Mine (2007 Tacoma accesscab) just started making the humming noise about 5000 miles after. 1.75 bilstein 5100 lift. The humming disappears in 4wd and you can feel the play in the drivers cv shaft. My truck is out of warranty, could this cause additional damage if not fixed. Hopefully the bushing mod works out and is a relatively cheap fix. Can't believe Toyota produced such a ****ty built front diff.
'08 Tacoma lift problems
- Thread starter Blair '72
- Start date
DirectDrive
Observer
I have not seen it reported where the needle bearing completely fails and falls apart
Most reports indicate that the lift is either lowered to suppress the noise or the bearing is changed out, only to start making noise again after a few thousand miles.
This bushing mod gives hope.
ECGS Bushing
I realize this is an older thread but since I was surfing around it today (looking to solve a different issue) I thought I'd throw a little info out about the ECGS bushing.
I have a 2013 Tacoma Double Cab and immediately upon buying it, I lifted it 3" (front) 1.5" back and within 2,000 miles developed the oscillating vibration from the front end...which would disappear when 4X4 was engaged. Needless to say that was super discouraging since I'd barely broken the thing in. I'm sure like everyone else, I took to the internet to try and diagnose it before taking it back to the dealership just so I'd be armed with the information if things got sideways with them. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I wasn't alone in this and the topic of the ECGS bushing came up several times. I debated whether to do it or let the dealership solve the problem for a couple of months. Took it to them and naturally they reported "operating normally". Within two blocks of driving away from the dealership....whir, whir, whir, whir.....and I was back to square one.
I talked with a fellow Tacoma owner (2011 Double Cab with 3" lift) here and he said he got the same thing and Toyota wound up replacing his entire front end. He also said his tech support guy at Toyota said they knew about the issue and were "working on it". As of July 2014 there are no TSB on it that I know of.
That said I talked to the guys here in Golden at Slee Offroad, told them what was happening and they quickly mentioned the ECGS bushing (as well as another bushing option). I decided to roll the dice and just have the driver's side diff bearing removed and the bushing installed to see what would happen. Happy to report that 4,800 miles later I haven't had one vibe since. I've read a couple of blogs from people who have also done it and are reporting well over 50,000 on the bushing with no problems. One guy put 40,000 miles on teh bushing, removed it to test for degredation and wear and reported little to none. The bushing itself is about $40-$50. I understand it's not that difficult to replace yourself but I opted for Slee to do mine and of course they did a fabulous job.
Anyhow, thought I'd throw this out there in case there were others like me who happen upon this thread and might use the information. Now off to solve CV angle issues.
I realize this is an older thread but since I was surfing around it today (looking to solve a different issue) I thought I'd throw a little info out about the ECGS bushing.
I have a 2013 Tacoma Double Cab and immediately upon buying it, I lifted it 3" (front) 1.5" back and within 2,000 miles developed the oscillating vibration from the front end...which would disappear when 4X4 was engaged. Needless to say that was super discouraging since I'd barely broken the thing in. I'm sure like everyone else, I took to the internet to try and diagnose it before taking it back to the dealership just so I'd be armed with the information if things got sideways with them. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I wasn't alone in this and the topic of the ECGS bushing came up several times. I debated whether to do it or let the dealership solve the problem for a couple of months. Took it to them and naturally they reported "operating normally". Within two blocks of driving away from the dealership....whir, whir, whir, whir.....and I was back to square one.
I talked with a fellow Tacoma owner (2011 Double Cab with 3" lift) here and he said he got the same thing and Toyota wound up replacing his entire front end. He also said his tech support guy at Toyota said they knew about the issue and were "working on it". As of July 2014 there are no TSB on it that I know of.
That said I talked to the guys here in Golden at Slee Offroad, told them what was happening and they quickly mentioned the ECGS bushing (as well as another bushing option). I decided to roll the dice and just have the driver's side diff bearing removed and the bushing installed to see what would happen. Happy to report that 4,800 miles later I haven't had one vibe since. I've read a couple of blogs from people who have also done it and are reporting well over 50,000 on the bushing with no problems. One guy put 40,000 miles on teh bushing, removed it to test for degredation and wear and reported little to none. The bushing itself is about $40-$50. I understand it's not that difficult to replace yourself but I opted for Slee to do mine and of course they did a fabulous job.
Anyhow, thought I'd throw this out there in case there were others like me who happen upon this thread and might use the information. Now off to solve CV angle issues.
toyrunner95
Explorer
alot of the vibration issues are a combination of things. it actually has to do with harmonics. if you lift your truck and put different tires on it the combined changes throw the harmonics out of whack. the wom wom wom or hum hum hum is usually due to tire tread and extra weight being thrown around at certain speeds thus causing your ear drums to vibrate making your brain think something is wrong.
now with that being said, a vibration is caused by the same centrifugal force but with a definite lack of tolerance, like a worn bearing, bad wheel weight, mis weighted drive line, anything that spins is probably going to cause this issue.
as for rear springs, you may have an axle wrap issue. like your bushings are worn in the eyes. my truck has no lift and 24k on the clock and the clutch seems like it has a bad friction plate. i dunno. check the easy stuff first then step it up.
now with that being said, a vibration is caused by the same centrifugal force but with a definite lack of tolerance, like a worn bearing, bad wheel weight, mis weighted drive line, anything that spins is probably going to cause this issue.
as for rear springs, you may have an axle wrap issue. like your bushings are worn in the eyes. my truck has no lift and 24k on the clock and the clutch seems like it has a bad friction plate. i dunno. check the easy stuff first then step it up.
bat
Explorer
To me the bearing problem is not something that comes up because you put a lift on the truck. Over time it may cause a problem but I bet some problems are driveline issues.
They all have play regardless if the bearing is bad crawl under a new truck and it will be the same.
A lift is a lift and not cranking the truck up will save you some headaches getting a proper alignment, fixing driveline angles and just the tires can be problems.
I have had my front diff replaced under warranty and the truck was lifted and all do dads on it .
MTaco
Adventurer
This is all good to hear. I too was an unlucky one who had the same vibration in the front immediately after lifting it. I got lucky and Toyota replaced the front diff under warranty and the vibe went away and never came back.
I upgraded to 4.56 gears a few months ago and opted for the bushing to be installed from ECGS when they built the front clamshell and it is still smooth as ever with about 2,500 miles on the new gears. So I am another happy ECGS customer and would recommend them to anyone.