck nor the truck on the road.
2. I would get under that vehicle with the advisor/techs/manager and take about 145 pictures of what they are doing and repairing. Understand exactly what they want to do.
2. I would engage a local attorney and advise of your situation and provide a police report if you have one. Seek advice on options and have him/her author a note to the Dealership on their letterhead outlining exactly your standards of resolution. Reference your family safety, public safety, your time and effort to resolve, litigation as last resort, public awareness, yada yada.
3. I would then engage the Dealership Owner directly (not manager) and get this to a resolution that meets you standards. I wont bother telling you mine, they may be different.
4. I would have the Dealership sign off on EVERYTHING you want them to sign off on..labor, parts, TSB (there are several out there, may as well do them all now), etc. Search is your friend on TW.
5. Of course, now is the time to negotiate everything you want: Chuck above mentioned 8 year Platinum warranty, that's a great starting point. Oil changes, tires, etc. You get the drift.

Likely scenario: the diff is dry and locked up. If it truly is the bolts, wow. Lawyer letter will get Owners attention or you should go to local news channel and engage the investigative team explaining how your car locked up on the highway. Very likely wont be needed, Dealership will fix the issue as law firm letterhead tends to work more often than not in these situations. You will have one huge advantage over other customers that may have this or other serious issues in their 3rd Gen Tacomas: future leverage and active high level relationship.

Once you have that relationship with the Dealership Owner and leverage that he/she realizes you can use, you have a partner who will be more apt to fix the other issues you may have "down the road" (no pun intended). They will not fuck with you after this event. They will understand you are not the average consumer and you will act to make things right with your time, effort and intelligence.

Build that bridge now with the attorney and dealership owner as you now have a reason to build it. You may need to cross that bridge later if something else fails.

I, unfortunately, had to do the same thing with a new Audi I purchased and it worked to perfection. I had to do a hybrid of this with my wife's new Pilot. Both scenarios I built that bridge with the Dealership and had zero issues with service or repairs as we had "an understanding"

Apologies for the lengthy post and I wish you luck. I hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction.

Please keep us all posted,
TA

 

I doubt it. They don't bench anything these days. They will probably swap the whole axle without ever opening the diff.

 

How old is the truck and how many miles?

 

This

 

I don't think the dealer benched it, but I wouldn't be surprised if some bolts got installed without thread locker.

Usually, I'd say "No Way" that a differential was factory assembled without thread locker since differentials are all that part of the assembly line does.

However, with all the instances of low ATF and problematic differentials, I wouldn't be surprised.

 

I agree with most about talking to dealer and attorney. As far as going to the local news, that is bullshit. I deal with customers all the time and when I get this threat it is the most childish thing ever. To ruin the reputation of a business especially if it was not their fault because they will ask what dealer and could have come from the factory that way. This effects everyone in that dealership responsible or not and its unfair to them. If they are not willing to work with you I would look at an attorney but not the fucking news.

 

Well, I found one where several people found there's to be low. And have seen it as a complaint in several threads. Low trans fluid has been an issue since 2005 and still continues to be an issue.

 

All you have to do is search "low fluid" and 40 pages of results will come up.

 

Oh, I know.
Then how are they supposed to diagnose ring/carrier bolts loosening...was my point.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear. You only need.mention this hence the local lawyer which is why I mention very likely wont needed. Lawyer letter would denote this in the letter. Thats all.

 

Go have a look under the truck asap while it is on the lift. 4 quarts of diff fluid leaking out would spay shit everywhere. All over the spare, frame, and back of the truck.

 

They will ship it off to Toyota Engineering and they will diagnose the failure, the Dealer is just gonna swap it out.

 

You found the same ONE thread I did. And it was about 50/50. With only about 20 different people replying.

Not saying this couldnt be an issue. But seriously no proof at all to say its common.

Low trans yes, enough proof. LOTS of post about it. But not rear diff fluid.

Sorry been too many people who see one person have an issue and now thinks everyone must have it. Common means more than one thread. More than a few post. I've looked all over, consumer reports, edmunds, toyota, every review that could pop up about tacomas. This was the only site I fould anything about 2016 low diff. And it was only ONE thread.