Noise from rear end on 3rd gen Tundra

^^^this, man.

I had two 3rd gen tacomas, one 4 cylinder and one v6. Both diffs whined when I feathered the gas pedal. Did it from day one until I (funny enough) traded each one for a tundra at 100k miles both times. You cant shake at stick at tacomaworld without hitting a diff whine thread. FWIW, it was a lot harder to find threads about diffs that actually failed. Most replacement diffs seemed to whine sooner or later, too, sometimes worse than the original. Good luck, OP, hope you got a solution that you're happy with.

 

So, is it a safe assumption that wherever Toyota sources their axle assemblies from doesn't know how to set up a ring and pinion gear?
Or possibly crap metallurgy?

 

Doesn’t explain the abundant amount of metal in the oil.

 

They just changed the rear differential. Hopefully it doesn't come back like some people are experiencing here.

 

Maybe old news but found this interesting:
https://constructionreviewonline.co...r-axle-production-plant-in-san-antonio-texas/

https://pressroom.toyota.com/facility/toyota-motor-manufacturing-texas/

2024 Highlights:

• Rear Axle plant groundbreaking with operations planned for 2026
  
  In 2024, Toyota announced rear axle assembly will begin at Toyota Texas in 2026. With this new asset, the plant will supply rear axles for the Toyota Tundra and Sequoia assembled onsite and the Toyota Tacoma assembled in Mexico.

 

Interesting. I wonder where the axles a produce now?

 

They are produced by HINO. They have a plant in Marion, AR.

 

Not for long.
https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/hino-job-cuts-us-plant-arkansas-supplied-toyota/#:~:text=Toyota axle supplier Hino closing Arkansas plant, cutting 1,300 jobs&text=Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A. Inc,to local officials May 31.

 

Hino is owned by Toyota so it’s unlikely a quality issue at the plant.

 

Hino is Toyota's global medium/heavy duty truck manufacturing division.

 

My 24 at 18k miles starting doing the good ole howling sound right at 52mph. But don’t hear it at 70+mph.

 

My differential ended up being the cause of the wooooo noise from the back end of my '22 Tundra. They found metal shavings in the differential fluid and replaced the whole differential assembly under warranty.
More details here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/whine-at-40-mph-and-80-mph.125855/#post-3859964

 

Well, with 12k miles my dealer just installed the 4th carrier assembly. Three repairs + factory orig after Same noises at 40-45 & 75-80 mph as before. I am thinking it’s time to write Toyota and commence Lemon Law process

 

I'm sure the 5th assembly will fix it

 

That's wild. Did you ever have any trouble with the diff or drove train, if it's characteristic of the truck if expect noise, fine, but it better not go out.

 

Update on your repair?

You got the diff l, how's it doing? Seems like once people get anywhere between 3000-7500 miles on it the noise comes back.

Let me know, I'm trying to figure out best way to handle with my dealer. Like you, the sound is faint and comes and goes.

Afraid they are going to look at me like I'm crazy.

 

Got my rear diff replaced a couple weeks ago. Never had any noise just a bunch of dash warning lights all at once one day. Rear diff locker light stayed on (flashing) from there. Dealer took in, found metal in fluid change, and said it was locked up. They ordered the part and had me back on road in a few days. Loaner truck. No issues with replacement so far.

 

Thanks for sharing. I really am only hearing noise consistently at speeds about 84mph which is sort of funny. I can barely hear it in the 40s but its ever so slight I'm sure the techs will think I'm nuts.

Might get it looked at next week. Haven't decided yet, just want to replicate enough so I'm sure.

 

So finally got it looked at and they claim they check the fluid, checked the carrier bearing, drove another 2025 ( which they claim was doing it but more quiet) and spoke to Toyota engineering along with Toyota tech support.

They're telling me that the fluid was clear, and there was a diff issue in 24s but I have the updated parts and the noise I'm hearing is " normal " and a resonance sound when you hurt certain speeds. They did tell me to watch it and let them know if the noise increases are worsens.

Sounds exactly like what the the person mentioned above with the Tacomas.

Think I'm stuck for now.

I also spoke to Anthony about this in the Reddit forum.

 

My 2nd gen makes the same exact noise at the same exact speeds. 130k miles and it hasn't blown yet.

 

That's what my buddy just told me who is a mechanic for Dodge. He said it's just "a Toyota thing" and it's probably fine.

 

I left out that both my 2nd gen and 3rd gen make the same noises at the same speeds.

 

I don't think the Toyota guys were giving me down the road. I think they truly believe the noises characteristic of the truck and the master technician I worked with seemed very invested in ensuring I didn't have any issues.

He said he spent nearly 25 minutes on the phone with Toyota's engineer over our region, who said they were having some rear diff issues in earlier models but they feel confident they got it corrected however told me to monitor the noise and if it changes, gets louder, or I get any vibrations to let them know. But like you said, there are plenty of stories of people getting one, two and even three new differentials and at some point the noise comes back.

There was one guy earlier that went as far as going to get the truck lemon lawed, because they couldn't figure it out, but perhaps there's nothing to figure out here, it's just a Toyota thing.

The master technician did tell me, they have reports on earlier third gen doing this, and they have yet to had to replace a rear differential yet.

Appreciate you sharing. I'll continue to update the post if anything changes.

 

I guess that's the only logical thing to take away from this whole debacle. We haven't seen a contingent of owners with blown differentials. That gives me a little bit more peace of mind, but the noise is still annoying as hell.

 

That's where I'm at. If the noise gets terrible I'll begin to really push but like the master tech told me. Always a chance you get a differential that could be louder.

 

What is the noise?

 

I've been having the noise where it is super annoying around 80mph, finally got to draining the rear diff, and it was fine. Annoying, but I'm fairly confident that the rear diff won't eat itself on the highway.

 

Yep... My replacement differential makes noise at 45mph as well, while old one would only make noise at 78mph+

 

Gear whine. Like an old school bus. Wing wing wing wing ming ming wing or like an old farm tractor. Usually at certain speeds. 40+ mph to about 46 MPH and then at 60/70 mph in certain gears.

My 2012 Tundra makes those noises at the same speed as my late 2024 Gen 3. No big surprise because the G3 axle is the same internally as the G2 axle. Same unit except for weld points and that's it.

My 2012 has 130K miles on the noisy butt, not gonna blow out any time soon. Oil change was spotless and no shavings. I've changed lube types and the noise is still there. 3rd Gen has the same exact noises at the same exact speeds...don't care. That there hasn't been a recall or fix for them tells me it is a non issue.

 

Noise on a 2012 Tundra with 120k miles - annoying, but sure why not... it's probably harmless.

Same whining noise on a new 2022 $80k truck with 20k miles is more than just an annoyance, it's not supposed to be there. There's just no recourse unless dumping it and loosing $20k