[Matt831]

Is it necessary to drop the front diff or can all the bolts be accessed and the ADD removed with the diff in place?

Thank you,
Matt

[Jetboy]

Hopefully someone who's done it can chime in for definitive answer - but I think you can remove with the diff in place. The bolts holding it on are easy to get out and you can move it around quite a bit to get the shift fork free. I've removed them on a few that were out of the vehicle and my memory is that there's plenty of space in the vehicle too. The hardest part is getting the breather tube back on. The little flexible hose is hard to get on right for me due to the tight hand access around on top. IIRC that was a tricky one to get back on, but it's been a few years. Certainly not impossible. Just hard if you have larger hands.

[Captain Spalding]

Hi Matt.

I don’t have a definitive answer but here are a couple of things to chew on.

If I’m reading this right, you do have to lower the diff.

On the other hand there is the video below, which shows the ADD removed, but I think the diff has not been lowered.

Toyota front differential ADD actuator replacement - YouTube

Sadly the video doesn’t show the removal of the ADD.

[Matt831]

Thanks guys.

The breather tube is very taught, I also noticed a small tear in the tube around the nipple on the ADD so I am not sure if the ADD has been contaminated with water, etc.

All the videos I found were for Tacomas and no one dropped the diff but one guy dropped the diff on a 4th gen to make access easier. Not a big deal either way but would rather just leave the diff in place as the truck will be on jack stands in the garage....the less I have to do on my back the better.

[Matt831]

Any idea if the actuator would be a 5 year power train warranty item?