Rear Differential Q

For the background info go here

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...just-how-helpful-toyota-customer-service.html


here is what im wondering. lets say i am screwed and have to fix this myself. i'm not exactly up on the inner workings of a rear diff. i've worked on plenty of engines and transmissions, but no differentials. lets say i decided to open up the rear end and inspect it. what do i look for? the service writer at the dealer said i had bad noises coming from my rear diff but didnt want to open it up for inspection incase they couldnt get it to go back. what exactly fails on these? it runs and drives great, its just this terrible gear noise. and its been doing it for 25K miles now.

what are my options if i have to replace this myself? i do not want to get a different gear ratio either, i like my 4.10s

 

Well your simplest solution is to find third member with the same gear ratio from newer truck and just swapp it. its easy and will cost you only third and gasket so if you play right under $1000 K
Cheapest i found was $650

Here is website that will help finding part http://www.car-part.com

This way you will have drive bale truck and have all the time on the planet to open your original case and setup with proper parts
Edit BTW some of the Tundra trucks had the same diff in 2000-2003 If you find correct ration you can use it too.