2020 Differential needle bearing failure

Got the truck back today. Quiet as a mouse. They replaced the CV axle as well.

 

After your long wait, an excellent outcome. Must be good to have it back.

 

Yes nice to have it back. I'm going through it today and make sure everything is good. Our other vehicle is a Camry but it's nice to have the truck back. I had to make a few runs to the lumber yard in my Kubota.

 

And it continues.... I was using 4WD today and really the first time with any kind of load on the drivetrain and felt a wicked grind.

WTF

 

Had the same rubbing on my ‘08 last year. The diff mount bracket to the frame on the driver’s side had a broken bolt. One of yours may just be loose.

In my case, a cheap and easy fix compared to what I feared was causing noises like that.

 

That sucks. And I agree with @landphil. Call and tell them to send a flatbed, fix, and return on flatbed.

 

I'll check the bolts tomorrow but they did look tight. When the trucks in D and 4x4 the back of the dif moves down and the the driveshaft makes contact.

 

Yup, exactly the same as what mine did. The diff torqued down at the back with any real torque on the front drivetrain in 4wd.

Since pics always help:

If you look closely you can see the gap between the cast diff mount bracket and the frame tab (I’d soaked it in penetrating lube by then, it’s not a leak)



I’m really not sure how / when the bolt broke, but it was necked down by corrosion, and an unusual amount of corrosion for my truck.

I thought it was a cracked side gear in the diff causing the spline to slip on the CV axle until I discovered the that it didn’t happen in reverse.

 

When it first happened I thought the same, the CV was ratcheting inside the diff. Thanks for the pics. I will definitely be checking out the mount tomorrow. My wont be corroded but could definitely be loose (2020).

 

Coming from a 3rd gen Toyota, this needle bearing failed almost always after a lift so I changed mine right when I did the lift. Is this the same situation on these Tundras after lifting or is the failure percentage lower?

 

I threw my 3" lifted 2017 (56k miles been lifted for probably half of that) in and out of 4wd on a straight road the other day to see if I could hear the grumble go on and off like I could in my stock 2007 when I bought it 145k miles. Didn't make a difference. It's probably just a higher mileage failure no matter what based on design, other than these few early life failures posted in this thread.

 

I sent some pictures into the dealer and straight away they said they would like to send a tow truck out to pick up the truck. The dealership is about 200kms (120 miles) away. I told them I would check the bolts and see if everything is tight before they did that.

 

Well everything is tight but there is something with the rear mount that doesn't look right. The rear mounting bolt appears to be not threaded all the way on but it is tight. Can someone compare it to their truck and comment?



In the last picture the diff moves down far enough while under load to contact the bolt head.

 

That nut isn't threaded all the way on on my truck either. I thought that was odd too but seems normal.


For a rotational issue I would look at these two front brackets as well. If your diff was just removed/reinstalled they might not be tightened properly either.

 

Thanks for verifying the nut, appreciate it. Il never pulled the skid pan off but I will and check the two front bolts.

 

I think to allow the diff to rotate back it would have to be where the two front brackets connect to the diff housing and extension tube. Something ain't right!

 

Found out the issue. Tech forgot to put the spacer/washer back in. They are mailing me it when they find it.

 

That just sucks man !
I hear so many bad reports about Toyota service from oil changes to major repairs like yours
I feel sorry for the folks that don’t have the mechanical know how and just get screwed

Anyway glad you got it figured out and you can finish the warranty work for them

 

Dang. Well that sure inspires confidence

 

They called and said that they can't find the washer and they would have to order. The part is 10 days away. Getting a little pissed now.

 

They can pull one off a truck on the lot...

 

The service manager said the only option they had was to take the spacer off his own personal truck and send it to me. I told him I couldn't do that to him. It's not his fault but the techs so I guess I'm waiting for the part to arrive.

 

That's shitty, sounds like you found a better dealer though.

Do you or anyone else have audio of this needle bearing noise?
A couple weeks ago I started hearing a rotational whine, very intermittently up front. 2017 with 32k miles.

 

The dealer is good and I realize bad things sometimes happen.


As for the noise when the bearing is going. Drive between 30 and 40mph on a quite straight paved road in 2WD. Put the truck in 4WD high and once it engages you will hear a noise that sounds like a heavy lug tire noise. Sounds like a wheel bearing just starting to fail. Its a constant noise but not very loud. While it's making the noise switch back to 2WD and if it stops as soon as the 4WD disengages then it's the left CV axle needle bearing support in the differential.

 

Sorry to read that you are still working your way through this problem. It seemed you were done with it over a month ago.

Are you able to further describe the noise you hear when you engage 4WD high? I don't understand what you mean when you say it makes a "heavy lug tire noise". I know that on my truck, when I engage 4WD high there is a bit of a rumble and minor vibration through the steering wheel. The dealer said it was normal and let me drive a new Tundra from their lot that also did that, so I had no reason then to think there was a fault. What I don't know is whether both trucks may have had the same issue. Does any of this sound like your issue?

Also, you should send the dealer a bill for your hours to straighten out the repair and for the loss of use of your truck.

 

Sorry, I'm seeing 2 different things here. ^^

Is the bad needle bearing noise happening in 2wd or 4wd?

 

For NWPirate -- I think I can answer your question about seeing 2 different things. As I did, Ruggybuggy recently had the front differential replaced due to the needle bearing problem. It appears that now he is questioning if there may be a new issue that is not related to the needle bearing - if I read his post correctly.

 

The noise will only happens in 4WD high for the bad needle bearing.

I got it backwards in the second post, I should proof read before I post.

 

The noise is very similar to a bad wheel bearing. It's a constant growling noise. Sounds similar to a noisy tire.

The dealer is lucky that I can install the spacer myself or this could have cost them. When I first heard the noise I was 200 miles up north from home with a snow machine on a trailer. I was in a very remote area and no dealer within 300 miles. I put the truck in 4wd to load the machine and heard the grinding noise from the driveshaft contacting the crossmember. I could have phoned them and said come collect it.

It's not worth my trouble to bring the truck back to install the spacer. As a former Toyota tech it's a simple job. I'm sure the dealer will do something for me such as a free oil change or something.