Front differential replaced 3X

2021 Tundra currently 66,700 miles purchased new. Front differential was replaced for the third time January 2025 .Then last week passenger side rear wheel bearing was replaced Im glad i purchased Platinum extended warranty, this isn’t a cheap repair $4,000 per differential. Can three Needle bearing all be bad .What is the root cause Toyota service gives me a shoulder shrug for an answer By having a ECSG bushing install would that void warranty.

 

Lift or factory height?

 

Factory ,

 

I did the ECGS bushing. That issue with the front diff is basically just a noise. It will happily make that noise for hundreds of thousands of miles. There is the tiniest bit of play in the needle bearing that allows your driver’s side CV axle to move a bit and groan at certain speeds in 2Hi only.

If others suspect they have the issue, it will go away the second you put it in 4Hi. It was worth it to me to spend $200 and not have Toyota replace it with the exact same thing.

I have been lifted 2” up front since 3k miles. Truck is 73k miles.

For anyone searching the needle bearing issue, I did a big write-up on the ECGS bushing in my thread here.

 

The reason it keeps coming back is that the root cause is the carrier, not the needle bearing. The bushing helps eliminate that cumulative slop. I’m convinced that many 2020-21 front diffs have this issue and the replacements do also. Just install the bushing and never look back.

 

Why 20-21? What happened in 20?

 

There are just numerous examples in this year range. I have no way of proving anything, other than it happened to me and was present in another 2020 I test drove, plus all of the other forum members with the same issue. It’s a result of the manufacturing process of the carrier.

 

Would this install void extended warranty ??

 

So that means BorgWarner did a change around that time. And the same issue perhaps present in F150, which uses the same front diff?

 

Don't tell them.

 

Dang, I had the same issues with my 2021 too. Passenger rear wheel bearing replaced under warranty, but I just went ahead and did the ECGS bushing for the front differential even though I was under warranty.

My front differential wasn’t too bad, but my rear wheel bearing was absolutely howling by 35k miles.

 

Wonder if wife's 22 Sequoia has the same issue? Though she drives 100% of time in 4HI.

 

Stock wheels? Or the ones poking out of wheel arcs at least 2 feet?

 

I agree that they all probably have the slop; some just groan more than others, and some drivers are more sensitive to it than others.

But when I did this job, I slid the needle bearing over my cv axle while it was out, and I was surprised with how much play it had in it, but that same needle bearing was pretty snug in the diff. It popped out with some force when removed with the ECGS tool. Seemed to me the slop was in the needle bearing itself.

 

Stock.

 

I just went through all this on my 2020. I ended up selling it because the dealer royally screwed up. I bought my 2020 when I retired from Toyota as a tech and noticed the noise right away. You can read about my experience in this thread https://www.tundras.com/threads/2020-differential-needle-bearing-failure.80612/


Do not ignore the noise. Ignoring it will just cause more damage and a CV axle that will need replacing. The way to tell if it’s the outer CV axle support bearing is that the noise only happens in 2WD and goes away in 4WD. Have the ECSG bushing installed and your issue will be solved. As for the rear wheel bearing, it just happens. Some never do them and others have replaced them with very low miles. I had to do my rear bearing last year on the driver’s side and the truck only had about 20K on it. Bearing replacement was $1200.

 

Do you know why the rear wheel bearing is a common problem?

 

I wouldn’t call it a common problem. I’ve never heard of a reason for the failure. I’ve seen many very high mileage trucks that never had any issues. A friend of mine had a 2012 that had over 300K on it and it was still on the original rear bearing when he traded it in.

 

Have you seen actual damage from this?

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced the noise was there from my first test drive; I just didn’t think it was evidence of an issue. It did it for 63k miles until I finally installed the ECGS bushing. There was no apparent damage anywhere. Maybe some trucks have it a lot worse than mine did?

 

I noticed the noise soon after I bought the truck. It was very slight and would go away in 4WD confirming the driver’s side support bearing. I left it until I knew that the tech would hear it on a test drive. When it went in to have the diff replaced the CV axle’s machine service that the bearing rides on was damaged. I’ve also seen this in the shop but if it’s caught early the CV axle sometimes won’t have damage or any slight marks can be polished out.

 

I replaced my needle bearing with the ECGS bushing at 50K, the surface of the CV looked polished. Caliper readings were nearly identical on the unpolished vs polished surface and I think the difference was mostly due to me not measuring perfectly true to it. The needle bearing was in excellent condition with almost no discernible wear.

The harmonic woosh was pronounced on mine.

 

I'll have to listen a bit more closely to mine. Almost 51k on it, while not 2' outside of the fenders it is on 35x12.5's. I don't hear anything from the cab other than tire noise.

Any specific speeds? Was wondering if the wife could drive it while I listen from outside perhaps?

 

Would Toyota install or should I have local shop?

 

A Toyota dealer would certainly install but you will be paying They are techs like every other shop but do have the advantage of knowing the product.

 

Did the noise go away when you drove the truck in 4WD?

 

This is my experience exactly, except I replaced mine at around 63k.

Mine went away immediately when put into 4Hi. No discernible wear on the bearing or the axle.

 

Title is misleading.

You didn't replace the diffy 3X, you replaced the needle bearing 3X.

As for future damage, I call bull shit on this. Mine has been growling since 50k miles. It's not any worse at 250k miles.

 

I have no explanation why a race running on a messed up bearing doesn’t see any damage. Yes I’ve seen them in the shop and a little polishing with some emery cloth and returned to service. Mine was fuckered.

 

Tundra front diffs are not suppose to make noise in 2WD on a stock truck.

 

I agree, but they still do non the same.

I've not heard of any catastrophic failure or anyone who was left stranded because of this odd noise.

I catogorize the noise with the noise of our 5.7 engines. It's what they do and I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

If you have the warranty and you feel like wasting the time that it takes for Toyota to install the same bearing that is just going to make the same noise, then I'm having trouble finding empathy.

A very quick search shows that the noise can be alleviated with the aftermarket bushing.

These are my opinions. It's just how I think and they mean nothing to anyone but me.