Front Differential and CV Axels

My beloved 04’ DC (180,0000) wouldn’t go into 4wd. Took it to the shop and they discovered a ton of play in the CV axels and bad front differential. What do you guys think of this quote? $4,800 all said and done. Going to get a second opinion tomorrow. Almost half of what I paid for the truck, but I doubt it’s worth anything if I don’t address the issue. What should I do?

 

Damn! I would keep it out of 4wd for the winter and replace it myself with a used front differential, but that's just me.

Did the guy show you the actual play in the CV axles?

 

someone on here had a differential they were trying to get rid of. Otherwise, few hundred bucks at a junkyard or on ebay for a diff and a couple hundred for some CV's and you're back in business for under $6-700. $4800 is too much money to spend on a old truck. At least in my opinion. And the swap can't be that hard. The CV's were pretty straightforward. Front diff is a few bolts, some plug ins and the shafts. I haven't pulled mine but someone else here who has could probably help describe the process. Was that the dealer price? An independent shop may charge less, or allow you to bring your own parts.

 

The driver side will have a decent amount of slop/play naturally, the passenger side will be a little bit tighter.
Take it to another shop for sure, you probably don’t need the entire diff rebuilt.

 

I just checked mine and I have a decent amount of play on the driver's side and a bit less on the passenger side. 2020 with 12,000 miles on the odometer. I leveled the front end (up 1.57") in December and have gone around 4,000 miles since then.

 

Get him!!!!

 

They must be quoting you a brand new diff. I am not sure what book time is do R/R both CV axles and the front diff but I would guess in the neighborhood of 7ish hours? @empty_lord can speak better to it but I would definitely be shopping around. At my company, we have a policy that anything over $2000 requires three price quotes and you would be surprised how much they vary.

 

Ok get a new quote. The diff likely isn’t bad. Play in the driver side axle is normal too. There’s a needle bearing in it. I would take the truck in to someone else for a second opinion. Personally I’ve never seen a front diff actually go bad unless it’s been run out of fluid. The actuators do go bad, they are replaceable without dropping the diff or transfercase

 

Abs typically if 4x4 is in op, 60% of the time it’s the actuator in the transfercase.

 

I'm going with it being a bad actuator, but I defer to the professional Toyo mech above.

Honestly? Just take it to a dealership. Pay them to do diagnostics. Shouldn't be more than 2 shop hours to figure out what's up and around here that's billed out $115-150/hr depending which dealership I hit, if memory serves. Depending which actuator it is, it'll be less than $1000 IIRC, I think the most expensive of the lot is in the ballpark of $700? And if that came from a Toyota dealership, find another one and try again.

And don't be shy about telling the shop quoting, "I always get two opinions on everything, I'll get back to you on this one". Then go do it. If their tune changes suddenly ... don't go back, they're scamming you.

 

Guys, I think he's long gone. He hasn't posted since January. I doubt he's waited this long to fix it.

 

Oh damnit why am i being tagged then! Lol

 

Because turd gen strolled in, and woke a thread from the dead, but southpaw was still trying to be nice to the fella/fellina

 

@bmf4069 probably can chime in with a picture or two.

 

PLEASSSSSSSEEEEE

 

@bmf4069 do NOT take the bait....fight the urge, the result could be fatal

 

But he’s our resident BGT enforcer

 

Can anyone give me some recommendations on wheels and tires?

 

I forgot about that, yikes.

 

Seams a little excessive to get a vacation over poking fun at someone in the wrong section.
Oh well!

 

Dang, didn't realize this was well on its way to zombie thread.

Would still be cool if @PowTurns was able to let us know what came of it. How'd this one get missed the 1st time?

 

Having just done gears and lockers, $4800 does not seem bad from the dealership. But, as others have stated, you could do better sourcing the parts and doing the work yourself. I don’t know if I would want to do the front diff without a lift though.

 

Huh, guess some people get hurt too easily. So we have a license to provide unwanted opinions on turd gens as long as it’s a serious opinion in nature? I never bothered venturing over into that area anyways myself.

 

Well, serves me right for not looking at the date when this thread was started.

I tagged empty_lord because I wasn’t going down alone!

 

I'll just throw this in here and call it good.