Where to find a decent rear diff in SoCal?

So basically I took my truck to 3 shops for various opinions on my truck and turns out I have a bad rear diff. The lowest I got quoted for a rear diff including labor was $1800 but I have to wait about a month to receive it and everything. I want to repair my truck soon. Is anyone familiar with another shop that can do the job or a place that sells them for a good price. All the ones I found on marketplace and offerup are absolutely beat. Also is this a good price in which I got quoted?
My truck is an 07 TRD Sport.

 

https://www.lkqonline.com/2009-toyota-tacoma-axle-parts

I have bought from them before for engines and trans

 

I’m curious what the problem is. Your diff is going to be a mechanical limited slip - it was standard on Sport models (I believe 05-08) . I suppose you can replace with a standard open diff. Just be aware of the LSD version when you shop for an axle.

 

My truck was basically vibrating pretty bad on turns. I have tried everything from fluid flushes and additives. Every shop I went to told me it was the rear diff and I would have to buy a whole rear diff to replace it since they don’t know what part could be damaged inside. It keeps getting worse and worse over time.

 

Car-part.com @Superdave1.0 might be able to help you out

 

East Coast Gear Supply has assembled 3rd members starting at $800. A "bad differential" could mean many things but assuming your axle housing is straight everything else can be replaced or repaired.

 

If it were my truck I'd be looking at car-part.com for a low mileage unit.

The transmission shop near my work rebuilds them. HB transmission in Huntington.

ECGS would be a great option as well.

 

Have you checked with Riverside Auto Repair - Premier West Gears? Premier West Gears (@premierwestgears) • Instagram photos and videos They are doing Toyota regears/diff upgrades on a daily basis and often run group buys hear on TW.

 

Yeah I went in thinking I could just get a rebuild or a repair. I wasn’t expecting to get a whole unit which is almost triple the cost I’m assuming? Could it be the shops that I went to didn’t know much about rear diffs? If I take it to HP in socal will they be able to pin point where the problem is and fix it rather than buying a whole unit? Thank you for the input as well!

 

Yeah HB transmission will go through it and fix whatever is wrong with it. They aren't the cheapest in town, but they do good work. Our shop uses them several times a month for transmission rebuilds, etc.

It may be cheaper to buy a complete unit, depending on what is damaged. I would get more quotes!

 

If they don't know what's wrong inside I'd find another shop

 

dont use premierwestgears they fucked up my fender flare and blamed their guy who they said was a “contractor” for them and pretty much ghosted me, do a search other guys had similar experiences and the most fucked up part is they lied and hid it from me. You can only imagine when they fuck up your diff how they will lie and hide that shit

 

We actually have 1 going on right now. $950 for the rear diff which would include removing and installing your third member back into the axle housing. Since this is all they do they can get you in and out the same day. Lots of appointments available in the near future as well

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ar-group-buy-open-to-all-makes-models.809044/

I'm sorry you had this experience. I don't work for them so I can't speak on their behalf or what happened with your truck, but what I can say is in the 2 group buys I have run we haven't had any issues that I'm aware of. Last one had around 100 signups and they all went smoothly with this round being no different

 

What I would do is drain the rear differential and replace with regular gear oil. Clutch pack lsd's do not like synthetic gear oil. I would also put in two bottles of lsd additive and then find an empty parking lot and do figure 8's. If it doesn't work you only wasted some oil and additive, but if it does work you saved a lot of money. It sounds to me like your rear is chattering on turns. I use Valvoline gear oil with lsd additive in it and add more additive and my rear still chatters on very sharp u-turns.

 

I forgot to mention that I changed out my rear differential to a clutch pack style toyota lsd a few years ago.

 

The Truck Shop in San Diego has them in stock at all times

 

The LSD rear diff from Toyota is under $500. You don't have to touch the pinion, which is the tough part of diff work. Just pop the carrier out, swap the ring gear over, press on some new carrier bearings, re-install and adjust backlash / bearing preload and you're done. A shop shouldn't charge more than about 3 hours labor for this I wouldn't think...maybe 4. They're trying to be assholes and change the whole 3rd member with an OEM unit it sound like...you don't need to do that.

 

I ended up going to Premier West Gears. It was quite the drive. I had quite the experience there tbh. Had an appointment and everything and they test drove my truck only to tell me I had to book another appointment and come another day to open the rear diff if I chose to. I also got told I couldn’t be in the back when they were working on my truck even though a mechanic called me over to the back. Long story short they were convinced to open it up and they ended up finding nothing. Paid the labor fee and everything which I don’t mind because at least I know it wasn’t a bad diff. Turns out the chattering completely went away. It most likely ended up being the fluid as they added their own even though I’ve drained it twice and added additive multiple times. They perhaps used a different one? But my truck is literally back to normal. Quite the headache but it is what it is.

 

I'm sorry to hear you didn't have the best experience there. When did all this happen?

 

What about the rear diff is bad?

You can replace it yourself. Rebuilding is what is more complicated.

A used rear third member is about $150.
Factory diff in early TRD Sport is not that good. This gives you an opportunity to upgrade, whether that be to a TrueTrac or something else.
Depending on what is bad in your diff, it may be suitable as a core return, if you order an already assembled and upgraded unit from somewhere like ECGS for example. I don't know what the lead time is

being early TRD Sport it's probably "8.4" mech LSD, non-ELD

wrong fluid will do that