Busted diff - Page 4

**FJCRUSR** · 09-10-2007, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Sean K. previously said:

I'm really tired tonight so I apologize in advance if it seemed like I was being short with you....I'm just trying to be brief as I'm exhausted.

Mainly, my point is that you have to attack a break like that (which IMO is pretty significant as it's not something you can fix on the trail easily like a broken axle shaft)....you have to take it in stages. When plan A doesn't work....i.e., just try and limp it off the trail, you move to plan B (taking out the rear DS and seeing if you can make it go then). If that doesn't work....plan C is next (take out both shafts, the 3rd member, and reinstall the shafts). You lose nothing by trying one at a time until you find a solution that may work. It's not like you're putting anything back on in plans A or B that you'll have to remove to get to plan C.

Hope that explains it.

Sean

Very clearly I should say...
The best scenario is DON"T GO WHEELING BY YOURSELF!
And by the way...if you own an early FJC, the rear diff. may break even if you don't wheel hard.(sorry for the bad news...)

PaulThePhotographer · 09-10-2007, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Sean K. previously said:

I'm really tired tonight so I apologize in advance if it seemed like I was being short with you....I'm just trying to be brief as I'm exhausted.

Mainly, my point is that you have to attack a break like that (which IMO is pretty significant as it's not something you can fix on the trail easily like a broken axle shaft)....you have to take it in stages. When plan A doesn't work....i.e., just try and limp it off the trail, you move to plan B (taking out the rear DS and seeing if you can make it go then). If that doesn't work....plan C is next (take out both shafts, the 3rd member, and reinstall the shafts). You lose nothing by trying one at a time until you find a solution that may work. It's not like you're putting anything back on in plans A or B that you'll have to remove to get to plan C.

Hope that explains it.

Sean

Don't worry, I am not offended.

But when we saw the rear wheels were locked already we thought it would not do any good to drop the driveshaft. So Plan A and B was evaluated (we did talk about those options) and thrown out because of the evidence of major damage already.

That is correct?

I am only asking because I am wondering if it would have helped to remove the DS even though his wheels were locked. I told everybody it would not help because of no tire turning.

PaulThePhotographer · 09-10-2007, 08:38 PM

Quote:

FJCRUSR previously said:

And by the way...if you own an early FJC, the rear diff. may break even if you don't wheel hard.(sorry for the bad news...)

What's EARLY! When was the change over?

Sean K. · 09-10-2007, 08:41 PM

Quote:

PaulThePhotographer previously said:

Don't worry, I am not offended.

But when we saw the rear wheels were locked already we thought it would not do any good to drop the driveshaft. So Plan A and B was evaluated (we did talk about those options) and thrown out because of the evidence of major damage already.

That is correct?

I am only asking because I am wondering if it would have helped to remove the DS even though his wheels were locked. I told everybody it would not help because of no tire turning.

Well in that case, I'd probably have proceeded to plan C. But, you have to go through plan B to get there anyway (removing the DS) so it would've taken only a few seconds to find out if the front would drag the dead rear end around. If it wouldn't...proceed to C.

That's just how I would've handled it though. Easy to arm chair QB a scenario when it ain't your rig.

Sean

BMThiker · 09-10-2007, 08:41 PM

Quote:

PaulThePhotographer previously said:

I saw that thread.... What a story!

I was one of those that broke in June. The instructions we got on how to do the trail fix and axle teardown were directly from a FJ TT lead driver through a personal network, so dropping the DS on the trail is a viable option. I did require a strap to get off the trail though. FJCs just aren't meant to be front wheel drive.

I'm guessing that those guys at Milton were still sour about something and did not want to do the work.

Milkyxj pls PM me your digits. Garrett is trying to contact you for assistance.

**FJCRUSR** · 09-10-2007, 08:42 PM

I don't know...It's somewhere in the forum(sorry).
I just know I'm in that group

**FJCRUSR** · 09-10-2007, 08:44 PM

Quote:

BMThiker previously said:

I was one of those that broke in June. The instructions we got on how to do the trail fix and axle teardown were directly from a FJ TT lead driver through a personal network, so dropping the DS on the trail is a viable option. I did require a strap to get off the trail though. FJCs just aren't meant to be front wheel drive.

I'm guessing that those guys at Milton were still sour about something and did not want to do the work.

Milkyxj pls PM me your digits. Garrett is trying to contact you for assistance.

Thanks for joining in Rick!
Maybe you can explain it better...

Milkyxj · 09-10-2007, 09:47 PM

From what I've been hearing it's the pre-Feb 2007 FJ's with the weak diff

frogeye · 09-10-2007, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Milkyxj previously said:

From what I've been hearing it's the pre-Feb 2007 FJ's with the weak diff

Great so I'm 0906. I'm guessing that mine would have popped by now. I've put it through a bunch of stuff. Crossing fingers.

BMThiker · 09-11-2007, 08:01 AM

Quote:

frogeye previously said:

Great so I'm 0906. I'm guessing that mine would have popped by now. I've put it through a bunch of stuff. Crossing fingers.

Chris, typically it's loose dirt or gravel that's popping these ring gears. The situation is that the tires are spinning (locked rear or not locked doesn't seem to matter) and then grab. If the rear bounces at all then you're putting extra force on the rear diff, axles, etc...However, the last couple that I've seen pop were not hitting it hard at all, but were going up hill. In fact Milkyxj was barely spinning his tires when his happened. We were using the left foot braking technique to prevent any unwanted spin too.

As far as I know, there is NO TSB for this issue. Toyota Corp has decided to deal with this on a case by case method. The majority of FJ's in the market don't go offroad and won't stress the ring gears enough to grenade them. What sucks for Milkxj right now is that a Regional Service Mgr turned him down so now it's in the entire SET system and no one will touch it now, unless we get some intervention or he tows it to the Gulf States area.

A new diff is around $1200, not including labor. We need someone to sell aftermarket "stock" ring gear/pinion sets, that would be cheaper than buying an entire 3rd member. I considered re-gearing to 4.56 until I heard there were VSC or A-Trac issues.

My original story is here