Another disaster - blown rear diff

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

How do I start without swearing? :x :sad:

Camo and I went 4WDing after work today, towards the end of the track came to some rock steps. Easy does it, place a few rocks here and there, slowly climb and "ting ting ting" comes from the rear differential as opposing corners began to spin. I made a comment over the UHF to Camo about how the LSD is shit and isn't doing anything. Another crack at the steep bit and same ting tong from tooting sound from the rear.

Decided to give the section a miss and parked off the track to allow Camo to have a crack at the section in his newly lifted and Bilsteined 4Runner. The 120 made a bit of a strange crunch when parking off the track.

Camo had a shot at the section and didn't get any further than me so we decided to give it away. I let Camo lead on the way out so I could enjoy some Diesel soot up my schnoz.

A few metres down the track, bang, tinkle, cruch, pop. Shit.

I think I know what's happened. Stopped the vehicle, unlocked the centre diff, tried to move forward. Crunch, crankle, bang, fart but no forward movement. "Hey Camo, come and watch my prop shaft." Sure enough, it's happily spinning where it goes into the diff, but no spinny commy outy diffy. :x F**k.

So we limped, very nosily, back to town in a front wheel drive 120 with the centre diff locked. Man the noise and vibration :!: Jesus Christ on ice skates :!: Didn't get much over 20km/h and it dead set sounded like a cross between a demented steam train and someone firing a rifle in a 44 gallon drum.

What an adventure. So the 120 is sitting at my work waiting to go to Toyota on Monday. There's no way I wanted to drive it 40km up a 2000' mountain to home.

So now I'm off to read up on all the other poor souls who have had their diffs blow. I don't reckon I'll have any problems with warranty.

Any my next decision is what to do long term, who knows what caused the failure? Is it going to let me down again, when I'm remote with no other vehicles? Maybe a locker is the next accessory? Damnit, I'm fresh outa cash after all the aviation training I've been doing. :evil:

I have one question though, do you think I'm entitled to a free loan car from Toyota? I've never had such a catastrophic warranty failure before.

Cheers and may this never, ever happen to you - it sucks,

Drew.

[Blokeman Member Find all posts View Profile Close Blokeman]

Bad luck Drew. There is an aftermarket fix, ARB lockers I think, plenty of guys here will know for sure. I reckon you should get the loan car, my dealer only squirms if I ask for more than 2 days.

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Yeah, bad luck Drew.

Hope the fix all comes together quickly and painlessly.

Cheers
Chippy

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Thanks guys.

[Grandeman Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Grandeman]

Bugger!

How long do you think it will take them to fix it?

[PeteS Member Find all posts View Profile Close PeteS]

Oooooooly Doooooly Drew

What bad luck.
Man I'll have to stop reading these forums as I'm getting paranoid with potential problems i'm faced with :shock:
(just kidding).

I sincerely hope you get it sorted asap with the minimum of fuss. We have all read about the diff probs. Please keep us posted on the developments.

PeteS

[Blokeman Member Find all posts View Profile Close Blokeman]

Don't suppose it's just the petrol's? The diffs are obviously underbuilt by Toyota or we wouldn't hear these things, I'm just curious if the lower powered diesels will fare a bit better.

[Mike Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mike]

Hi Drew

Sorry to read about your diff problem. Darren McRae from ATS made comment on 120SCOOL about ARB lockers and the broken diff issue some time ago. I think he does some other modifications that in conjunction with the locker minimise the crownwheel flexing away from the pinion. Do a search on 120SCOOL for more details.

Good luck with the repairs.

Mike

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

Sounds like the warranty job for Toyota. Hopefully all works out OK.

I had rear ARB diff lock fitted a couple of weeks ago with some extra mods to make sure the rear diff is "as strong as it can be"...

[Blokeman Member Find all posts View Profile Close Blokeman]

Here is a link to that thread:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/120 ... ssage/8339

And for non-members a short cut and paste:

RE: [120scool] Re: Another Broken Rear Diff

Posted to 100 list this morning same topic

You also have to machine the ARB carrier to get a true set up pattern, as
ARB seem to work On a 20 thou run out as acceptable, with 54 thou being the
worst we have had, and we work On < 8 thou.

We also machine a solid pinion spacer to set pinion pre load and ALWAYS fit
new carrier Bearings, because you cant tell if it was damaged removing it.

Over 250 out there now, most broken when they came here, not seen a broken
one back we have done.

The teeth break because the crownwheel can flex away from the pinion, so
each tooth is then
On its own, not supported by the teeth behind.

The ARB carrier is stronger, and is part of stopping this from happening.

Regards Darren McRae
ATS 4X4 90 Fyans St Geelong Sth 3220
Phone 0352 216599
Fax 0352 231826

[Camo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Camo]

OUCH MY EARS HURT FROM THE BANGING....:!:
I must say that Toyota have always made (for lack of a better word) crap diffs
One sure way to fix the problem is with a different brand name diff

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Well I'm driving a Camry now.

ops:

Can't wait to get the 120 back.

Drew.

[PeteS Member Find all posts View Profile Close PeteS]

Hi Drew
Been hanging out to hear how u went.
Do you know when you the extent of the damage and when you can expect to get the Prado back?
PeteS

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Thanks for the reply Pete,

They were a bit open ended on the ETA, anything from 3 days to over a week depending on the extent of the damage and where the parts have to come from.

At least I got a complimentary car, I live in the boonies and work late shifts so that was important.

I'm expecting a phone call from them today to update me on the progress and ETA.

I'm looking at a rear locker now. The spending never stops. :cry: :lol:

Drew.

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Windsor Toyota phoned me this morning. They said on the voice mail that the parts have arrived and they have to send the centre to the diff place to get put back together and that I should expect the vehicle back hopefully by Monday. :shock: Lucky I've got the loan car!

I'm sitting here thinking maybe I should phone them and ask them to give me a credit for the remaining labour and take the vehicle around to ARB and have them throw the locker in while the diff is out. Nah, ARB said they were booked out till mid next week, and I don't want to complicate issues with Toyota, I just want it fixed. Seems a shame to have the diff rebuilt only to have it pulled apart again next week (or thereabouts). At least I can get ARB to report on the quality of workmanship by the Toyota boys.

So it looks my camping trip this weekend is cancelled. *considers taking the loan Camry* :lol:

Drew.